Sep 022011
 

This past June, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. turned Steve Winwood’s “Higher Love” into a big rock-and-roll party. Now James Vincent McMorrow takes the tune in the opposite direction, turning it into a yearning piano lament. Where Jr. Jr.’s made you want to dance, McMorrow’s makes you want to cry. Continue reading »

Jul 082011
 

Live Collection brings together every live cover version we can find from a prolific artist.

Warren Zevon had paid his dues for years before his self-titled 1976 release would finally get him a fair amount of critical attention and a modest amount of airplay. In his first pass through L.A. he was a session musician and jingle writer, penned a few songs for the Turtles and released a forgettable solo debut in 1970. Then he spent a couple years on the road with the Everly Brothers, both together with Phil and Don and then with each of them solo, like a child of a divorce custody battle, as the brothers were beginning their estrangement. A self-imposed exile in Spain would follow and when Zevon returned to L.A. in late 1975, his pal Jackson Browne was there to help him get a record deal. Zevon had some things in common with his laid-back Asylum label contemporaries, but what separated his music from Browne, Linda Ronstadt and the Eagles was his ability to write caustic and satirical songs about unconventional people often in awkward situations. Continue reading »

Jun 302011
 

Hipster-rockers Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. have gotten plenty of buzz this year, especially recently having just released their first full-length. The duo will be hitting summer festivals like Lollapalooza later this summer, which makes right now the perfect time to check out some videos of their dynamic live act, especially this recent video from MonkeyEatsMonkey of the band covering Steve Winwood’s ubiquitous classic rock radio hit “Higher Love.” Their version of the song is confident and ambitious, with the group sharing vocals and switching instruments onstage to make everything fit. Continue reading »