Everyday is Like Sunday, Except for Blue Monday and Ruby Tuesday, and...Well, Friday I'm in Love: Weekly Mix #54

It's been awhile since I've posted a cover versions mix (and I've felt a little harried this week with both the volunteering and freelance work), so here's my rather lazy attempt. I would like to mention the War Child Heroes album since it's being touted as "The Ultimate Covers Album." As per usual, War Child is releasing an album with proceeds going to benefit children affected by war, but this year the idea was to get musical "heroes" to pick artists from the younger generation to cover a song from their back catalogue. I may not like all the tracks on the album, but there are some rather excellent ones, including TV on the Radio covering David Bowie's "Heroes," Scissor Sisters covering Roxy Music's Do the Strand, Rufus Wainwright covering Brian Wilson's Wonderful and Song For Children, Hot Chip covering Joy Division's Transmission, and Peaches covering Iggy Pop's Search and Destroy. You can find out how to order the UK version and how to pre-order the North American versions on the War Child MySpace.

This mix has got a fair bit of 80s covering going on, but it also includes Camera Obscura's excellent version of the most famous ode to a spotlight and Devendra Banhart's stripped-down re-working of Oasis (he actually makes it relatively palatable with his Marc Bolanesque bleat). This one's called Re-Make/Re-Model.

I Wanna Dance With Somebody - David Byrne (Original: Whitney Houston)

Do the Strand - Scissor Sisters (Original: Roxy Music)

Wig Wam Bam - Gavin Friday (Original: Sweet)

Johnny and Mary - Placebo (Original: Robert Palmer)

Mama Told Me Not to Come - The Wolfgang Press (Original: Eric Burdon & the Animals)

West End Girls - We Have Band (Original: Pet Shop Boys)

Love Hangover - The Associates (Original: Diana Ross)

Relax - The Dandy Warhols (Original: Frankie Goes to Hollywood)

Only You - Freezepop (Original: Yazoo)

All Tomorrow's Parties - Japan (Original: The Velvet Underground & Nico)

Jump - Aztec Camera (Original: Van Halen)

Are You Ready to Be Heartbroken? - Sandie Shaw (Original: Lloyd Cole and the Commotions)

Jolene - Strawberry Switchblade (Original: Dolly Parton)

Das Model - The Cardigans (Original: Kraftwerk)

Womanizer - Ladyhawke (Original: Britney Spears)

Party Fears Two - Heaven 17 (Original: The Associates)

Super Trooper - Camera Obscura (Original: ABBA)

Hoppipolla - We Are Scientists (Original: Sigur Ros)

Playground Love - Phoenix (Original: Air)

Don't Look Back in Anger - Devendra Banhart (Original: Oasis)

Everyday is Like Sunday, Except for Blue Monday and Ruby Tuesday, and...Well, Friday I'm in Love: Weekly Mix #46

Here's the last weekly mix of the year - not including the next three Sundays' weekly mix round-ups of course. It's also the fifth and last collection of cover versions for 2008. It's hard to believe this is number 46 already.

Without really thinking, this compilation turned out to lean about 50% into the post-punk/new wave direction (I guess that the odds are that it would with my type of music collection). Several of the artists covered and doing the covering in this mix are post-punk/new wave with exceptions like Dragonette's version of ZZ Top's Sharp Dressed Man, Bjork's version of the Bond tune You Only Live Twice, Chromatics' version of Bruce Springsteen's I'm On Fire, and Kate Bush's version of Elton John's Rocket Man. This one's called Something Borrowed. Check back here next Sunday for the first part of the Everyday is Like Sunday, Except for Blue Monday and Ruby Tuesday, and...Well, Friday I'm in Love Year-End Round-Up (it's lucky I don't have to create a banner for that).

