The Coup - Pick A Bigger Weapon

It's probably time we brought some rap back to MOKB. My latest eMusic gem is Oakland, CA's The Coup's Pick A Bigger Weapon. This album alone is worth the monthly price and I still had 73 downloads left after I grabbed it. It's The Coup's fifth album and probably it's most politically charged. The duo (formerly a trio) has always been politically active and once even drew the wrath of The Fox News Channel for their criticism of CEO/corporate greed. This album is no exception, as I mentioned before, Head (of State) is a direct attack on Bush and his relationships with Saddam Hussein and the Middle East. Shoyoass is a call for armed revolt. Babylet'shaveababybeforebushdosomething'crazy is pretty self-explanatory and the most ridiculous song title of all time.

Beyond this, the rhymes are more real-life oriented and full of soulful choruses. Dancable grooves with a funk flair back most of the tracks. Backed by a group of musicians that includes Audioslave's Tom Morello, Dwayne Wiggins, and veterans of Parliament-Funkadelic, the Gap Band, Toni! Tony! Toné!, Jesse Johnson, and Frankie Beverly and Maze, "the sound is a little edgier on this record and the beats a little faster." The Coup's MySpace.

The Coup - We Are The Ones
The Coup - My Favorite Mutiny (ft. Black Thought & Talib Kweli)

End of free downloads?...get them today!

I think today may be the last day to get free downloads from eMusic. You can get 50 free by signing up, and if you want you can bail with no catch afterwards. Or stick around like me and reap the monthly benefits.

All-Time Lists:

National Review Online's Top 50 Conservative Rock Songs of All Time

Blender's 50 Worst Songs Of All Time (I think this is pretty old, but still very funny)

Bishop Allen's May EP:



I just wanna tack this on, Matt is always the first to mention news from his blog's namesake, so there is no point in trying to beat him to it. I do love Bishop Allen though, so I will of course give it mention and you a tune for you to listen to. This EP is apparently much more subdued than the previous months. Bishop Allen's MySpace. GO BUY IT!

Bishop Allen - Butterfly Nets

Tape 'n Tapes buzz starts busting into the mainstream:



Check this article about our heroes, Tapes 'n Tapes. David Letterman insists the boys make their US late show debut on Late Night! TnT's MySpace.

I can't believe they give Pitchfork any cred on TnT though, those kids were so behind on Tapes. But, at least they got on board. Thanks to Ryan for sending me the article.

Read the whole post...

Kinks Songs In Commercials

I'm always torn when it comes to a great song being used in a commercial. Sometimes I'm happy and think, "Wow, this is great. This band deserves more people hearing their sound!" Case in point: The Black Keys being used in Nissan commercials. Then there are times when I go, "Aww! Those sellouts! Giving their classic tunes to the big corporations to be used as anthems of capitalism!" Case in point: The Kinks "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" being used in recent IBM commercials.

I love The Kinks, they are loads of fun, but I mean, are you kidding me?! I do not think this is what Ray Davies had in mind when that song was written. Ray? Talk to me. Come on. It's a great song, so it makes it an enjoyable commercial, but I don't need any help loving IBM. They have enough love or at least enough money.

I'm all for making some dough. I'm a staunch supporter of capitalism, but Ray and The Kinks have sold a load of songs off to companies. In fact, The Kinks make more money from US commercials than any other British band, pulling in about 10.2 million dollars a year on average. HP's "Picture Book" campaign, Tide and Viagra have both used "All Day And All Of The Night", Gap Kids used "You Really Got Me Going". "Tired Of Waiting For You", "Lola" and "Everybody's Gonna Be Happy" have also been used, but my memory fails me as to by who. For a band that didn't get a huge amount of exposure during The British Invasion, they sure do get a load of it in today's TV Land. You don't need to buy their Greatest Hits album, on any given night, you can hear it on TV.

Lost and Veronica Mars have both used Kinks songs in recent memory, but I think I'm ok with this. I mean, shows need background music. Maybe it's all just because of my general distate of commercials.

Well, the reality is that there is no end in sight, so I guess I should just resign myself to being happy that they aren't shoving Van Halen or Boston down my throat.

