Levi’s Pioneer Sessions: Jason Mraz, Bomba Estereo, The Shins, Colbie Caillat

We last checked in with the Levi’s Pioneer Sessions a few weeks ago, but it’s kept on rolling along since. We’ve heard She & Him go ‘30s, the Swell Season go disco, Nas go rap royalty, and the Dirty Projectors go Dylan. Well it’s about time to update that list. Four new artists, four new covers. Video and audio for each below.

Jason Mraz offers the most recent submission. He brings a full gospel choir to “Spirit in the Sky,” chosen apparently for its ability to make a friend dance. As good a reason as any I suppose. Before then Columbian electro-pop band brought some south-of-the-border rhythms in a bilingual cover of “Pump Up the Jam,” which fans of a certain will remember from Space Jam. The Shins go all moody-pop on Squeeze’s “Goodbye Girl” while Colbie Caillat belts out Blondie’s “Maria.”
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Cover Commissions is a monthly series in which a featured artist covers a reader-selected song for this blog. Any artists interested in participating, email me at the address on the right.

When Blondie released “Heart of Glass” in 1979, the New Wave pioneers were accused of abandoning their roots for the emerging disco sound. For once the critics may have a point, since the tune was written as a funky blues number before producer Mike Chapman got his hands on it.

“We didn’t expect the song to be that big,” guitarist Chris Stein responded. “We did it as a novelty item to put more diversity into the album. It’s not selling out; it’s only one song.”

November Cover Commissions artist Brady Harris takes “Heart of Glass” back from disco. He takes it way back. Here’s what he has to say:

I always admired how Blondie could move comfortably from genre to genre – hit to hit.  “Heart of Glass”, like most well written songs, lends itself easily to multiple stylistic interpretations and genres. Perhaps unconsciously taking a cue from The Lovin’ Spoonful, I decided to go with an Americana-30s kind of vibe when recording this arrangement.  

I laid down the acoustic guitars and a scratch vocal here at my own humble home studio then I took the song to my friend, multi-instrumentalist John Adair and his studio in Santa Monica. John laid down the mandolin, banjo, upright bass, lead guitar, piano, backing vocals, etc. I re-cut my lead vocals there and we were done but for the mixing, which John did the following week.   

Musical geek-out note on the recording: I love how on the last “Ooh-ooh, ooh-oh” you can hear the bass reach up and grab the melody riff that the mandolin’s been playing the whole song, like some poor grunt reaching for the spotlight at the last possible moment.

  Thanks to John Adair! 
And thank-you, Ray!

No, sir, thank you. The rich folksy swing is sure to revitalize this oldies classic for anyone sick of the disco-cheeze original.

Brady Harris ft. John Adair – Heart of Glass (Blondie)

Check out Brady’s website and MySpace for more tunes (highly recommended: his Cover Charge album, featuring takes on the Vines, Culture Club and more) and catch more John Adair at his site or ‘Space.

This mp3 may be freely shared with the artist’s blessing. Post it on your blog, send it to your friends, tweet it to the world. When you share this though, please include a link to this site. Cover Commissions is a monthly occurrence. Check back for future installments.

No one has ever accused musicians of being too well-adjusted. There’s a fine line that keeps a love song from crossing from romantic to creepy and it’s a line musicians frequently cross. Sometimes the sketchball factor is intention (The Police), other times it clearly is not (The Turtles). So get ready to write some restraining orders, cause it’s StalkerFest ’09.

Allred – Every Breath You Take (The Police)
We’ll kick it off with the stalker song to beat all stalker songs, the tune that goes beyond obsessed-rejected to psychotic-deranged. People using this for their wedding song might want to think twice. [Buy]

Plectrum – Across the Sea (Weezer)
Rivers Cuomo wrote this as a response to a girl sending him fan mail from Japan. “When I got the letter, I fell in love with her,” he said. “I was very lonely at the time, but at the same time I was very depressed that I would never meet her. Even if I did see her, she was probably some fourteen-year-old girl, who didn’t speak English.” This is the response from Japan, off the all-Japanese tribute comp of the same name. [Buy]

Spiers & Boden – Run For Your Life (The Beatles)
In 1973, John Lennon said this was his “least favorite Beatles song,” the one he most regretted writing. The catchy melody does hide the incredibly bitter, aggressive lyrics. The “I’d rather see you dead, little girl” line though came not from Lennon’s pen, but from Elvis Presley’s “Baby, Let’s Play House.” [Buy]

