Now Hear This » Covers

Yeah Yeah Yeahs at the Fox Theater September 9 & 10, pre-sale on now!

Michael — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 23:07:07 +0000

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are coming to The Fox Theater in Oakland to pump folks up about their latest record It’s Blitz! on September 9th & 10th. I’m thinking it won’t be too tough to get a ticket to such a big joint on a Wednesday or Thursday night but hey, no reason superfans shouldn’t get tickets now before they go on sale to the general schlepulous Sunday. To that end the good Samaritans at Another Planet are providing a pre-sale for ya. The password is “yeah105″ (though I’m hearing that “foxy” will work too and that’s a lot more fun!). Click here to buy ‘em.

While we’re on the subject, you gotta wonder how the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are feeling about the video for “Heads Will Roll” now that the fella the werewolf is imitating has kicked the bucket:

And since I’m still in awestruck-by-Sonic-Youth mode here’s a nifty acoustic cover of Diamond Sea from an iTunes session a couple years back. Oh what the hell, let’s toss in a Bjork cover for good measure…

Diamond Sea (Sonic Youth cover)

Hyper Ballad (Bjork cover)

How ’bout we throw in an It’s Blitz! bonus track?

Faces (thanks to becca darling is: the bee charmer for this one)

Bat For Lashes: New EP, more covers

Michael — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:19:18 +0000

Bummed I missed the Bat For Lashes show at the Great American Music Hall the other night. You just can’t get to ‘em all unfortunately. And judging by the snippets of live tracks she’s streaming on her myspace page it was a magical night. I say snippets because the full versions are on the Pearl’s Dream EP available on iTune’s UK store (no word on whether or not the US store will have it). Here’s the tracklist:

- Pearl’s Dream (album version)
- Pearl’s Dream (Cenzo Townshend Radio Edit)
- Sleep Alone (909′s In DarkTimes Mix)
- Siren Song (Live At Shepherd’s Bush Empire)
- Good Love (Live At Shepherd’s Bush Empire)

909 is apparently the pseudonym of David Sitek (TV on the Radio & Telepathe). Since we haven’t gotten our own copy here at NHT we’ll just have to share what BFL tracks are kicking around the old hard drive already (covers of course):

I’m On Fire WAY more convincing than the Boss, from the beeb’s Dermot O’Leary Show in 2007

Sweet Dreams The Eurythmics’ classic from Jo Whiley’s Live Lounge (also on the BBC) in 2008

Use Somebody A Kings Of Leon cover also from Jo Whiley’s Live Lounge, this time back on April 9th of this year

THere’s a video for Pearl’s Dream up on BFL’s website but it’s not nearly as cool as the video for What’s a Girl To Do from her 2006 debut Fur And Gold so I’ll post that instead!

Case of covers

Michael — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 07:38:40 +0000

Caught the second night of Neko Case’s two night run at the at the Warfield a couple weeks ago. It was a fabulous evening with that big-as-a-house voice of hers in fine form and along with regular companion Kelly Hogan we were treated to some of the best between song banter in the business. Unfortunately the new material from Middle Cyclone was delivered with less enthusiasm then the older stuff she played. I couldn’t help thinking a well placed cover would have livened things up a bit. To that end I threw together of couple of songs by other folks Neko’s done over the years.

Alone & Forsaken A Hank Williams cover that first appeared on Neko’s 2001 release Canadian Amp. When she opened for Calexico at The Fillmore back on July 7th, 2004 she came out during their set and did this spectacularly haunting version with them.

Brown-Eyed Handsome Man Now we’re talkin’ lively. This comes from a great compilation on Bloodshot records called Hard-Headed Woman: A Celebration of Wanda Jackson. Buy it here.