My Sharona - Polysics (Original: The Knack)

Heart of Glass - The Associates (Original: Blondie)

Sharp Dressed Man - Dragonette (Original: ZZ Top)

I'm On Fire - Chromatics (Original: Bruce Springsteen)

It's Oh So Quiet - No Age (Original: Bjork)

No Love Lost - LCD Soundsystem (Original: Joy Division)

Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) - Magazine (Original: Sly & the Family Stone)

Call Me - The Dandy Warhols (Original: Blondie)

People Are Strange - Echo & the Bunnymen (Original: The Doors)

John, I'm Only Dancing - The Chameleons (Original: David Bowie)

Heaven - Voxtrot (Original: Talking Heads)

I Think We're Alone Now - Lene Lovich (Original: Tommy James and the Shondells)

Wouldn't It Be Good - Soulwax (Original: Nik Kershaw)

Third Uncle - Bauhaus (Original: Brian Eno)

Paint It Black - Marc Almond (Original: The Rolling Stones)

You Only Live Twice - Bjork (Original: Nancy Sinatra)

Faith - The Boy Least Likely To (Original: George Michael)

Think I'll Run Away - Euros Childs (Original: The Turtles)

The One I Love - Sufjan Stevens (Original: REM)

Rocket Man - Kate Bush (Original: Elton John)

If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next - David Usher (Original: Manic Street Preachers)

Everyday is Like Sunday, Except for Blue Monday and Ruby Tuesday, and...Well, Friday I'm in Love: Weekly Mix #39

It's that time again - cover versions. This will be the fourth weekly mix featuring covers, so I estimate there will only be one more covers mix for the year. Since creating these collections of covers I realized something that I probably should have figured out by now: that I gravitate towards covers of artists I already like, meaning I have multiple covers of David Bowie, The Smiths and New Order songs above and beyond covers of other artists. It only makes sense, mind - why would you enjoy and/or notice covers of artists you don't particularly like or recognize? And the likelihood is that the artists you already love are inspired by other artists you love. Of course there are also just some artists that were so prolific and memorable that they get covered more than others on a regular basis. At any rate, with this mix, there are four covers of David Bowie, two covers of New Order and one of The Smiths. I'm a creature of unshakable habits and predilections.

Particular highlights of this compilation include Nico's surprisingly upbeat cover of Heroes, Charlotte Martin's delicate version of Bizarre Love Triangle, the haunting JJ72 interpretation of It's a Sin, and one of the best songs that OK Go could have covered with Damian Kulash's voice...The Lovecats. This mix is called Old Habits (And Artists) Die Hard. Stay tuned for next week's Halloween megamix.


When Doves Cry - The Amplid (Original: Prince)

I'm So Excited - Le Tigre (Original: The Pointer Sisters)

Suffragette City - Frankie Goes to Hollywood (Original: David Bowie)

Fame - Duran Duran (Original: David Bowie)

Heroes - Nico (Original: David Bowie)

Stand and Deliver - The Young Knives (Original: Adam and the Ants)

Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others - Supergrass (Original: The Smiths)

Telegram Sam - Bauhaus (Original: T.Rex)

Dropout Boogie - The Kills (Original: Captain Beefheart)

Sound and Vision - The Sea and Cake (Original: David Bowie)

The Lovecats - OK Go (Original: The Cure)

Be My Baby - We Are Scientists (Original: The Ronettes)

Just - Nickel Creek (Original: Radiohead)

It's a Sin - JJ72 (Original: Pet Shop Boys)

Windmills of Your Mind - Colourfield (Original: Noel Harrison on The Thomas Crown Affair film score)

When You Sleep - The Antlers (Original: My Bloody Valentine)

Teenage Lust - Oliver North Choir (Original: The Jesus and Mary Chain)

My Girl - The Jesus and Mary Chain (Original: The Temptations)

Bizarre Love Triangle - Charlotte Martin (Original: New Order)

Blue Monday - The Cloud Room (Original: New Order) / (Alternate Megaupload Download Link)

Sweet Dreams - Bat For Lashes (Original: Eurythmics)

Run to Your Grave - Slow Club (Original: Mae Shi)

Everyday is Like Sunday, Except for Blue Monday and Ruby Tuesday, and...Well, Friday I'm in Love: Weekly Mix #28

I apologize for the absolute shoddiness of this week's mix, which happens to be yet another collection of cover versions. Unfortunately, the fact my 100-page MA thesis was due early this week has eaten up any brain space and time for this entire past week. Last night, as I stared at a waffle and contemplated throwing it across the room, shouting "Look! A luftwaffle!," I realized that I might have been working too hard this past week. Don't be fooled by the time stamp on this post - in reality, I'm posting this thing on Tuesday. The benefit of making a mix of cover versions is it takes slightly less time in terms of selection (as opposed to trying to represent a particular feeling, theme or genre) - it is the lazy person's mixtape.