The Kinks - I'm Not Like Everybody Else

Read the whole post...

Girl From The North Country

Bruce celebrated Bob Dylan's birthday this past week with a covers post, and since we'll be making this a weekly feature, I thought it fitting to celebrate Bob's birthday this week too (it was last week, he turned 65). "The Girl From The North Counrty" first appeared on Bob Dylan's 1963 album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, but was probably overshadowed by Dylan greats like ""Blowin' in the Wind" and "Corina, Corina" and the politically charged "Masters Of War".

Bob released Nashville Skyline, his shortest album, in 1969. It was a decided jump into the country music genre and wasn't met with a lot of love from the music critics of that time. But like many of us still say today, what do critics know? It reached #3 in the US, the album also scored Dylan his 4th UK #1 album. Bob, with friend Johnny Cash, revisited the song at this time.

The songs on Nashville Skyline were very relaxed with modest ambitions, something reflected in the studio work ethic. "We just take a song, I play it and everyone else just sort of fills in behind it," Dylan recalls. "At the same time you're doing that, there's someone in the control booth who's turning all those dials to where the proper sound is coming in."

Dylan was also singing with a soft, smooth, country-tinged croon, and many listeners would be startled by this 'new' voice. Dylan credited it with a break from cigarettes, but a number of friends and family members were able to draw a connection with his 'new' voice and the one he used to use when he played at the Ten O' Clock Scholar in New York City and the Purple Onion coffee shop in Minneapolis during the winter and spring of 1960. - Wiki

During the recording session, Cash, who was recording with his band next door, often stopped by to visit. A friend and label-mate of Dylan's as well as an early supporter of his music, the two wound up recording a series of duets. They recorded two days worth of songs, but most were met with little enthusiasm. "Girl From The North Country" (which originally appeared on The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan) ended up as the album's opener.

NPR's Tim Riley describes "Girl from the North Country" as "an absence-makes-the-heart-grow-confused song, but it's suffused with a rueful itch, as though Dylan is singing about someone he may never see again."

Bob Dylan - The Girl From The North Country (The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan version)
Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash- Girl From The North Country (Nasville Skyline version)
Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash - Girl From The North Country (Live from a May 1969 Cash show)

Jim James, M. Ward & Conor Oberst - Girl From The North Country
Secret Machines - Girl From The North Country
Robert Plant - Girl From The North Country (Strange Sessions Version)
Rod Stewart - Girl From The North Country
Eels - Girl From The North Country (KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic)
Eels - Girl From The North Country
Leo Kottke - Girl From The North Country
Counting Crows - Girl From The North Counrty (Live from Shim Sham 2003)
Pete Townshend - North Country Girl (80s-out version of Girl From The North Country) Thanks fo Phil C. - he's sent in quite a few covers since this project started, ended and then became weekly.
Dear Nora - Girl From The North Country
The Black Crowes - Girl From The North Country (Live)
Sam Bush - Girl From The North Country
Waterboys - Girl From The North Country
Francis Cabrel & Jean Jacques Goldman - La Fille Du Nord (Girl From The North Country)

As usual, if you have any versions of this song not included, please send them in and I'll post them up! I know there is a Johnny Cash/Joni Mitchell version out there somewhere.

Read the whole post...

Tunng

First off, Happy Memorial Day! I hope you're not working. I'm not. It's a hot one here in Indianapolis today though, so I'm waiting til it cools off to start up the grill.



Every Tunng reviewer seems to have a problem with the pre-existing names for electronic folk - that is acoustic guitars with programmed beats, digital percussion and other electronic elements. It has been dubbed "Folktronica" or "Future Folk" by some critics, but most seem to preface those titles with statements like, "These are bad names, and Tunng is better than this." I don't care really, it's all just words. The bottom line of it all is that no matter what you call this updated version of folk music, Tunng flawlessly blends all the opposing elements into something interesting and beautiful. The band's core is English duo Mike Lindsay and Sam Genders and their second and latest effort is entitled Comments of the Inner Chorus - out June 4th overseas, but will be available on Amazon as an import. Their first effort, This Is...Tunng: Mother's Daughter and Other Songs, was recently released in US on March 21st by Ace Fu Records.

