Though Bob Dylan moved away from his role as a ‘protest singer’ long ago — we saw Another Side by his fourth album — his name will forever be associated with social activism. The international human rights organization Amnesty International rose out of the same turbulent era as Dylan, forming in 1961, the year Dylan recorded his first album. Fitting, then, that in celebration of their 50th birthday, Amnesty would call on artists to contribute their Dylan covers to the massive four disc set Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International. Continue reading »
They Say It’s Your Birthday celebrates an artist’s special day with other people singing his or her songs. Let others do the work for a while. Happy birthday!
Music’s poet laureate, author and Zen Buddhist monk, Leonard Cohen, turns 77 years old today. A product of Montreal, Cohen began his writing career while attending McGill University in the ’50s, achieving some critical acclaim but little financial success. Frustrated, he moved to New York City in his thirties and became a musician, releasing his first album, Songs of Leonard Cohen, in 1967. Continue reading »
With a national musical legend, Serge Gainsbourg, for a father and an accomplished actress, Jane Birkin, for a mother, Charlotte Gainsbourg could easily have folded under the weight of expectation. She didn’t. She played Bob Dylan’s love interest in Todd Haynes fantasy-biography I’m Not There and played a commanding role in Lars von Trier’s Antichrist. And she’s an accomplished musician to boot, with two successful albums under her belt. Continue reading »
For most bands, playing covers amounts to a rite of passage. They bang out a favorite tune in some anonymous bar, or as an encore in an arena in Wichita or Winnipeg. No big deal, right? Well, it is a big deal if the artist being covered is in the audience. Continue reading »
Twenty-two years ago, a group of what was then called “alternative rock bands” (remember that?) recorded and released The Bridge: A Tribute to Neil Young. The album featured artists like Sonic Youth, Nick Cave, Pixies and The Flaming Lips recording, you guessed it, Neil Young songs, with all of the proceeds going towards The Bridge School (a school for disabled children). Sure, this all seems like old hat now, but back in 1989, these bands were seriously underground and for many Neil Young fans who bought the album this was the first they ever heard of them. Continue reading »
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Possibly the perfect campfire singalong (you all know the chorus, don’t you?), The Band’s “The Weight” transitioned from classic to standard long ago. Covers abound, but few more powerful than soul-gospel legends The Staple Singers’ 1968 version. So powerful, in fact, that The Band enlisted the Singers to back them up when re-recording the track for the soundtrack to their seminal concert movie The Last Waltz. Continue reading »
Montreal electrofunkmeisters Chromeo have gradually built a following over their seven-year existence, but have only really broken through in the past year following the release of their third album, Business Casual. The album features 40 minutes of slick, sleazy ’80s revival pop that has packed many a dance floor. This past Tuesday, they released a remix EP for “When The Night Falls,” a track that features none other that Beyoncé’s little sis, Solange. Continue reading »
They Say It’s Your Birthday celebrates an artist’s big day with cover tributes to his or her songs. Let others do the work for a while. Happy birthday!
The most famous alumnus of the London School of Economics, the original frontman and arguably the first capital ‘R’ rock star, Mick Jagger turns 68 years old today. His path veered away from business studies when he, by chance, met up with an old school acquaintance, Keith Richards, at a train station and formed a rhythm and blues band in 1960. Becoming The Rolling Stones in 1962, they went on to become the greatest rock and roll band of all time, with 10 of their albums in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Continue reading »