For now, I leave you with the above video of Indochine's cover of Dead or Alive's You Spin Me Round (I find this song even more amusing in the distinctly French accent - and on a slightly more random tangent, I really wish Pete Burns hadn't messed with his face, making a pretty man a distinctly frightening woman - and on an even more random tangent, I wonder if Pete Burns and Morrissey are still friends). Incidentally, I found out about this cover at Coast to Coast. I promise that next week will be a more thoughtful mix, and hopefully, I can catch up and write an extra post this week to make up for last week's slim pickings.

This mix is still pretty good considering the fact it includes the absolutely chilling cover of REM's Everybody Hurts by Bodies of Water, the eeriness of Einsturzende Neubauten's cover of Lee Hazlewood's Sand, and the delicate beauty of Bat for Lashes recent cover of The Cure's A Forest. And because there's always that chance I will squeeze in some sort of music from the best film in the world, Labyrinth, there's a rather bizarre cover of one of Bowie's Muppet masterpieces in there as well. I'll call this mix Luftwaffle.

Does Your Mother Know - Ash (Original: ABBA)

Ballroom Blitz - The Damned (Original: Sweet)

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - Devo (Original: The Rolling Stones)

All the Young Dudes - The Skids (Original: Mott the Hoople/David Bowie)

Magic Dance - Kelley Polar (Original: David Bowie/various goblin muppets)

Heaven - Lorraine (Original: Psychedelic Furs)

Love is the Drug - Kylie Minogue (Original: Roxy Music)

1234 - Bikini (Original: Feist)

The Boys Are Back in Town - The Cardigans (Original: Thin Lizzy)

The Man Who Sold the World - Ed Kuepper (Original: David Bowie)

Zombie - Ephraim Uzomechina Nzeka (Original: Fela Kuti)

She's Lost Control - The Raveonettes (Original: Joy Division)

Sand - Einsturzende Neubauten (Original: Lee Hazlewood)

Drive - The Veils (Original: REM)

Crown of Love - This Is Ivy League (Original: Arcade Fire)

Everybody Hurts - Bodies of Water (Original: REM)

Late Night - This Mortal Coil (Original: Syd Barrett)

A Forest - Bat For Lashes (Original: The Cure)

All Cats Are Grey - Band in Box (Original: The Cure)

Everyday is Like Sunday, Except for Blue Monday and Ruby Tuesday, and...Well, Friday I'm in Love: Weekly Mix #18

It's cover version time again. I've had several of these accumulating since the first weekly mix of covers, and I felt it's been long enough of a break. I still marvel at the way other artists can make me enjoy a song I would never have listened to by the original artist. Case in point: the video clip above featuring Kate Bush singing Elton John's Rocket Man. Also, in this week's mix, I ended up picking two Beatles tracks covered by Nina Simone and Siouxsie and the Banshees, and I'm not really a Beatles fan to begin with. Somehow Siouxsie and the Banshees managed to make me re-imagine Dear Prudence in a way I never would have with the original - now I see a mysterious, dark little girl who won't leave her room.

Looking at this particular mix, it seems I've subconsciously went a bit 80's with covers of Billy Idol, Madonna, Oliva Newton-John, New Order and The Smiths. I've also included the utterly Canadian cover version - Corey Hart's completely ridiculous Sunglasses at Night by fey Montreal DJ, Tiga, who actually manages to make the song cool...well, maybe just a bit less embarrassing. And to avoid confusion for some, It's Not Over Yet is not an original Klaxons tune, so Goldfrapp is actually covering a cover and/or covering the original by Grace - I like her fragile, stripped-down version nonetheless, far more haunting than the Klaxons. One of my favourites in this mix is the cover of I Wanna Be Your Dog by French artist Emilie Simon - it's startling and lovely at the same time as her child-like voice croons over bizarre feedback and dreamy melody. Another favourite is John Cale's version of LCD Soundsystem's All My Friends (arguably one of the best tracks off Sound of Silver). I'll call this mix It's Never Over Yet.