Comparisons have been drawn to the likes of The Beta Band, Mum, Nick Drake, Notwist, Simon & Garfunkel and Badly Drawn Boy.

Tunng - Jenny Again
Tunng - The Wind Up Bird
Tunng - Tale From Black
Tunng - Pioneers (Bloc Party Cover)

Find more Tunng audio here. Tunng on MySpace.

Read the whole post...

Race Day

Yesterday was a long day, MJ and I had new carpet installed in the upstairs rooms of our house, so we spent most of the morning moving furniture from one room to the next so the installers could rip up the old carpet and lay the new carpet...it was like moving, but not going anywhere. The joys of home improvement/ownership.



We went to see X3: The Last Stand afterwards...very disappointing. Some things were handled well for the movie format, but overall the plot was weak and new character development was shabby. Lots of blowing shiz up, but no suspense and little emotional connection. All style, no substance. I'd wait for DVD if you haven't seen it all ready.

Today is the Indianapolis 500 and I'm picking pole sitter Sam Hornish Jr. to win. The guy is the epitomy of bad luck. He leads the majority of the race and then he or his car takes a poop. Not this year, or at least for his sake, I hope not. We're having a couple folks over to barbeque, but ridiculous Indianapolis TV rules don't allow viewing of the race until way later the night of the race. Redonkulous.

Instead of adding to the previous Carb Day post, I'm just going to add the songs sent in here. Thanks to Audrey and B.Chap for sending in some good ones.

Sugarbabes - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor (Arctic Monkeys Cover)
TV On The Radio - Modern Romance (Yeah Yeah Yeahs Cover)
Johnette Napolitano & Danny Lohner - The Scientist (Coldplay Cover)
Tuung - The Pioneers (Bloc Party Cover)
Bjork - So Broken (Nine Inch Nails Cover)

A Special One from two now-defunct bands:

The Afghan Whigs - Creep (TLC Cover)

Read the whole post...

The Sky Drops

Monika Bullette made a bit of a splash in the blogosphere last year with some guerilla marketing techniques, of her album The Secrets, that would make the most savvy of PR reps envious. She's back this year, has teamed up with Rob Montejo and formed the band The Sky Drops.

As a duo, the two make moody yet pretty harmonies and join them with fuzzy guitars and simplistic drum beats. The Sky Drops has been likened to a "shoegazing Everly Brothers". The Sky Drops' MySpace.

The Sky Drops - Green To Red
The Sky Drops - Now Would Be

iPod Protection:

Of iPod protectors, these GelaSkins have some of the coolest designs I've seen...also see pics and check their MySpace.

Read the whole post...

Carburetion Day Covers

This will be the last day for consecutive days of covers. We'll go to a once or twice a week format after this. It's been an great project, really fun, and I want to thank all of you for your ideas and contributions. I will be doing more in the future thanks to your involvement. I will still be posting every day, just to be clear - just more in the previous new songs/reviews/new bands to check out format.

Today is Carburetion Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and I'll be making my annual trip down to the track to kick off race weekend. It's a load of drunken fun. MJ's company is doing it up suite-style, so it's a free beer day. That could lead to trouble...we'll see. Dee and Hans are in town, so it should be fun.



I figured I'd end it with the idea that one of you had. Try and put together covers by current/popular bands of current/popular bands. Feel free to help out. I won't be adding your selections throughout today, but I will do it when I return from the track. I have more than this, but for time's sake we'll start here.

Apollo Sunshine - New American Apathy (Mazarin Cover)
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - The Hardest Button To Button (White Stripes Cover)
White Stripes - Walking With A Ghost (Live Tegan & Sara Cover)
Ben Folds - Bitches Ain't Shit (Dr. Dre/Snoop Dogg Cover)
David Gray - Smile Like You Mean It (Killers Cover)
Death From Above 1979 - Luno (Bloc Party Cover)
Ladytron - Oops! (Tweet Cover)
The Magic Numbers - Take Me Out (Franz Ferdinand Cover)
Fiction Like Candy - Details Of War (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Cover)
Petra Hayden & Bill Frissell - Yellow (Coldplay Cover)
The Streets - Banquet (Bloc Party Cover)
The Subways - Staring At The Sun (TV On The Radio Cover)
Franz Ferdinand - What You Waiting For (Gwen Stefani Cover)
The Magic Numbers - Crazy (Beyonce Cover)

Thanks to Ekko at Berkeley Place for his help with a couple of these!

Read the whole post...

Hallelujah

ATTENTION: This has now been reposted and rehosted at My Old Kentucky Blog Covers Project : Hallelujah Repost!

-----------------------

Whoa...this is a doozy. Clara was fantastic and shared her entire collection of "Hallelujah" with me. Be sure to visit her at her livejournal and say thanks! Her collection is full of beautiful versions, and I actually shortened her list and removed a lot of the live Leonard Cohen & Jeff Buckley versions, just because it's all ready so large. If you really have to have them, you can let me know.



Leonard Cohen is a Canadian poet, novelist, and singer-songwriter. He is regarded as one of the English language's most distinguished and influential songwriters of the twentieth century. His musical career has largely overshadowed his prior work as a poet and novelist, although he has continued to publish poetry sporadically after his breakthrough in the music industry.

In 1984, Cohen released Various Positions which features this often-covered song. Columbia declined to release the album in the United States, where Cohen's popularity had declined. (Throughout his career, Cohen's music has sold better in Europe and Canada than in the U.S.)

The song deals with ambiguous topics and there is much debate over Cohen's intentions or messages. Religious themes and sexual lyrics imply that the track deals with the dynamic of a relationship by using a spiritual metaphor, and the tone is often described as depressive or sorrowful.

Leonard Cohen - Hallelujah

Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah
Rufus Wainright - Hallelujah
Bob Dylan - Hallelujah (Live)
Bono (U2) - Hallelujah
Dresden Dolls - Hallelujah (Live)
K.D. Lang - Hallelujah
Damien Rice - Hallelujah (Live)
Damien Rice - Cannonball/Hallelujah (Live)
Sheryl Crow - Hallelujah (Live Radio)
The Junebugs - Hallelujah (Live)
Tony Lucca - Hallelujah
Elisa - Hallelujah
Chris Botti - Hallelujah
Clare Bowditch - Hallelujah
Eric Beverly - Hallelujah
Erik Flaa - Hallelujah
Euan Morton & Denise Summers - Hallelujah (Live)
Arooj Aftab - Hallelujah
Allison Crowe - Hallelujah
Gavin DeGraw - Hallelujah
Jack Lukeman - Hallelujah
John Cale - Hallelujah
John Jerome - Hallelujah
Kate Noson - Hallelujah
Katheryn Williams - Hallelujah
K's Choice - Hallelujah (Live)
Late Tuesday - Hallelujah (Live)
Lucky Jim - Hallelujah
Macbrolan - Hallelujah
Ari Hest - Hallelujah (Live)
Imogen Heap - Hallelujah
Street To Nowhere - Hallelujah

Jennifer Terran - Hallelujah (m4a)

Read the whole post...

Fuzzy Eel Report - Twilight Singers : Powder Burns

Today we are discussing the new Twilight Singers Album - Powder Burns. Great name because Powder does Burn. If it is worth anything. Not to be out done by other reviewers - The Twilight Singers are led by the infamous Greg Dulli (former frontman of the underground rock band Afghan Whigs). Ever see him live? You'd know if you had because he'd melt your face right off your body. No doubt he gained legendary status on his ability to tie you up, pull you in and lift you right out of your tube socks. Now, The Fuzz is no expert on Dulli - his past, present or future. In fact the first time the Afghan Whigs were played in the home theatre they were immediately removed. That was 3 years ago.

It must be said Blackberry Belle (last big tour album) was a ridiculously rockin; album that could make your head spin. With the release of Powder Burns, it is easy to expect the bar to be raised even higher, but that is difficult even for the best. So here we go -

Start the car, open the windows, insert the CD, turn the radio on, turn the radio up. The album starts with an electric sound building ever so slightly and then WHAM! "I'm Ready, I'm Ready!" Rock out. The Fuzz is thinking this is going to be good. As the album moves along, the volume control is normalized and life returns to normal. What happened? The Fuzz feels like there was something missing. After listening to the album 5-6 times, the same gut wrenching feeling is left. Where's the goods? Is this too similar to past Dulli that The Fuzz cannot relate? Is there no "new" sound?

Fortunately, The Twilight Singers came to town a few nights ago. This time The Fuzz decided not to drink so much and try to understand what we're listening too. The stage was set-up like a living room. An oriental rug, speakers as a table with a candelabra, cigarettes, lighters, and water bottles, and in front a microphone with an ash tray and drink holder. The band entered first and the crowd cheered, but when Dulli came on the stage you could feel his presence and the crowd gave him a heck of a welcome. With a cigarette in his mouth and one behind his ear, Dulli "was ready." He rocked the house.

Set List:

Toward the Waves
I’m Ready
Esta Noche
Too Tough To Die
Bonnie Brae
That’s Just How That Bird Sings
Fountain & Fairfax
Teenage Wristband
All You Need is Love/Love Annie Mae
Candy Cane Crawl
There’s Been an Accident
Early Today (and Later That Night)
Martin Eden
Forty Dollars

Encore:

The Killer
Crazy (Gnarls Barkley cover)
Underneath the Waves
Deep Hit Of Morning Sun (Primal Scream cover)

So after the show, The Fuzz went home to ponder what just happened. Did anyone notice similarities between songs on Blackberry Belle and Powder Burns during the concert? Or is the new material more like amped up Afghan Whigs? Maybe, but they all frickin rocked. So now what? Listen to the album again of course.

Start the car, open the windows, insert the CD, turn the radio on, turn the radio up. In thewords of Al Bundy "Let's Rock."

Powder Burns lands 3 out of 5 fuzz balls on The Fuzz Factor.


Twilight Singers - I'm Ready
Twilight Singers - Candy Cane Crawl

Read the whole post...

Where Is My Mind

A big thanks to Deaf Indie Elephants who helped me put this one together (all the way from Venezuela!). Where Is My Mind? is from The Pixies' 1988 album Surfer Rosa. The song was written by Frank Black (Black Francis) while he attended the University of Massachusetts. His girlfriend at the time overheard the initial pieces of the song and told him "That's a good one, you should finish it". It went on to become one of the band's most popular songs. The song has been used in many movies and television shows, most notably Fight Club and Veronica Mars.

About the album: Surfer Rosa was the Pixies' first full-length album. The cover art features a topless flamenco dancer and was originally entitled Gigantic, but it was changed to avoid misinterpretation of the album cover. The album title comes from the "Oh My Golly!" lyric "Besando, chichando con Surfer Rosa".

In 2001 Q magazine named Surfer Rosa as one of the 50 Heaviest Albums Of All Time. In 2003, the album was ranked number 315 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. It is also number 6 on Spin Magazine's list of the greatest 100 albums of 1985-2005. Finally, if this moves you, Kurt Cobain wrote in his journals numerous times that Surfer Rosa was his 2nd favorite album of all time (behind Raw Power by The Stooges).

I know there are a few others floating around out there, so if you have 'em - send them my way please!

The Pixies - Where Is My Mind
Frank Black - Where Is My Mind


Nada Surf - Where Is My Mind
James Blunt - Where Is My Mind
Tom Brosseau - Where Is My Mind (Live ft. Kelly Hogan and Scott Ligon)
Stereotyperider - Where Is My Mind
Downright - Where Is My Mind
Raz O'Hare - Where Is My Mind
Koos Kreuk - Warr Is Mijn Hoofd(Where Is My Mind in Dutch)
Bob Dylan vs. The Pixies - Blowin' My Mind (mashup)
Placebo - Where Is My Mind
Toadies - Where Is My Mind
Mr. Hopkinson's Computer - Where Is My Mind
LaSalle - Where Is My Mind
Dios (Malos) - Where Is My Mind

The Holidays - Where Is My Mind (m4a)

Read the whole post...

Suspicious Minds

So, The MOKB Covers Project soldiers on through server-crushing traffic and constant post updates. Thanks to all you new visitors checking out MOKB for the first time. Thanks to all the sites who have directed you here. A special thanks to all of you who have contributed a song or many songs to each of these recent cover posts. I really, really appreciate that! Please bookmark us and come back to MOKB often for some of the best music on the web. A big thanks on this post goes out to Culley of The Air Strange, who sent me a load of these when I asked for some help.



The King is another widely covered artist, and Elvis also covered a wide variety of artists as well, often getting the credit for other's, generally black blues artists, work.

"Suspicious Minds" was widely regarded as the single that jumpstarted his career after his successful '68 Comeback Special. It was Elvis' seventeenth #1 single in the United States. Written by Mark James (who also wrote "Always On My Mind", which Elvis was to record later), the song was recorded along with at least another two hit singles -- "In the Ghetto" and "Kentucky Rain" - in the so-called "Memphis sessions" of January 1969.

Notable in this song is a fade out at about 3:22 into the song, which fades out for about 15 seconds before fading back in. This fade out was intentional, as it helped convey a message of relationship in the song.

Elvis Presley - Suspicious Minds (full version)

My Morning Jacket - Suspicious Minds
Belle & Sebastian - Suspicious Minds
Pete Yorn - Suspicious Minds (Dawn Version)
Pete Yorn - Suspicious Minds (Dusk Version)
Dwight Yoakam - Suspicious Minds
Waylon Jennings & Jessi Colter - Suspicious Minds
Chris Bailey - Suspicious Minds
Avail - Suspicious Minds
The Heptones - Suspicious Minds
The Independents - Suspicious Minds
Luca Olivieri - Suspicious Minds
Billy Swan - Suspicious Minds
King Junior - Suspicious Minds
B.J. Thomas - Suspicious Minds
Bon Jovi & Willie Nelson - Suspicious Minds
Fine Young Cannibals - Suspicious Minds
Mark James - Suspicious Minds
Dee Dee Warwick - Suspicious Minds
Candi Staton - Suspicious Minds
Chris Daughtry - Suspicious Minds (American Idol contestant)
Nine Inch Elvis - Suspicious Minds
No Doubt - Suspicious Minds (Elvis CBS TV special)
Ronnie McDowell - Suspicious Minds
Gareth Gates - Suspicious Minds (2002 British Pop Idol runner-up)

Read the whole post...

(Don't Fear) The Reaper

Blue Öyster Cult got it's start in the late 60s on Long Island, NY. Best known for their song, (Don't Fear) The Reaper which has now been reassociated with the current generation since April 2000 when SNL aired it's "More Cowbell" skit. The skit actually shot a breath of fresh air into BÖC and created a bit of a new cult fanbase. "More Cowbell" appears on t-shirts, coffee mugs, buttons - even the name of blogs, and the skit is still talked about throughout the internet. One BÖC cover band in upstate New York even named itself "More Cowbell".

Truth is, the song was recorded without the cowbell, and it was added as an overdub at the last minute.

The other well-known BÖC hit was Burnin' For You.

Blue Oyster Cult - (Don't Fear) The Reaper

The Caesars - (Don't Fear) The Reaper
Regenerator - (Don't Fear) The Reaper
Heaven 17 - (Don't Fear) The Reaper
The Beautiful South - (Don't Fear) The Reaper
Apollo 440 - (Don't Fear) The Reaper
Belle & Sebastian - (Don't Fear) The Reaper
Foetus - (Don't Fear) The Reaper
Goo Goo Dolls - (Don't Fear) The Reaper (Live)
Gus Black - (Don't Fear) The Reaper
Elliott Smith - (Don't Fear) The Reaper
Nick Cave & Enya - (Don't Fear) The Reaper

Wilco - (Don't Fear) The Reaper

Stream SNL's (Don't Fear) The Reaper / More Cowbell Skit or Download It

Read the whole post...

God Only Knows

The Beach Boys, if you don't all ready know, were a pop group formed in California in the early 60s. They are widely regarded as one of the most influencial bands in pop history. Pet Sounds is easily the best Beach Boys album, in my opinion. Released in 1966, it's full of great songs. One of the most widely covered is God Only Knows. You may also know it as the theme song to HBO's Big Love

Pet Sounds has complex orchestr