david coverversion: the equals vs. the clash vs. dropkick murphys

i was surprised very much to hear dropkick murphys in martin scorsese's movie 'the departed'. i am not surprised very much to see that they covered a song by the clash. from taking cues from oi!, irish and punk/hardcores scenes, these bostonians make up quite a catchy racket. i know the term punk has become trite and should be directly laughed at, but these irish honkies have stayed true to their roots thru-out their career. and i guess that means covering the clash. now the clash here combine their punk roots with reggae, ska and rockabilly--to name a few. that's why it's no surprise that they decided to give the equals 'police on my back' a shot. the equals were a reggae/pop band out of the uk back in the 60's and 70's. also added are a few other excellent takes on 'the guns of brixton', especially calexico's.

dropkick murphys - the guns of brixton
the clash - the guns of brixton
the clash - police on my back
the equals - police on my back

calexico - the guns of brixton
honeydippers - the guns of brixton
mc chris - blastic

updated 9/19: while listening to 'dungeon master of ceremonies' i noticed that the beat sounded familiar.


go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

david coverversion: bob howard vrs. lorrain walton vrs. wayne hancock

writing songs about weed didn't used to automatically take you out of the running for mainstream popularity like it does now. especially a song like "If You're A Viper" which talks about how everything is great when you get drymouth and get yourself some peppermint candy. and then stop caring about paying your rent. good stuff. this old jazz classic translates pretty well into other genre, like wayne hancock's texas swingy version.

Bob Howard - If You're A Viper
Lorrain Walton - If You're A Viper
Wayne Hancock - If You're A Viper

go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

david coverversion: arcade fire vs. foo fighters vs. gerry rafferty

i don't know that the foo fighters have given that many covers over the course of their musical tenure. four were given for the 10th anniversary release of 'the colour and the shape', and of the four, they gave gerry rafferty's homage to busking--'baker street'--a sleek and rocky makeover originally for the b-side to 'my hero'. everyone should know gerry from his one hit wonder with fellow scotsman joe egan 'stuck in the middle with you' when they were stealers wheel, which was made aware to whole new generation thanks to 'reservoir dogs'. more recently--well like three weeks ago, the foo fighters did a cover of arcade fire's 'keep the car running'. this version comes courtesy of a radio spot that the foo fighters did for bbc radio. pretty boss.

gerry rafferty - baker street
foo fighters - baker street
foo fighters - keep the car running
arcade fire - keep the car running

stealers wheel - stuck in the middle with you


go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

better than mtv

the black angels - the prodigal sun


tapes'n'tapes - insistor (liveish)


the penetrators - harder to breathe & first date


acid mother's temple - pink lady lemonade


rage against the machine - sleep now in the fire

david coverversion: franz ferdinand vs the beatles vs. pulp

art school nerds franz ferdinand released an excellent debut record a few years back. then they released a totally forgettable follow-up. one of the rare recent not great sophomore releases. meh, there's still a few gems on it but for the most part it's a lametown letdown. recently, for the bbc radio, they gave a cover of the beatles 'it won't be long'. you guessed it, it sounds like franz ferdinand covering a (beatles) song, doesn't matter who it's originally by, it sounds like franz ferdinand. this is a good thing, as most of the franz ferdinand songs bounce around the room with catchy, jumpy leads and discotheque drums. unfortunately, this is not the case for their version of pulp's 'mis-shapes', which kicks off pulp's masterpiece #1 'different class' . rumor has it that franz might be working with the snoop in the near future.

the beatles - it won't be long
franz ferdinand - it won't be long
franz ferdinand - mis-shapes
pulp - mis-shapes


go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

david coverversion: my morning jacket vs. elton john vs. berlin

i've always thought that my morning jacket's best song are the ones featuring jim james' pipes and acoustic guitar with little to no production behind it. see 'one in the same', 'i needed it most' from 'at dawn', 'i will be there when you die' from 'the tennessee fire' or 'knot comes loose' from 'z'. don't get me wrong, these cats can fuck your face directly off with a serious case of the shreds if they do so desired (which they usually do so desire), but we all know their secret weapon is ol' jimmy james' voice. you can almost see the smoke rolling thru while listening to this version of captain fantastic's 'rocket man' as it's sung out to the stars. they give us this version courtesy of the 'early recordings: chapter 1: the sandworm cometh' album showcasing early unreleased nuggets. i was gonna have elton john and the who square off over 'saturday nights alright for fighting' but after revisiting the who's take, i realized that although it sounds exactly like a who song, it's one that was crammed thru a pussy-ass cheeseball filter. so i've opted to go a less cheesy route and stack my morning jacket up against berlin with various renditions of 'take my breath away'. yes, it's from this movie and mmj's take comes courtesy of 'early recordings: chapter 2: learning'.

elton john - rocket man
my morning jacket - rocket man
my morning jacket - take my breath away
berlin - take my breath away

my morning jacket - i needed it most


go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

david coverversion: frank black vs. the beach boys vs. the descendents

brian wilson's psychotic influence spans the musical globe like a concord piloted by margot kidder. for once being a stunted man-child with auditory hallucinations totally helped someone out. rumor has it that it was brian wilson and his beach boys who introduced the beatles to 7th chords. the descendents were a punk group from back when the term punk was still relevant. writing excellent songs about beverage containers and disdain for the world led them to many an-opening slot on the warped tour, at least for the 45 seconds that that cocktasting pigeonshit mattered. between when the pixies broke up (the first time, so far) and frank black ate a plethora of balding twinkies and when the pixes got back together, franky gave us a competent take of the beach boys' 'hang on to your ego' which is a bonus track on the 'pet sounds' reissue. the song eventually became 'i know there's an answer' which was on the original release. frank also did a version of 'where is my mind' with placebo on their live dvd from a few years back. most of placebo's catalog is sweet, as you might soon hear about with their covers and b-sides. can the kids hear this? dig.

frank black - hang on to your ego
the beach boys - hang on to your ego
the beach boys - wendy
the descendents - wendy


go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

boss tuneage tuesday 9/4

widespread panic - blue indian
clinic - walking with thee
these arms are snakes - your pearly whites
the groggers - throw your red paint
the fever - bye bye betty blue
the fuzzy mountain string band - shortening bread
the monks - nice legs shame about her face
ursula1000 - full on cheetah
king missile - gay-not gay
radish - little pink stars
avatars of dub - sex elevator music
seaweed - start with


go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

anton newcombe with the black angels

part one


part two

better than mtv

dolores o'riordan and angelo badalamenti - the butterfly


konono no.1 - lufuala ndonga


mum - they made frogs smoke until they exploded


they came from the stars (i saw them) - it's time


foo fighters - everlong