david coverversions: ace of spades

so here's the deal. if you don't like motorhead, you are a huge pussy. kind of like this but bigger. anyways. after getting the boot from proggy nerds hawkwind, apparently for a most excellent drug habit, lemmy kilmister formed the brutal motorhead. during my stint in colorado, my good buddy max (rip 1974-2004) introduced me to the onslaught that is the motorhead by way of their 1991 album '1916'. what's good about that particular record is it was a rebirth of sorts for the band, as it was released on a new label for them and they called their time as a band leading up to its recording and release as stale. also the original producer, some pussy, was fired for adding tambourines to a track. i digress. arguably 'ace of spades' is motorhead's best known song. speed demon pickers hayseed dixie give another blazing bluegrass rendition of the song and the twistin' tarantulas rockabillied the fuck out of it as well. lemmy's warts have gotten more action than you as well. let that soak in.

motorhead - ace of spades
the twistin' tarantulas - ace of spades
hayseed dixie - ace of spades


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david coverversion: link wray vs. calexico vs. joy division

once again we've returned to the never-lets-us-down calexico. many of you might know main calexers joey burns and john convertino from their old band giant sand. giant sand being the brainchild of howe gelb, whose various projects over the years are all worth a look, especially arizona amp and alternator. but that's for another day. six string demigod link wray can be thanked by all youse not-super-precise slingers for being one of the first to bring distortion to the table. see 'rumble'. (obviously). he achieved that sound by poking holes in his amp speaker with a pencil. for some huge fucking shame, link wray has not yet been inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame. why not you ask? probably because the voters are a group of righteously lame motherfuckers. at least that's my theory. i'm sure blondie and ratt got in their first time at the plate. link was also responsible for getting rockabilly back on the radio in the 70's with the albums he did with legendary rockbillyboy robert gordon. those records are totally worth tracking down and listening to over and over again. rockabilly!! whueh! calexico also gave a south-western fried version of joy division's 'love will tear us apart'. seeing that joy division will be appearing in a few future posts, we'll get down to those crunchy details then, ponce. also attached is the jose gonzales take of 'love will tear us apart' from the ep he brought with him on his 2005 australian tour.

joy division - love will tear us apart
calexico - love will tear us apart
calexico - falling rain
link wray - falling rain

robert gordon & link wray - fire
jose gonzales - love will tear us apart

ps. in case you were wondering, 'fire' was penned by the boss.


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boss tuneage tuesday 11/27

these tuesdays are coming 'round quicker and quicker. yarbles.

hell preachers inc. - nirwana
eluvium - indoor swimming at the space station
donovan - to susan on the west coast waiting
hasil adkins - i don't want nobody the way i want you
clutchy hopkins - track5
the giraffes - haunted heaven
ghostland observatory - i'll be suzy
teenage fanclub - mad dog 20/20
the perceptionists - love letters
gotan project - triptico
kings of leon - true love way


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david coverversion: the smiths vs. placebo vs. nick drake

pigeon kicker nicholas is a fan of the smiths. he tried telling me that it is in fact 'good' and should be listened to because of the subtle humor and morrisey's uncanny ability to make nerds look even nerdier by liking them as well. once upon a time i read the track listing for a recent morrisey solo album, and anyone who names a song 'all the lazy dykes' in this ridiculously politically correct world probably isn't all bad. chronic cockshiners placebo gave a technologically updated version of the song for a b-side to the single 'nancy boy' from their debut self-titled record. placebo also squeezed off a take of the late nick drake's 'been smoking too long'. nick drake is great and will probably get his own post someday soon.

the smiths - bigmouth strikes again
placebo - bigmouth strikes again
placebo - been smoking too long
nick drake - been smoking too long


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david coverversion: the clash vs. the afghan whigs vs. tlc