Buckets Of Rain (Bob Dylan)

Knock Loud (Sook-Yin Lee) A staple of her live set for a while, Neko’s version of this first appeared on Kill Rock Stars’ 2002 collection Fields and Streams. Both this and the Dylan track are form the 9:30 Club in DC on 4/9/06

Lord Dont Move The Mountain Neko Gets her gospel on with a Bessie Griffin number during a Peel Session at BBC’s Maida Vale Studios in London, 9/13/00

Runnin’ Out Of Fools From the same Peel Session, the way she delivers this Aretha Franklin tune makes the hair on my arm stand up.

Poor Ellen Smith A 19th century tune from the fabulous collection of murder ballads by the Mekons related Pine Valley Cosmonauts called The Executioner’s Last Songs Volume 1. Proceeds from this record and a second volume benefit the Illinois Death Penalty Moratorium Project. Buy it here.

Stay A Little Longer Again with the Pine Valley Cosmonauts from their 1998 debut Salute the Majesty of Bob Wills

The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise A hit for Les Paul and Mary Ford in 1951, this is from a solo record by Neko’s secret weapon, Jon Rauhouse’s Steel Guitar Air Show.

River Of No Return From another Rauhouse solo record, Steel Guitar Rodeo. Neko does saucey almost as well as Marilyn Monroe did in the movie of the same name with Robert Mitchum.

Get ‘em all zipped right here: Case Of Covers

Win of Montreal tickets on KALX tonight

Michael — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:14:26 +0000

Photo borrowed from Stereogum

of Montreal are playing at the Grand Ballroom at The REgency Center in SF this Friday. I’ll be giving away a pair of tickets between 8 & 9 PM tonight on my regular radio show on KALX in Berkeley. Tune in to 90.7 FM if you’re in the SF Bay Area. If you’re not click here.

Here are a couple of covers from a recent session on KUT in Austin. They come courtesy of You Ain’t No Picasso (home of the 50 song and counting of Montreal Cover Archive):

Instant Karma

Nowhere Man

Wooden Shjips Live @ All Tomorrow’s Parties

Michael — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 19:30:10 +0000

Many thanks to the wellspring of must-hear music & curios that is WFMU’s Beware Of The Blog for posting part of Wooden Shjips‘ set from ATP’s first East Coast shindig at Kutshers Country Club in Monticello, NY last month. The Bay Area prog-psych kings are plying their fuzzed out mayhem across Europe at the moment but return in triumphant style supporting Mudhoney with SF Dirty Stealer at The Independent Friday, December 12. Sure hope they pull out this amazing Neil Young cover again!

Wooden Shjips live @ Kutshers Country Club, Monticello, NY 9/08

I Hear The Vibrations

Vampire Blues (Neil Young cover)

Death’s Not Your Friend

Loose Lips

Patti Smith at the Warfield tonight

Michael — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:20:28 +0000

There are several reasons I’m excited to be seeing the Godmother of Punk over in the city tonight. The first is that today is Arthur Rimbaud’s birthday. Anyone worth their salt knows Patti is first and foremost a poet and that Rimbaud had a profound influence on her life & work. “Piss Factory,” the b-side of her first single & #718 on Cream magazine founder Dave Marsh’s The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made, describes the salvation Smith found in a shoplifted copy of the 19th century French poet’s Illuminations. Another reason is the impending presidential election. I can’t wait to hear her take on McCain vs. Obama. We already know how she feels about W (see below). And of course there’s the recent premier of Steven Sebring’s documentary Patti Smith: Dream Of Life, currently showing at the Lumiere Theater @ 1572 California Street in SF (click here to check out the trailer). Here’s hoping the movie turns on the uninitiated to a true national treasure.

Piss Factory

Declaration Of Independence – Patti speaking Bush truth like only she can, live @ The Bowery Ballroom, NYC 12/31/05

And while we’re Bush bashing I have to include a song I’m sure Patti would appreciate, Bright Eyes‘ anti-presidential diatribe that’s still available for free on iTunes:

When The President Talks To God

And the last reason is this amazing cover of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ she’s been performing lately: