Song of the Day: The Jolly Boys, “Rehab” (Amy Winehouse cover)

 Posted by at 9:00 am  3 Responses »
Oct 182010
 

Song of the Day posts one cool cover every morning. Catch up on past installments here.

For most of the world, “Jamaican music” means one thing: reggae. Now, this isn’t totally off base. But reggae didn’t come about until the late 1960s. Surely something came before. Of course it did. That something (or one of those somethings) was “mento.”

You could be forgiven for confusing the two. Both emphasize the backbeats, lazily meandering along. Mento, though, comes from African folk traditions and features a more acoustic sound. Mentomusic.com offers loads of insights, including a fascinating piece on mento’s influence on Bob Marley. Whether you’ve heard of the genre or not, you almost certainly know one example: “Day-O (The Banana Boat),” a mento song sold as calypso because Americans didn’t know the difference. Continue reading »

Song of the Day: Fort deClare, “Lately” (Memoryhouse Cover)

 Posted by at 9:00 am  3 Responses »
Oct 152010
 

Song of the Day posts one cool cover every morning. Catch up on past installments here.

Covers of Memoryhouse’s beautiful song “Lately” have been popping up all over the place since (the many versions of) the song’s release, and pretty much all of them have been lovely to say the least. However, Fort deClare’s cover is certainly one of the best. Fort deClare is one Sam Ramos, a 15 year old (!) from Virginia, who has been recording covers and original songs for almost a year and throwing them up on his MySpace. He seems to take a dreamy, folky approach to everything he does, which is perfectly suited to this particular song.

With the glut of covers of “Lately”, it can be pretty hard to stand out, but Fort deClare manages to do it. The strong musicianship and beautiful texturing along with a slightly faster tempo than most — which is driven by some beautifully played percussion starting about halfway through the song — help the track build up and soar into the ending. If he manages to keep recording songs like this and continues to build up his base of original work, Fort deClare will definitely be an artist to keep an eye on in the coming years. Continue reading »

Song of the Day: Dolapdere Big Gang, “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” (Nina Simone cover)

 Posted by at 9:00 am  No Responses »
Oct 142010
 

Song of the Day posts one cool cover every morning. Catch up on past installments here.

If you’ve ever ridden public transit, you know the scene. Homeless man drinks from paper bag. Child bounds about with no obvious parental supervision. Man stealthily reads paper over his seatmate’s shoulder. Mediterranean rock band busts out violin, harpsichord, and trumpet. Woman begins belly dancing. Homeless man strips. Just another day in a commuter’s life.

Okay, maybe a few things are different. But when your busmates are Dolapdere Big Gang, what do you expect? For the video to their raucous version of Nina Simone‘s “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” the Turkish octet hopped aboard an Istanbul bus and let ‘er rip. You don’t know whether to mosh or go all whirling dervish to this East-West fusion. As long as you’re moving, it doesn’t matter. Continue reading »

Song of the Day: The Boat People, “Livin’ on a Prayer” (Bon Jovi cover)

 Posted by at 9:00 am  No Responses »
Oct 132010
 

Song of the Day posts one cool cover every morning. Catch up on past installments here.

It’s Bon Jovi time and you know what that means: Raise those pump-able fists high! Okay, now put them away. You won’t need them for this. Maybe a comfortable turtleneck for some mid-tempo head-bopping. The Boat People take “Livin’ on a Prayer” down a couple notches—but only a couple. The languid dance beat and super-cheesy synth present a cheeky front without disrespecting the original.

“We always sing this song when we end up in a particularly ridiculous ‘lifestyles of the rich and famous’ situation,” the band wrote. “Also, for some reason this song reminds me of the Arcade Fire, they both seem to draw something lyrically from The Boss and kind of surprised me that those two have something in common.” Continue reading »

Song of the Day: Sweet Lights, “Handle with Care” (Traveling Wilburys cover)

 Posted by at 9:00 am  2 Responses »
Oct 122010
 

Song of the Day posts one cool cover every morning. Catch up on past installments here.

The Traveling Wilburys will be remembered for one thing: their sheer existence. Thing is, no one becomes a Traveling Wilburys fan on the group’s own merit. No, you enter into the Wilburys world through one of the members: Bob Dylan (“Lucky”), George Harrison (“Nelson”), Roy Orbison (“Lefty”), Tom Petty (“Charlie T.”), or – maybe – Jeff Lynne (“Otis”). Perhaps once you get in, you like what you hear. But I’m pretty sure no one discovers the Wilburys independent of its members and later discovers, “Woah, there were a ton of famous people in this band!”

This isn’t a knock on the group; it’s just a fact. Godawful name aside, they actually had some decent songs. “Tweeter and the Monkey Man,” an overt Springsteen rip-off/homage, features one of Dylan’s best narratives since Desire. “End of the Line” spotlights Orbison beautifully and don’t tell me the ”Wilbury Twist” doesn’t make you crack a smile. The only song that even threatened to make them more than just a bunch of famous names, though, was “Handle with Care.” An impromptu session writing this song for a Harrison B-side inspired the band, so they released it as their first single. It spread singing time as equally among the four leads as anything they recorded. Sweet Lights’ spacey cover slows the tune down to a dreamy meander, with swaths of electronic flutter and the occasional harpsichord strum accompanying the faithfully beautiful harmonies. Continue reading »

Song of the Day: Pearl and the Beard, “Will Smith Medley”

 Posted by at 9:00 am  1 Response »
Oct 112010
 

Song of the Day posts one cool cover every morning. Catch up on past installments here.

Does anyone really love Will Smith? Does anyone hate him either? In his acting career, he seems to have run straight down the middle of the likeability meter. He’s no Tom Hanks, but he’s no Russell Crowe either. For a guy who started out telling a cabbie, “Yo homes, smell you later,” that’s not too bad.

His rap career, I would wager, garners a few more snickers. His track record of releasing hit singles to soundtrack his films notwithstanding, anyone who titles his albums Big Willie Style and Willenium earns himself a little disdain. However, all ill will (get it?) vanishes upon hearing today’s song. New York musicians/1950s clothing models Pearl and the Beard wander city streets singing the most adorable covers you’ve ever heard, Will Smith hit after Will Smith hit. Here come the girls in pastel! Continue reading »

 Older Entries  Newer Entries