The Yellow Melodies - Pleasant Dreams

 

We are accustomed to Rafa Skam and his mates in The Yellow Melodies soothing our souls and raising our spirits with sunny bursts of indie pop goodness. But for this outing they have added an interesting twist. In honor of the 40th anniversary of the release of a favorite album by punk/garage icons the Ramones, The Yellow Melodies have covered the entirety of Pleasant Dreams. A leopard doesn't change its spots and a guitar pop band doesn't sound like a punk band. But we think there is something undeniably punk about recording the Ramones in guitar pop style. And whether or not you agree, we suspect you will enjoy the fruits of their labor. Andif you take a look at the photo at the bottom of the post, you will see that they can dress like the Ramones.

Pleasant Dreams is out now in digital and CD formats, with three bonus tracks and a booklet. A vinyl version will be available via four labels: 1. Hurrah! Musica; 2. Old Bad Habits; 3. Discos Imprescindibles; and 4. Snap! Records.

The Yellow Melodies are Rafa Skam (vocals/guitar), Antonio Clares (bass/backing vocals), Carlos Abrisqueta (keys/guitars), and Jose Angel Hernandez (drums). Guest contributions were maded by Antonio Galvan, Ruth Sanchez, and Antonio Perez.

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“The Man Who Sold the World” by The Hics (Bowie tribute Modern Love due out May 28)

 We’re happy to be able to tell you about this upcoming David Bowie tribute record, including covers by The Hics, Helado Negro, Khruangbin, We are KING and a host of other artists recording alternative versions of some well-known and some lesser-known cuts from Bowie’s oeuvre. As one of the Bobs put it so well, we celebrate the guy's entire catalog. Here is “The Man Who Sold the World” by The Hics. It creates a whole new mood around the song, sort of a low-key spy soundtrack feel:

BBE Music · The Hics - The Man Who Sold The World

And here is "Sound and Vision" by Helado Negro, a fairly catchy Latin-tinged slow and easy hip-hop track that highlights the melody of the original song while creating a new way to think about the lyrics of this 1977 Bowie classic. I like the idea of including this one in a jazz/hip hop/electronic music collection - Bowie was trying some new stuff on Low at the time, and this feels pretty true to the spirit:

 

 Finally (I'm just catching up) here is We are KING playing "Space Oddity" - a stretched out electronic version with breathy female vocals that ramps up the volume and layers in more sounds as it builds. Because the song's so well-known and loved, a cover would have to be pretty different, and this one is.

 

So hopes are high for the rest of this record. Definitely looking forward to the Khruangbin track.  The album is due out May 28 on BBE Records. 

BBE Music Website 

The Hics Facebook 

Helado Negro website 

We Are KING website

"Smile Now, Cry Later" b/w "Runaway" by The Shacks/Brainstory

This little single is positively swoon-worthy. The two songs are by Mr. Brown Eyed Soul, Sunny Ozuna, aka Sunny and The Sunliners. But the two track here are covers. "Smile Now, Cry Later is by New York City's The Shacks. "Runaway" is the work of Rialto, California's Brainstory. Both songs are taken from full LP of covers of Sunny's songs, to be released later this year.

The record is available now in digital and vinyl formats. See the Bandcamp link below.




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Website for Brainstory
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Soliti Five Years - My Brain Hurts A Lot

It isn't unusual for a label to celebrate five years of existence with a release of some of their best artists playing some of the best songs released on the imprint over that five years.  Samplers are great, and the five year anniversary is as good of a reason is publish a sampler as any.  But leave it to Helsinki's Soliti Music to put an interesting twist on things.  Yes, My Brain Hurts includes some of the label - and Finland's - best artists, and some of those wonderful songs.  But the twist is that each of the featured band's has contributed a cover of a song by another Soliti artist rather than one of their own compositions.  The result is fresh interpretations of great tunes, and a collection that doesn't replicate your current version of the song even if you are a collector of Soliti Music releases (which, of course, you should be).  So, we have dream pop band Delay Trees covering "Our Old Centre Back" from Cats on Fire's latest LP.  The New Tigers offer a stunning take on Black Twig's "Pastel Blue".  Black Twig returns the favor and covers "World's Greatest Actor" by The New Tigers.  In a flurry of genre-crossing, Cats of Transnistria cover Black Lizard, while Black Lizard cover Cats of Transnistria.  Astrid Swan sings in Finnish to cover Puunhalaaja's "Härkä ja Paimen", and Love Sport reinterpret's Astrid Swan's "Rabbit Catcher".  A great collection of songs heard in a new way, just in time for your holiday shopping!





