quote:

---

NiN fans, like Nirvana fans and (some) Smashing Pumpkins fans tend to be quite myopic in their appreciation of anything other than those favorites.

---

I tend to agree with that ... when NiN opened for David Bowie here in the states the audience was awful to him. I mean, come on, it's David Bowie ... even at his worst he's pretty damn good.

It's weird, because I liked NiN at one point, although I got tired of them eventually and even then I thought they were good, but not THAT great. It certainly didn't make me think I needed to drop all other forms of music.

And I there are bands that I consider legendary. The Smiths is probably my favorite band. I never get tired of them ... yet my liking for them only made me love music more and seek out other things that inspired me. I think it's weird to show your love for a band by hating everything else.

Oh yeah ... covers. I already did this topic, but I have one to add ... the Michael Andrews/Gary Jules cover of "Mad World" from Donnie Darko is just gorgeous. It's as effective as the original and it was brilliant in the film for emotional effect.

Tonight on the radio (103.1 in LA), I heard the Scissor Sisters' cover of Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out." It was awesome! Do any of you have the new Scissor Sisters' record? It got pretty good reviews, and I am thinking of checking it out.

Well, Karen, I have the U.K. CD from my bro hal. It doesn't have the Franz Ferdinand cover, but it does have a cover of Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb", which sounds like a long-lost BeeGees' nugget. The whole thing sounds like a modern dance/disco epic crossed with slightly-brought-up-to-date BeeGees and an homage to Elton John and Thomas Dolby. If that whets your appetite, go for it. I don't know if the U.S. release is different or not.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Karen:
Tonight on the radio (103.1 in LA), I heard the Scissor Sisters' cover of Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out." It was awesome! Do any of you have the new Scissor Sisters' record? It got pretty good reviews, and I am thinking of checking it out.

---

I've heard two of their songs: that single thingie, and their cover of "Comfortably Numb." Their hedonistic pop schmaltz (that's how I remember it, anyway) isn't something I, personally, would enjoy, but their "Comfortably Numb" cover was spectacular. You know, I oughta downlo[cough] go to the store and buy it right now.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Karen:
Tonight on the radio (103.1 in LA), I heard the Scissor Sisters' cover of Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out." It was awesome! Do any of you have the new Scissor Sisters' record? It got pretty good reviews, and I am thinking of checking it out.

---

My two cents on the Scissor Sisters comes from a day spent listening to a promo copy while hanging out at my old record store. The single, "Take Your Mama Out," is a great slice of Elton John/Bee Gees-esque 70's pop. It's NOTHING like other New York "scene" bands.

However...the whole of the record failed to make me very excited. Some so-so techno-dancey tracks made me wish for more of the disco songs. The U.S. release seems to be the same as the UK version...same interesting cover of "Comfortably Numb".

But...this was after only one and a half spins. Maybe it's a grower. I LOVE the single....

pE, I don't want to try to convince you that you're missing something, as I did with Wilco, but there's no way the Scissor Sisters' single is the best song. It may or may not be a grower. To me, it's about as good as any BeeGees or Elton John album, but you know how I seem to err on the new at the expense of the classic. Anyway, I'm not ready to put this in my top ten, but it's much better than I would have ever imagined it before I heard it.

quote:

---

Originally posted by mark f:
pE, I don't want to try to convince you that you're missing something, as I did with Wilco, but there's no way the Scissor Sisters' single is the best song. It may or may not be a grower. To me, it's about as good as any BeeGees or Elton John album, but you know how I seem to err on the new at the expense of the classic. Anyway, I'm not ready to put this in my top ten, but it's much better than I would have ever imagined it before I heard it.

---

Mark, I'm never averse to being convinced. I've changed my mind on both Franz Ferdinand and the new Wilco because of the spurrings of folks here, and I'm sure those won't be the last things. I'm going to give the record a more attentive spin (since I was able to snag the free promo...ah, the rewards of being a former shop clerk!) when I can pay attention more closely.

One thing I did like...instead of the recently ubiquitous "sounds like Gang of Four/Joy Division/Cure/insert late 70's/early 80's new wave post-punk band name here" kinda vibe, there's a nice Elton/Bee Gees thing going on. That, as far as I'm concerned, is a good thing.

By the way...I spent several hours trying to spin my pals in the store towards the Wilco record, which they didn't care for. No luck yet. They don't know what they're missing...

quote:

---

Originally posted by mark f:
The whole thing sounds like a modern dance/disco epic crossed with slightly-brought-up-to-date BeeGees and an homage to Elton John and Thomas Dolby.

---

That sounds pretty good to me!

Thanks to mark f, Monheim, and philosopherEric for posting your thoughts on the Scissor Sisters. I knew that somebody here would have some helpful feedback! I went to the band's web site and played the tracks available there. I liked them and now I really want to get the record.

I continue to hear their cover of the Franz Ferdinand song on the radio. WOW! It's a great cover; I only wish that track were on the record. Oh well . . .

Two cool covers I've found on recent purchases...

David Mead covering Michael Jackson's "Human Nature" on his new one, "Indiana".

And Duvall covering Spandau Ballet's "True" on their "Volume and Density"

And one that I've not mentioned before but I think is BRILLIANT...David Gray's reinterpretation of Soft Cell's "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye" on "White Ladder". I wasn't sure about Gray until I heard that one...I became a HUGE fan after that.

Just the other day I was listening to David Mead's Indiana when my wife called out from her office, "Hey, who did this song originally?"

I smiled, it was the "Human Nature" cover, of course. I really like it when an artist makes something unexpected out of something familiar, which is what great covers are all about.

The Butchies do that on this year's Make Yr Life with the Outfield's "Your Love." Think Aztec Camera's classic cover of Van Halen's "Jump" and you get a bit of a sense of how they take it. Wonderful.

Now Playing: Raiders of the Lost Ark on USA

quote:

---

Originally posted by Karen:
Tonight on the radio (103.1 in LA), I heard the Scissor Sisters' cover of Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out." It was awesome! Do any of you have the new Scissor Sisters' record? It got pretty good reviews, and I am thinking of checking it out.

---

I finally heard the SS cover of "Take Me Out" and I have to concur with Karen: fookin' brilliant!!! It's tongue in cheek (as everything seems to be with the Sisters) but it's not a parody. Very clever. I'd love to own it...

quote:

---

Originally posted by philosopherEric:
I finally heard the SS cover of "Take Me Out" and I have to concur with Karen: fookin' brilliant!!! It's tongue in cheek (as everything seems to be with the Sisters) but it's not a parody. Very clever. I'd love to own it...

---

I would love to own "Take Me Out" too! It must be a B-side.

I bought the Scissor Sister's self-titled CD about a week or so ago, I and I'm really enjoying it. The songs are catchy and fun to listen and dance to. There is one cover song on the CD -- "Comfortably Numb."

A perfect circle didn't do a bad job with "Imagine" or "When the levee breaks", Did very good on both covers, but agian nobody cares.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Mike:
A perfect circle didn't do a bad job with "Imagine" or "When the levee breaks", Did very good on both covers, but agian nobody cares.

---

I'm not a big APC fan, Mike, but I heard the cover of "Imagine" and it's not bad. But that's a song that probably should have been left well enough alone.

I am curious what the cover of Elvis Costello's "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding" sounds like, having seen the track listing.

Bill Murray's cover of the Elvis Costello song was pretty funny, especially after I heard the original. If anything, Bill Murray was LESS over the top than Costello was.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Mike:
A perfect circle didn't do a bad job with "Imagine" or "When the levee breaks", Did very good on both covers, but agian nobody cares.

---

"Imagine" is tough. It's one of those songs so closely identified with its writer that it takes a lot of brass to cover it much less in a radically different arrangement. That being said, I'm not a fan of slavish covers, which is what most covers of "Imagine" I've heard tend to be. I don't know that A Perfect Circle's version is one I'll come back to, but the minor-key arrangement and backing vocals alone make it worth at least a listen.

"Peace Love and Understanding," pE, is more of the same. It's damn near a dirge next to Costello's version. Again, it's not going to replace the original in my estimation any time soon, but I'm glad to hear a radically different take on it.

One of my favorite artists, Keb' Mo', has an album of covers out this year. Coincidentally, it features both "Imagine" and "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding." Everything I like about A Perfect Circle's covers is what I don't like about Keb' Mo's, I'm sorry to say. They're competent, but not exactly inspired, the sort of thing you might expect as a first or second encore at a live show.

Now Playing: "Sweetest Game" Bart Davenport Game Preserve (Digital Rights Agency)

Has anyone heard Nick Lowe's original version of "What's So Funny 'Bout Peace, Love and Understanding?" It came out five years before Elvis's cover and was on Brinsley Schwarz's last album. I mainly mention this because I consider Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds to be Godfathers to the current rock "revivalists" in whatever form that takes, but we never seem to discuss them. In the 70s and early 80s, I played Edmunds', Lowe's and Rockpile's albums up the yingyang.

As a fan of Tool and A Perfect Circle, and not a huge maniac of the Beatles or Lennon, I can't stand A Perfect Circle's cover of "Imagine." I find the song (and video) to turn John Lennon's songwriting into something maudlin. It reeks entirely of new-agey, "gee-whiz-can't-we-do-better-than-this" sentmentality that, while in small doses I can take, is insufferable at large. Due to the fact that the song is slowed down and made minor key, it basically becomes a plodding stage upon which Maynard James Keenan wobbles like the vulnerable, goth (who's too "prog" to call himself goth, but isn't deluding anyone) diva he is. Don't get me wrong: I like Maynard James Keenan's voice most of the time, but I can understand why others don't. The "Imagine" cover basically throws it entirely into my face.

Three more good covers:
- Before I essentially deep-sixed my computer, I had a bunch of live Godspeed You! Black Emperor MP3s, and one of them had them covering Gorecki. I don't remember anything specifically, but I'm putting it here anyway.
- The Futureheads - Hounds of Love (Kate Bush, originally)
- The Beastie Boys - Time For Livin' (Sly and the Family Stone, originally)

As a follow-up to my last post, I never really considered most of the Dave Edmunds' Rockpile albums cover records, but they are for the most part. The thing is that during a stretch of years, Edmunds was such a hell of an arranger, all his songs just seemed like they were his. He had a string of great albums, including "Get It", "Tracks on Wax 4", "Repeat When Necessary" and "DE 7th", which all contained tremendous versions of other artist's songs. I guess my favorites would include (on "Repeat") Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk" and Graham Parker's "Crawlin' From the Wreckage". Also that album had Edmunds' inspired version of "Queen of Hearts" which Juice Newton later turned into a platinum single, using the exact-same arrangement, albeit much-wimpier.

Somebody here must have something to say about Dave Edmunds. I'd give those four albums I mentioned all 9 or 10 out of 10.

Everything you say about Rockpile is absolutely true, mark. It's amazing how subtle the arrangements on their covers are. On the surface, they sound deceptively like the originals, but there is a wealth of originality there.

The 2004 reissue of the classic Seconds of Pleasure includes the complete limited edition EP Nick Lowe & Dave Edmunds Sing The Everly Brothers featuring four tracks; "Take A Message to Mary" (a great example of what I was talking about above), "Crying in the Rain," "Poor Jenny," and "When Will I Be Loved." That alone makes the reissue a must-own.

Now Playing: "It Just Is" Rilo Kiley More Adventurous (Warner Music Group)