Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos described Chappell Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!” as “an amazing song by an amazing artist.” The group recently performed “Good Luck” at a Sofa Session on BBC Radio 2, hosted by Jo Whiley. “It’s funny,” Kapranos told Whiley, “you get some artists that have a moment, often it’s kind of divisive. Some people absolutely love them and some people hate them. But I’ve not come across anybody I know, none of my friends, nobody I know, who doesn’t like this artist. They’re just so good.” Continue reading »
In Memoriam pays tribute to those who have left this world, and the songs they left us to remember them by.
John Lennon (of the Beatles, the Quarrymen, the Dirty Mac, and the Plastic Ono Band, among others) was born on this day. He shares the birthday, oddly enough, with his youngest son, Sean. (Happy 45th, Sean!)
One way to celebrate the day is to sing the Beatles’ “Birthday” song (keeping in mind that Lennon considered the song, which he co-wrote, “a piece of garbage”). Another is to listen to his music with renewed appreciation. If we do that, we’re gonna have a good time, just like the song says.
John would be turning 80 today, an auspicious number: He lived for 40 years, and has been gone for 40 years (as of December). Forty years here, forty years gone: those are Biblical numbers. And how funny that this 40/40 business should happen in the year 2020.
John loved numbers and numerology, so it’s ok to fixate on this stuff for a minute. The number nine in particular held Lennon’s interest, the day of the month he was born on. Some of his song titles allude to the obsession: “One After 909,” “Revolution 9,” “#9 Dream” (which reached #9 on the charts). So guess how many covers we’ve lined up today?
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Alex Kapranos & Clara Luciani – Summer Wine (Lee Hazlewood & Nancy Sinatra cover)
Clara Luciani is Nancy Sinatra and Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos is Lee Hazlewood on this charming cover. Kapranos wrote, “When the lockdown started, we decided to record [‘Summer Wine’] — more for ourselves than anything else. We wanted to create the atmosphere of an imaginary world away from the confinement we were experiencing. Not that we were unhappy, but the imagination is the greatest medium for escape and adventure… After the lockdown eased off, we got together to film the video with our friends Adrien, Leo, Fiona and Hugo. I love the ideas they had, which suit the mood of the song and reflect our… well, our love of karaoke!” Continue reading »
Full Albums features covers of every track off a classic album. Got an idea for a future pick? Leave a note in the comments!
Last week Gwen Stefani’s first solo album, Love Angel Music Baby, turned fifteen. In celebration, the album was remastered and reissued. Gwen Stefani even performed a medley of the album’s greatest hits on The Voice, her latest venture, complete with an appearance from Eve for her iconic rap in “Rich Girl.”
The album has plenty of haters (Pitchfork’s review was especially brutal), and the Harajuku girl motif had cultural appropriation written all over it. However, I tend to agree with the take from Hazel Cills of Vice:
What keeps me going back to Love. Angel. Music. Baby. time and time again is how, in all of its racism and spliced-up electronica madness, Stefani inadvertently made a classic. You can call it silly, you can call it bad, but you can’t deny that Stefani aced her retro hodgepodge. It’s a “problematic fav,” but it’s difficult to not sing along to Stefani’s kitschy new wave homage.
Whether you unabashedly love these tunes or love to hate them, these covers will take you back to your early-aughts self.
Franz Ferdinand recently took time out from their packed tour to record a cover of Angel Olsen’s “Shut Up Kiss Me” for SiriusXM. Franz’s version is faithful to the absolutely flawless original. The emotional vocals, slight fuzz in the recording, and simple, driving accompaniment is present in both versions and gives the effect of listening to an old ’60s ballad on the jukebox. Continue reading »
Sunderland indie rockers Frankie & The Heartstrings have been a busy bunch as of late. Last year, they opened up their own record shop in their hometown, and, recently, covered the latest single from their neighbors from the north, Franz Ferdinand. Continue reading »