Soliti Music page for My Brain Hurts A Lot
Soliti Music

"When You Were Mine" / "Comedian (Comedienne)" from The Flatmates

We cannot do much about the start of another work week, as there are limits to our power and influence.  However, perhaps we can make it a bit better by bringing a great single to to your attention.  The Flatmates, which were one of my favorite C86 era bands, have reformed with Lisa Bouvier and Brian Price joining original members Martin Whitehead and Rocker.  In addition to shows and festivals, they have found time to hit the studio and dash off the new single consisting of covers of "When You Were Mine" / "Comedian (Comedienne)".  I don't know how many versions of Prince's "When You Were Mine" have been recorded -- I'm most familiar with the original and Crooked Fingers' excellent Americana dirge -- but The Flatmates turn it into a fuzzy garage pop anthem that is worthy of inclusion with the best of the bunch.  "Comedian" is a cover of the Cinerama song, and it an able partner to "When You Were Mine".

The single is available in as a digital download and in a limited run of vinyl.





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REVIEW: Tommy Keene - Excitement At Your Feet

Tommy Keene is a guitar rocker extraordinaire, and his best power pop is as good as that stuff gets. His latest album, Excitement At Your Feet, consists of covers, some well-known, some that would considered "obscurities" by most rock fans, but all of them just fantastic. In fact, this might be the best album I've heard in 2013 -- and I've heard a lot. From the outset, where The Flamin' Groovies "Have You Seen My Baby?" is interpreted as one of the best barroom rock-outs you will hear this year, it's off to the races.



Of particular note is the drumming of Rob Brill, whose work on that song, as well as "Choking Tara" and especially "Out of the Blue" help transform them into something that, while certainly indebted to the originals, is in a way, more powerful. Keene recorded most of the album himself, but apparently the drums were done at Ardent Studios... like so many other great things.

Here's "Choking Tara" - you could damn near overdose on the guitar jangle:



And here's what has turned out to be my favorite, a straight-ahead guitar rock take on Roxy Music's "Out of the Blue" - a great song, and this is one of those covers that made me go back and "reappreciate" what has always been one of my favorite Roxy Music songs. The drumming, especially, is spectacular, and the guitars just soaring:



There are a few slower, frankly very pretty cuts: Donovan's "Catch The Wind" features some tasteful acoustic guitar with Keene's vulnerable vocal, and a piano-based version of the Bee Gee's "I Laugh In Your Face" is a majestic power ballad based on an early Beatles-inspired bit of psychedelic folk rock from the Brothers Gibb. And his take on Big Star's "Nighttime" is right on - capturing the pathos inherent in the Big Star story that's been rehashed so much this year.

Here's the tracklist:

1. Have You Seen My Baby? - The Flamin’ Groovies
2. The Puppet - Echo & The Bunnymen
3. Much Too Much - The Who
4. I Laugh In Your Face - The Bee Gees
5. Let Me Dream If I Want To - Mink DeVille
6. Catch The Wind - Donovan
7. Guiding Light - Television
8. Ride On Baby - The Rolling Stones
9. Choking Tara - Guided By Voices
10. Nighttime - Big Star
11. Out Of The Blue - Roxy Music

As they say, not a speck of cereal. Before I popped the disc in, I knew Keene covering Roxy Music was going to be something special. He has impeccable songwriting chops, and even though this is a covers album, his creativity and songcraft are fully evident. There's a reason Robert Pollard was willing to take his name on the Keene Brothers record, isn't there? But on Excitement At Your Feet, I think it is possible that his taste in songs is even better.

This is a guitar rock fan's dream come true. It's got Who and Stones cuts that are just old enough that I welcome an update. It features down-and-dirty rock anthems by The Flamin' Groovies and Mink DeVille. And I haven't even mentioned how good the Echo & The Bunnymen cover is. And Television's "Guiding Light"! Swirling, whirling oceans of guitar jangle, perfect pacing and a vocal that is just different enough from Verlaine's to make you reconsider this great song a bit. You know how good this record is? While I'm listening to it (the Roxy and GbV cuts in particular), I don't want to listen to anything else.

