8 June 2012 - Siouxsie and the Banshees - Dear Prudence

I really couldn't come up with an unusual cover today (as usual, my mind is totally blank), so I had to settle for a classic one instead. Here's Siouxsie and the Banshees playing Dear Prudence by The Beatles on Top of the Pops.

7 June 2012 - After The Fire - Der Kommissar

This classic 80's tune was originally performed by Falco.  In German.  This English-speaking group did an English-language version of the song soon afterwards.... and attained greater success in the United States with it.  The original was a hit outside the English-speaking world - this version brought it to those of us who did not speak German.

This is a very faithful cover, staying true to Falco's musical and vocal styles.  This fact angered Falco, who famously hated this version of his song, to no end.  After The Fire did make it a little richer musically, as the original was even more keyboard-heavy than this version.



Alles klar, Herr Kommissar?

6 June 2012 - Ministry - Lay Lady Lay & Rehab

I have to admit I didn't like Ministry's Filth Pig disc when it came out in 1996. It just didn't sound right to me, especially coming off a string of industrial classics - The Land of Rape and Honey (1988), The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste (1989) and the epic Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs (1992). After my initial disappointment with Filth Pig, I kind of took a break from Ministry for a little over a decade (sure, I'd play the classics every so often, but I pretty much had my head somewhere else musically). A few years ago I decided to catch up with the rest of their catalog (including giving Filth Pig another shot...this time I "got it" and I dug the newer output as well). So here is the lead single from Filth Pig, a bruising cover of Bob Dylan's Lay Lady Lay. I'm still trying to figure out if it's easier to decipher the lyrics with Al or Bob singing it.



This Amy Winehouse cover is NOT to be missed (sorry, it's just the song, no video).

5 June 2012 - The Breeders - Lord of the Thighs

The Breeders started life off as something of a supergroup, featuring Kim Deal from the Pixies, Josephine Wiggs from The Perfect Disaster, and Tanya Donnelly from Throwing Muses.  Naturally, I was interested.  The lineup morphed somewhat - Tanya left to form Belly, Kim's twin sister Kelley joined the band - but they still stayed compelling.

Featuring a rare Jo Wiggs vocal, I always thought this version captured the cool spirit of Aerosmith as only The Breeders could.  Frankly, I can only picture Jo Wiggs singing this, and not Kim Deal.  Or even Steven Tyler, for that matter.  Jo's vocal is much cooler and less harsh than the original, itself an excellent tune.

4 June 2012 - Butthole Surfers - The Hurdy Gurdy Man

As a fan of the Butthole Surfers, I was looking for the perfect way to best sum them up. Then I came across this line on wikipedia: "The Buttholes have a well-reported appetite for recreational drugs, an evident influence on their sound." Yup. Totally explains this Donovan cover.

3 June 2012 - Shane Nicholson and Kasey Chambers - Can't Get You Outta My Head

I have written elsewhere of my love of this excessively catchy Kylie Minogue tune.  I've also written elsewhere of my love of Kasey Chambers. Bring both of them together (along with Kasey's husband), and we get a countrified version of an excessively catchy tune.

I enjoy this version because it takes a really poppy tune, sung by one talented artist, and moves it to a excellent 2-part harmony, and a different genre, without losing any of its catchiness. If you can ignore the closing credits, you'll experience an excellent combination.

Bonus: everyone involved is Australian.

1 June 2012 - Amy Millan - I Will Follow You Into The Dark

I was a pretty big fan of Amy Millan and her band Stars long before I heard this countrified cover of one of my favorite Death Cab For Cutie songs. This live video is from a show at the Black Cat in Washington, DC (a great place to see a show). The studio version appears on her stunning second solo album Masters of the Burial.