Dancing With Myself - Nouvelle Vague (Original: Billy Idol)

I Don't Wanna Grow Up - Cold War Kids (Original: Tom Waits)

Like a Virgin - Ryan Adams (Original: Madonna)

You Will - Snow Patrol (Original: Bright Eyes)

It's Not Over Yet - Goldfrapp (Original: Grace)

I Wanna Be Your Dog - Emilie Simon (Original: Iggy & The Stooges)

Gimme Shelter - Patti Smith (Original: The Rolling Stones)

Here Comes the Sun - Nina Simone (Original: The Beatles)

Dear Prudence - Siouxsie & the Banshees (Original: The Beatles)

Sunday Morning - James (Original: The Velvet Underground)

I Just Came to Tell You I'm Going - Jarvis Cocker and Kid Loco (Original: Serge Gainsbourg)

The Headmaster Ritual - Radiohead (Original: The Smiths)

Ceremony - Galaxie 500 (Original: New Order)

All My Friends - John Cale (Original: LCD Soundsystem)

Only Love Can Break Your Heart - Saint Etienne (Original: Neil Young)

Frontwards - Los Campesinos! (Original: Pavement)

Get It On (Bang a Gong) - Power Station (Original: T.Rex)

Let's Get Physical - The Black Ghosts (Original: Olivia Newton-John)

Always on My Mind - Pet Shop Boys (Original: Elvis Presley)

Sunglasses at Night - Tiga (Original: Corey Hart)

What the Hell, Ella, Ella, Ella, Eh?

When I read Nicky Wire's reviews of 2007 songs in an NME a couple of months back, I felt a bit like crying. Now, I don't think The Wire was ever really the epitome of music taste; however, there was a time when he and the others in the Manics praised artists with more meaning and credibility (The Clash, C86 bands, Public Enemy, etc.). Lately, the Manics are promoting artists like Cherry Ghost, Babyshambles, and The Horrors. I was heartbroken enough when Nicky first gushed over Rihanna's utterly annoying and ubiquitous Umbrella in the NME, and now...last week I find out that the Manics are covering Umbrella. And the track will be available on the free CD with a future issue of NME. It's taken me several days to digest both this news and the track itself.

The decision to cover this song and be included on this NME compilation smacks of the publicity machine. All of the recent attention given to the Manics by the NME is completely forced - because the Manics are the winners of this year's Godlike Genius Award, NME has decided to give a sudden push to their coverage of them even though they've been dismissive of them for years. The NME may also have felt the negative energy of Manics fans and their emails about the NME's hypocrisy (I may have sent one myself, ahem.). The Manics have had more features in NME in the past couple of months than they have in the past eight years, including a bizarre, tenuous tie-in to the news that Castro is retiring. Now, to coincide with the big NME Awards celebration and the resulting Manics' performance, the Manics choose to release a cover of probably the most popular track of 2007. Admittedly, the Manics have always been notorious for playing the publicity game by doing or saying shocking things, but I'm just bewildered by this gesture. If the Manics are once again "sleeping with the NME," I have a feeling they're going to end up on the couch in a few months.

Judging by the amount of discussion it's generated on the forum on http://www.foreverdelayed.org.uk/ (relevant and otherwise - whether Nicky Wire should be in a video for the song wearing Kylie Minogue's gold hotpants and dancing about with an umbrella, isn't particularly relevant), this cover version has created a fervor of opinions. I wonder if it's merely because of the novelty and the shock factor of deciding to cover this specific song. It seems there are several opinions ranging from how Umbrella was such a great song to begin with and the Manics merely replicate that success to complete praise for their brilliance to outright dejection. However, most of the criticism I've read seems to be leaning towards the positive. I, myself, believe that at best, the Manics have made a song that I originally hated a little more palatable. The strange If You Tolerate This, Your Children Will Be Next background that pulses through the first half doesn't seem quite right and James Dean Bradfield's guitar solo seems uncharacteristically lacklustre, but James's voice during the bridge gives me chills (of course that could just be because James's voice always gives me chills). You can listen to the song in the YouTube clip below and judge for yourself.



I still love the Manics with all of my heart and will always stand by them, but I love them like that best friend who can be mouthy and reckless, capable of saying and doing absolutely genius things and equally capable of looking foolish after taking something too far.

Since I don't have the Manics' Umbrella as an MP3, I will include a couple of the standout B-Sides from their latest album Send Away the Tigers. You'll be better off with these anyhow.