Tommy Keene website
Second Motion Records

REVIEW: Chris Shiflett and the Dead Peasants - All Hat And No Cattle

The title of the new album by Chris Shiflett and the Dead Peasants - All Hat And No Cattle - is, of course, a self-deprecating use of an old saying ranchers would use to describe a small-time, big-talk rival: i.e., "all talk, no action". But Shifflett and his band, to stretch the metaphor, have plenty of cattle. They can really play this stuff.

As expected from a rock guitarist whose day job is with the Foo Fighters, Shiflett leads his band through some breakneck guitar workouts inspired by some of country's greatest guitar slingers - people like Don Rich. Here's the lead track, "Guitar Pickin' Man":



Here's a rollicking version of Del Reeves' signature honky-tonker, "Good Time Charlie's":



And the original track on here, "A Woman Like You" is fantastic, a guitar-based rave-up that simultaneously pays tribute to the Bakersfield sound of Owens and Haggard, and British-invasion guitar rock. The piano/guitar interplay over the last minute or so of "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way" is just delightful, and reminds me of Southern rock favorites like Skynyrd's "Call Me The Breeze" or some of the Allmans' work on Brothers And Sisters.

But the revelation here is the true country nature of the proceedings... there is some great piano and pedal steel, and Shiflett's vocals have a nice twang to them on slower numbers like "Happy Part of Town" and "King of Fools", and on repeated listen, this stuff holds up very well in rotation with good modern traditionalist country music like Dwight Yoakam, Marty Stuart and Jim Lauderdale. Further, Shiflett's really dug into the canon to come up with some gems by true country music legends who aren't necessarily household names - folks like Wynn Stewart, Del Reeves and Jim Ed Brown ("Pop a Top"), as well as a fairly non-obvious Haggard tune, his first song "Skid Row". This and the way he varies the country influences and tempos shows that Shiflett isn't just fooling around with country music on this record - he's got it in his soul. He's onto something here, and I hope he'll keep it going.

All Hat And No Cattle is out now (July 30) on Side One Dummy Records.

Chris Shiflett and the Dead Peasants website
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REVIEW: Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison - Cheater's Game

Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison are a couple of super-talented Texans who have each been making some wonderful country music for years, but together, make magic. He is a worthy participant in the grand Texas troubadour tradition with some huge country hits to his credit as a writer, she's a very traditional-sounding country vocalist with a truly great voice. For their latest record, a duet called Cheater's Game, they traveled to Nashville to work with Brad Jones at his Alex The Great studio. Jones' credits include a who's who of singer/songwriters and indie rockers, and this was an inspired pairing.

Cheater's Game is an album of about half covers and half originals and it's the first true duet album they've done, although as Willis points out, "We've always been part of each other's records." As for the reason they've not done this before, it's very understandable. Willis again: "But we're also our own people. We've always been very careful about not losing sight of that."

All that said, they are even better together than they've been individually. On this record, the whole is truly more than the sum of all its parts. You don't listen for certain things, although certain things (Willis' voice, Robison's great way with a chorus/verse transition, great pedal steel all over this thing) do stand out. But it all flows together so well, if you didn't know who wrote which song, you'd never be able to tell by listening.

They cover Dave Alvin, Robert Earl Keen, Don Williams ("We're All The Way" is, maybe, my favorite track on the record), Razzy Bayley and Hayes Carll. And Robison co-wrote songs with Miles Zuniga (Fastball) and Lawrence Shoberg -and, as expected, Robison's songs stand up very well next to the songs they borrowed from these country songwriting giants.

Here's a video of them performing "9,999,999 Tears" - she's a tremendous vocalist, and I especially like the pedal steel in this song:



I particularly enjoyed their take on Dave Alvin's "Border Radio" - Bruce on lead vocal:



Here's a nice article from their hometown Austin American-Statesman giving some background on the making of the record. And I agree with the author, this is a great, truly timeless-sounding country record. Cheater's Game is available now (released earlier this week) via Thirty Tigers, and they'll be on tour soon - tour dates at their website here.

