Thursday, December 27, 2012

On the Right Side of 2012

     It's my annual "best of" (actually I prefer "my favorites") compilation  and I must confess I always feel a little self-conscious about this one in a way that I rarely do about my other compilations.  Not so much about how it will be received, but more along the lines, "so this is the kind of music I listen to....Are my tastes too stereotypically 40something? Am I in a bit of rut in terms of expanding my palette? But I'm over it now. :) I should also mention that there were a few artists I left off because they had appeared on the best of 2010 or best of 2011 comps.  Anyway, happy listening and a Happy New Year to all!


Download

Hang Loose Alabama Shakes
3 Pears Dwight Yoakam
Please Return To Jesus Bap Kennedy
Slip and Roll Aimee Mann
Leonard Sharon Van Etten
Magic Summertime Eleni Mandell
Blackwind Patrick Watson
Tell Me A Tale Michael Kiwanuka
Who David Byrne & St. Vincent
Dirty Money Antibalas
All Your Gold Bat For Lashes
Sweet Life Frank Ocean
Montauk Rufus Wainwright
The Kingdom Has Already Come Iris Dement
Adam and Eve Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson
Yet Again Grizzly Bear
Splitter Calexico
Human Being Cat Power
I Like To Keep Myself In Pain Kelly Hogan
Deep River Bobby Womack

Thursday, December 20, 2012

More Bowie Covers

     In addition to being inspired to do a Bowie covers compilation by seeing the Feelies perform Fame in Something Wild, I should also cite Seu Jorge's great set of Bowie covers from the Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou soundtrack (specifically The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions cd) as inspiration.  For some reason, I only got it earlier this year.  Not only the cd is great, but it also validates my argument that the best tribute albums are usually one artist paying homage to another artist.  (And yes, I realize that kind of invalidates my putting together a tribute compilation like this, but I prefer not to dwell on that. :)  I also recognize that including Nirvana's version of The Man Who Sold the World is a bit on the obvious side (especially since Richard Barone's version is quite dandy).  Blame it on my Gen Xer mentality if you must.

Download

The Man Who Sold The World   Nirvana
Queen Bitch Capsize 7
Watch That Man Lulu
Ziggy Stardust Bauhaus
Oh! You Pretty Things Seu Jorge
China girl Rhonda Harris
Andy Warhol Tubalcain
Ashes to Ashes The Wee Trio
Starman Culture Club
Red Money Swahili Blonde
Changes Lewis & Clarke
Soul Love Marti Jones


Thursday, December 13, 2012

All About Bowie

    As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I saw the 1986 movie Something Wild again recently and was struck by how good The Feelies were as the high school reunion band - especially their cover of David Bowie's Fame.  In addition to sending me on a Feelies listening binge, I also started listening to more Bowie, and, of course, more Bowie covers.   The pickings were a little slim - especially given how many Bowie tribute albums there are - but I consider that a testament to Bowie rather than an indictment of his songwriting.  There's some interesting interpretations (starting with M. Ward's version of Let's Dance) as well as some nice straightforward covers (Culture Club's take on Starman).  Disc Two comes next week.

Download

Let's Dance M. Ward
After All Ventilator
The Gospel According to Tony Day Edwyn Collins
John, I'm Only Dancing Vivian Girls
Suffragette City The Get Up Kids
Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) Ex-Voto
Fame Dennis Coffey
The Sun Machine (Memory Of A Free Festival) Mercury Rev
Fall in Love With Me Guy Chadwick
Drive in Saturday Teacher and the Pets
The Bewley Brothers Sister Crayon
Heroes TV On The Radio

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Tarnation - Gentle Creatures

          I was tempted to indulge in just a bit of nostalgia for the alternative country of the 1990s, but I'll refrain and just say that Tarnation's out of print 1995 album "Gentle Creatures" is an underappreciated gem.  It's out of print now (as is their also out of print follow-up Mirador), but, unbeknownst to me til about 20 minutes ago, the lead singer (and creative force) Paula Frazer has put out several solo albums.   Which I will shortly be checking out. :)

(p.s.  I still haven't figured out new solution to the recent file-sharing problems, but I figured I'd give filefactory.com a shot.)

Download

Game Of Broken Hearts
Halfway To Madness
The Well
Big O Motel
Tell Me It's Not So
Two Wrongs Won't Make Things Right
Lonely Lights
Gentle Creatures
Listen To The Wind
The Hand
Do You Fancy Me
Yellow Birds
Burn Again
Stranger In The Mirror
It's Not Easy