Under the Radar: Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds

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May 032016
 

Under the Radar shines a light on lesser-known cover artists. If you’re not listening to these folks, you should. Catch up on past installments here.

sister sparrow covers

“Our music is loud, fun, and it’s supposed to make you feel good.”

That’s straight from the mouth of Arleigh Kincheloe, the lead singer and Sister Sparrow to the collection of Dirty Birds that backs her up in this amazing rock/soul/funk band. Arleigh and her brother Jackson, who plays the prominently-featured harmonica for the ensemble, came from the Catskills to the band’s base of operations, Brooklyn. They formed in 2008, and by 2010 they had their self-titled debut album available. Since then, they’ve been road warriors, hitting venues and festivals all over the country. They’ve won listeners over the old-fashioned way: putting on the best damn shows they can and bringing to music to every pair of ears they can find.
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GZA and Tom Morello Deliver Genius-Studded Cover of “The Mexican”

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Feb 232015
 

The GZA breathes new air and about 140% more lyrics (135 words vs 328 words) into a classic from the ‘70s with the cover of “The Mexican” as a one-off single. The original song by the progressive blues rock group, Babe Ruth, samples Ennio Morricone’s “For A Few Dollars More” from the Clint Eastwood Western set in a Mexican village. In The GZA’s version, we learn a lot more about Fernandez and why it’s a “sad morning”. Continue reading »

Dylan Covers A-Z: “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” – “Oxford Town”

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May 252011
 

Dylan Covers A-Z presents covers of every single Bob Dylan song. View the full series here.

Sure, Bob Dylan’s birthday may technically be over, but Bob Dylan’s birthweek is still going strong. So we continue our five-part series showcasing covers of every Dylan song today with the biggest installment yet. A full 60 covers await on the following pages, with heavyweights like the Isley Brothers and the Clash and newcomers like Adele and the Morning Benders. The latest chunk spans the letters K (Guns n’ Roses’ “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”) through O (Crooked Still’s “Oxford Town”) and features some of Bob’s best known songs. “Mr. Tambourine Man.” “Like a Rolling Stone.” “Masters of War.” “Lay, Lady, Lay.” The list goes on.

Click the page numbers down below to start listening. If you’re just joining us, here’s where we are so far:

Part 1: “Absolutely Sweet Marie” – “Everything Is Broken”
Part 2: “Father of Night” – “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues”
Part 3: “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” – “Oxford Town”
Part 4: “Peggy Day” – “Sweetheart Like You”
Part 5: “T.V Talkin’ Song” – “4th Time Around”

Continued on Page 2…

Silent Night? John Cage vs The X Factor

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Dec 092010
 

Next Sunday, the Simon Cowell-helmed UK television singing competition The X Factor (based largely on American Idol, itself a spinoff of his British series Pop Idol, on which Cowell also judged) will crown the winner of its seventh go-around. As tradition has held since the show’s second season, the victor’s debut single will drop the following day so as to compete to be the “Christmas number one,” (the top spot on the UK singles chart for the sales-heavy week prior to the holiday), a feat accomplished by four of the last five champs, much to the chagrin of the show’s detractors. Last year, however, a grassroots Facebook campaign known as Rage Against the X Factor lobbied over 500,000 supporters to pay to download “Killing in the Name,” the explicit 1992 debut single by Rage Against the Machine, and the title held off the debut of X Factor winner Joe McElderry (a cover of Miley Cyrus‘ “The Climb”) to become the first download-only Christmas number one in chart history. Continue reading »

Live Collection: Guster

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Nov 102010
 

Live Collection brings together every live cover we can find from an artist. And we find a lot.

The recent release of Easy Wonderful has given Guster fans reason to fall in love with them all over again. As their album title insinuates, they have an agreeable sound that resonates with you and has aged well over the past (almost) 20 years. If the Beach Boys went to college in the 90’s, added some bongos, and stayed out of the sun, Guster is what they would sound like.

Featured on soundtracks like Life as a House and Wedding Crashers, their songs can pull at the heartstrings as you croon along with them. On the other hand, they are better known for their laid-back, wisecracking personalities that beam from the stage and infect their fans. During their years of touring, they have taken on many cover songs with both their sensitive and playful dispositions (but mostly the latter). Typically at the end of a show, Guster will rile up the crowd with a number from Madonna, Talking Heads, or whoever sings the “Cheers” theme song (Portnoy) and get everyone involved.  Most of the time, it’s just an excuse to get drummer Brian Rosenworcel out in front showing off his questionable vocals, calling in the crowd for backup.  It’s just like being at a karaoke bar. Continue reading »

Darwin Deez Lives Out his Teenage Dream

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Oct 222010
 

It’s Darwin Deez week on Cover Me! A few days ago, we heard him cover the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Scar Tissue.” Now he’s back, but the group’s moved from Australia to Lincolnshire, England for the BBC’s Live Lounge college tour at Lincoln University. Deez also played a solo two song set that included a “secret cover.”

The DJs asked why Deez chose Katy Perry‘s “Teenage Dream” as the cover (whoops, secret’s out). He told them he admired the songwriters, Dr. Luke and Max Martin—hit-writers for *NSYNC, Kelly Clarkson, Britney Spears, Pink and others. Interestingly, it wasn’t their songs he admired, but their methods. Dr. Luke and Max Martin write songs in groups of four or five, whereas Deez writes his material without collaborators. One of the DJs commented that Deez wrote songs with heart while Dr. Luke and Max Martin wrote songs with computers. It was a nice compliment. Or a subtle dig. Hard to tell. Continue reading »

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