New Jazz "Version" Discovery: Daniela Nardi's Espresso Manifesto - Macchiato67 - Via Con Me Remix EP

Italian-Canadian singer/songwriter/producer Daniela Nardi and her project Espresso Manifesto have recently released an album of Paolo Conte songs, and to take the tribute a little further, on Feb. 14 will release a sultry, super-cool EP: Macchiato67 – Via Con Me Remix.

The EP is a collaboration with Italian DJ-Composer Gerardo Frisina (Schema/Ishtar). The Macchiato67 EP consists of 3 tracks – a Club Mix, a Vocal Remix and an Instrumental Remix.

Nardi says of her choice in working with Frisina, “I really love the Italian lounge scene and have been a fan of Gerardo’s work for some time. I thought it would be really cool if I could introduce a new generation to the works of Paolo Conte. By adding the treatment that we did to the tracks, it helps bring a freshness, new life and if anything further show how timeless Conte’s tracks are when you can make a remix out of it and it sounds like a contemporary track.”

This is a great discovery, to me - the music is terrific, but I always find it interesting and fun to discover alternative versions - a way to kind of see or hear the artist at work. And the music certainly swings.

Daniela Nardi's Espresso Manifesto Website

New video from LP - cover of Beatles' "Something"

Apparently this young lady, LP (Laura Pergolizzi)  is working on a full album which will be on Warner Brothers later this year. Currently, she's released a video of this Beatles cover. The ukelele, the beautiful, clear, fragile but overwhelming voice, and the incredible whistling combine to create something beautiful and unique:



And this is how "buried" in the quest for new, undiscovered music I am: I did not know who performed this song, or even that it was a song. I thought it was part of a commercial for something else. (Well, it was, but it was also a song). Her earlier hit, "Into The Wild":



If you're intrigued as I was, there are a lot more videos available - and a 5-song live EP. Looking forward to hearing that album, too.

The Soul Corner - Clarence Carter "Slip Away"

I saw my man and WYMA favorite Charles Bradley this week, and he and his great band tore it up as usual. Fantastic show.

A highlight was a perfect cover of the 1968 classic "Slip Away":

"Slip Away" was recorded at Rick Hall's FAME studios with the great Muscle Shoals house band shortly before that band left to found its own studio a year later.

I dig the wah wah guitar here and love that the silky smooth sound of the song nicely offset its rather nasty lyrical intentions.

Clarence Carter was one of few soul singers of his time who was a college graduate, earning his degree from Alabama State College in 1960 after studying at the Alabama School for the Blind in Talladega.  

Carter performed for decades and never failed to include "Slip Away".  

 

I can't believe I waited this long to include this one in the Soul Corner - thanks for the suggestion Charles Bradley! And here is the one and only Mr. Bradley performing "Slip Away" earlier this year:

New video - Tame Impala cover (by little kids)

Found this via a tweet by Tame Impala's label - Modular People. If you like, check out more videos by PS22's kids on their YouTube channel:



Our Tame Impala review, again, here.

"Shocker In Gloomtown" by The Breeders, with onlookers

I have a musical question: How the hell did I miss this?



Oh, well. Better late than never.

New Detroit Hard Rock Discovery: Wendy James with James Williamson and Jim Sclavunos - "You're So Great/It's Alright Ma"

Wendy James, former lead singer of Transvision Vamp is now working with The Stooges' James Williamson (guitar & bass) and The Bad Seeds' Jim Sclavunos (drums & percussion) on an album and in advance of that, has plans to release a double single consisting of covers of The Rendezvous Band's "You're So Great" and Dylan's "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)". I'll do a little more research on her solo career, which I will admit I was not aware of, but for now, holy cow! Check out these songs:

"You're So Great"



Here's the stream of "It's Alright Ma", a really provocative take:



Apparently it was Williamson's idea for Wendy to pick her favorite Dylan song, and she's done it right. A good Dylan cover is a great thing.

"Don't Let Your Unattractiveness Make You Self-Conscious"

I remember watching an episode of the Munsters in which Herman said that to Marilyn (the "normal" daughter). At the time, my friend Mike acted like it was one of the funniest things he had ever heard.

Later that week, he was trying to introduce himself to a young lady at an establishment, when I guess she expressed her disinterest in a way that made him pull out his favorite Munsters line... and he got to wear what was left of her drink.

And what's more awesome than that? Well, maybe this Anacrusis cover of the Munsters theme...