The Vorticists - Manic Street Preachers

Welcome to the Deadzone - Manic Street Preachers

Everyday is Like Sunday, Except for Blue Monday and Ruby Tuesday, and...Well, Friday I'm in Love: Weekly Mix #4

Cover versions are an interesting genre of music - they can go very badly, very well, or more often than not, sound too much like the original. When I was a teenager, I used to rant about how the original versions of songs were always best and how no one should be so audacious as to cover a song, especially one that was classic and well-loved already. Now that I'm older, I realize there are many covers that are just as good, sometimes even better, than the originals. In some cases, as with Police & Thieves by The Clash and Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley, the cover eclipses the original. I only just recently discovered that Ben Folds did a cover of Dr. Dre's Bitches Ain't Shit and that it's become massively popular (I'm obviously not up on my rap cover versions). While I'm not a fan of the original, nor this indie piano ballad version, it does make me think about why artists choose to cover others. Is it for tribute, for parody, for creating new meaning by recontextualizing?

Personally, the most effective cover versions make me hear a song in a whole new way and appreciate it far more than I did when I heard the original. I will admit that I would much rather hear the Scissor Sisters' version of Comfortably Numb over Pink Floyd's, and Brett Anderson's plaintive and distinctive vibrato puts a new gender-bending spin on Brass in Pocket. Sometimes the original artist would prevent me from liking particular songs, but in someone else's hands and voice, the song takes on a new, better life. While I would never listen to Nelly Furtado or Gwen Stefani of my own volition, I greatly enjoy the covers done by Bloc Party and Franz Ferdinand, respectively. Sometimes you're lucky and one of your favourite bands covers one of your favourite songs by another artist - in my case, Sneaker Pimps covered my all-time favourite Duran Duran song The Chauffeur.

Sad Kermit

It's always fascinating to see which kinds of songs a band chooses to cover - their choices can reveal influences or they can reveal admiration for another artist or they can introduce the covered artist to a whole new audience. Some are more prolific than others in producing covers - for example, Of Montreal has covered numerous songs on tour ranging from 60's British Invasion bands to current indie to glam rock. Some produce covers with the original band - Sandie Shaw and The Smiths come to mind (I didn't actually include any of Sandie Shaw's covers of The Smiths because I was dangerously close to making this mix a collection of Smiths cover versions - instead I included Shaw's fantastic version of Sympathy for the Devil). This weekly mix encompasses a range of cover versions from those who covered their contemporaries (Sandie Shaw, Franz Ferdinand, Dragonette, The Clash) to those who covered their predecessors (Placebo, The Futureheads, Sneaker Pimps, Camera Obscura) to that which is pure novelty and parody (Sad Kermit - for more information check out http://www.sadkermit.com/). Hopefully, the one commonality for these covers is that they're all decent ones. This mix is called: Cover to Cover.

Sympathy for the Devil - Sandie Shaw (Original: The Rolling Stones)

What You Waiting For? - Franz Ferdinand (Original: Gwen Stefani)

20th Century Boy - Placebo (Original: T.Rex)

She Sells Sanctuary - Dandy Warhols (Original: The Cult)

Comfortably Numb - Scissor Sisters (Original: Pink Floyd)

The Boys - Dragonette (Original: Calvin Harris)

Hounds of Love - The Futureheads (Original: Kate Bush)

I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) - Maximo Park (Original: The Proclaimers)

Say It Right - Bloc Party (Original: Nelly Furtado)

Boys Keep Swinging - The Associates (Original: David Bowie)

The Instrumental - Manic Street Preachers (Original: The June Brides)

Police & Thieves - The Clash (Original: Junior Murvin)

Spanish Dance Troupe - Of Montreal (Original: Gorky's Zygotic Mynci)

This Charming Man - Stars (Original: The Smiths)

The Boy With the Thorn In His Side - Jeff Buckley (Original: The Smiths)

The Chauffeur - Sneaker Pimps (Original: Duran Duran)

Brass in Pocket - Suede (Original: The Pretenders)

Creep - Sad Kermit (Original: Radiohead)

Disco 2000 - Nick Cave (Original: Pulp)

To See a Friend in Tears - James Dean Bradfield (Original: Jacques Brel)

Modern Girl - Camera Obscura (Original: Sheena Easton)


Weekly Mix #4 (Megaupload)