Rachelle Ann Go – Two Steps Behind (Def Leppard)
This Filipino-Chinese singer named her 2007 album Obsession, so her stalking creds are song. “You can run, but you can never hide / From the shadow that’ creeping up beside you.” Yikes. [Buy]

Lee Rocker – One Way or Another (Blondie)
It’s not just guys doing the stalking though. Debbie Harry plays predator here, driving past the guy’s house in the dead of night to see what’s going on. One way she’ll get him may be with charm, but you get the impression other involves tying him to a basement radiator. [Buy]

Leningrad Cowboys – Happy Together (The Turtles)
This song seems sweet until you read the actual lyrics. They take the romance one step too far, since there’s no indication the girl in question hasn’t gone into the Witness Protection Program to avoid being “happy together” with this creep. The Russian choir singing this version adds an extra notch of “Eeeee…” [Buy]

Kevin Doyle – Escape (Enrique Iglesias)
“You can run, you can hide, but you can’t escape my love”? Enrique, your love sounds like a sexual predator. [Buy]

Four Year Strong – Spiderwebs (No Doubt)
While song from the point of view of the stalker are everywhere, here’s one from the flip side of the coin. Poor Gwen Stefani has to screen her phone calls. This comes of Four Year’s recent cover album Explains It All. [Buy]

Scala and Kolansky Brothers – Walking After You (Foo Fighters)
Where “Run for Your Life” implies a brief and terrifying chase, Dave Grohl seems more like a slow prowler. This gal may be looking over her shoulder the rest of her life. [Buy]

WAZ – I Will Follow (U2)
Similar sentiment to the Foo Fighters. “If you walk away, I will follow.” Ladies, bear this in mind when entertaining your Bono fantasies. [Buy]

Cover Commissions: James Eric

Posted by Ray Padgett at 1:10 am 1 Response »

Feb 192009

Hello cover lovers! It’s an exciting day here at Cover Me, for we are debuting a new series. For over a year now I’ve been bringing you covers from all over the interwebs, passing along the best and the strange, the gorgeous and the goofy. However, I’ve been thinking, why be content as a middleman? Why not offer some original content? Since I have no musical talent myself (you know, the old critic as failed musician thing), it’s time to start recruiting people with actual talent. So let me present…Cover Commissions, Volume 1.

Here’s the gist. Every month we will present to you an artist, one who’s probably showed up on the blog before, one whom I feel has a lot to offer cover-wise. Said artist has signed on to produce a special, never-before-heard cover for Cover Me. A commissioned work minus the money. What song will be covered? Well that depends on the artist, but as often as possible, the song choice is up to you! Read on (and if you’re an artist interested in hopping aboard, email me!)

So without further ado allow me present this month’s artist, the man to kick off Cover Commissions: James Eric. You’ve seen James here before, covering Sigur Rós and Justin Timberlake. However, those just scratch the proverbial surface of the covers machine that is James Eric. He’s got dozens on his website, and now he’s signed on to produce a special cover for us!

What song, you ask? Well, this is where you come in. To the right you’ll see a poll of ten songs that James and I came up that he could cover for us. Cast your vote and within a week or two a brand-new cover of the winning tune will be up for your enjoyment! Without further ado…drum roll…here are your options!

Lily Allen – Everybody’s At It
Devo – Beautiful World
The Hold Steady – Slapped Actress
Justice v. Simian – We Are Your Friends
Gladys Knight & the Pips – Midnight Train to Georgia
MGMT – Time To Pretend
Patti Smith – Land
Vampire Weekend – M79
Tom Waits – Misery Is the River of the World
Stevie Wonder – Signed, Sealed, Delivered

There you have it. Ten songs, both indie and classic, but there can only be one winner. Before you vote though, do your research! For starters, head on over to James’ site and listen to some of his other covers (I’ve linked a few below). Then track down any of the original songs you may not know. They should mostly be available at the Hype Machine (do a search, then click the “Read full post” link if there isn’t a play button) or, barring that, Free Napster (search by track). Which would work best with James’ style? Which would be fun to have a cover of? Cast your vote and if you’re so inclined, post a comment explaining your choice. Also, if you have a better name for this feature that Cover Commissions, I’m open to suggestions.

You have one week to vote, so hop to it! To help you along, here’s a few samples.

James Eric – Mrs. Officer (Lil Wayne)

James Eric – Dreaming (Blondie)

James Eric – Reservations (Wilco)