i've never hidden the fact that greg dulli is one of my (and therefore one of pigeon kickings) all time heroes. everything he has his hands in is excellent. i'm sure i've sorta gone off on how fucking excellent the music he has made over the last 17 odd years or so is (twilight singers, helping dave grohl out with the first foo fighters record etc..) so i'm not about to rehash or retype shit. dulli's first band to make it as it were--the afghan whigs--whipped up a whole variety of covers for various ep's over the years. this is why 'she loves you' should not have surprised anyone. greg dulli covering mary j blige should not have been looked into that much. for their 1996 ep 'honky's ladder' the whigs continued their 'let's put some covers on our eps' plan and gave us a soulful as fuck take of tlc's 'creep'. they also gave a dark take of the tin man's 'if i only had a heart' for the ep as well. for the so-so 'burning london: the clash tribute' record, the afghan whigs also gave an excellent take of 'lost in the supermarket'. they turn this song about isolation (to me at least what it seems this song is about) into something you could totally knock someone up to. sweet. too bad it fades out. if anandamide hadn't come up with the 'patron saint of [various stuff] and anandamide' first, greg dulli would certainly be one of ours. speaking of anandamide, head over to his page and submit your entries for his homoerocktic photo contest and get some ideas on how to get your swerve on. first time whiggers should seek out 'gentlemen' or 'black love' first.

the clash - lost in the supermarket
the afghan whigs - lost in the supermarket
the afghan whigs - creep
tlc - creep

the afghan whigs - if i only had a heart
the twilight singers - real love

ps. thanks to my sister for the tlc track.


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lust lust lust

with a tentatively lame us release date in fucking march february of next year, i decided to get the import of the raveonettes new album 'lust lust lust'. released earlier this month the on the london based indie label fierce panda, it's good to hear the raveonettes have gone back a bit to their signature sound (as lame as that phrase is). you know what sound i mean--the orgy of garage fuzz, dark surfish-noir, drum machines, a huge love affair with the jesus & mary chain and pop from the 50's and 60's being produced by lou reed during his 'metal machine music' days. although, this time around it seems that they have also been paying extra special close attention to the jesus & mary drums. the raveonettes went indie so they could have control of their records and now we gots to wait 4 months to pick it up here. weak. at least some asshole major label would have it out here. and just for that here are four cuts from 'lust lust lust', which is totally worth importing with your tea, fancylad.

from 'whip it on' ep
beat city
do you believe her

from 'that great love sound'
love can destroy
new york was great

from 'pretty in black'
red tan
you say you lie

from 'lust lust lust'
lust
blush
dead sound
with my eyes closed

ps. that raveonettes link up there is really only worth it for the music streamage.


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boss tuneage tuesday 11/20

the moon-rays - blues for vampires
gomez - whippin' picidilly
seachange - glitterball
ghostface killah feat. raekwon - kilo
tripping daisy - piranha
ted leo & the pharmacists - little dawn
creedence clearwater revival - lookin' out my back door
the smashing pumpkins - marquis in spades
rage against the machine - snakecharmer
scott joplin - maple leaf rag
thunderball - on the sly
green day - king for a day


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david coverversions: breaking the law

i first remember hearing this song on beavis & butthead many a-year back. there isn't anything special about the back story to this tune. some overtly homoerotic leather abusing band wrote one of the catchiest riffs ever. ever. and each one of these versions are pretty fucking good. blah blah blah bling bling bling blah.

judas priest - breaking the law
hayseed dixie - breaking the law
hellsongs - breaking the law
supersuckers - breaking the law


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more side a track ones

so after a long weekend, here's another reason to post songs.

gillian welch - caleb meyer from 'hell among the yearlings'
serena maneesh - drain cosmetics from 'serena maneesh'
yonder mountain string band - half moon rising from 'elevation'
grandaddy - he's simple, he's dumb, he's the pilot from 'the sophtware slump'
union jack - red herring from 'there will be no armageddon'
morcheeba - slow down from 'charango'
the decemberists - the infanta from 'picaresque'
vincent gallo - i wrote this song for the girl paris hilton from 'when'
spiritualized - ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space from 'ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space'


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better than mtv

shelter - here we go


dj swamp - worship the robots


counting crows - angels of the silences


clinic - if you could read your mind


dungen - festival

placebo instrumentals

i've always been a believer that if placebo recorded an album of all instrumentals it would very possibly be my favorite release of theirs. i haven't been paying that much attention to the placebo camp as of late, mostly because of the lackluster 'meds', but their early work still holds a place in my brainstew. some people hold disdain for placebo the same way that they disliked the smashing pumpkins--the singer's voice. granted, they're both whiny, nasally, neurotic, annoying, blah blah blah...but it's better than some generic radio vocals stylings (like most nu-metal and generic hard rock bands as of late), or something so blatantly auto-tuned it makes me want to spit. sometimes placebo gives the listener's ear a break and they compose some bizarre instrumental woven into psychedelics, uppers and downers all at the same time...

bulletproof cupid
ion
evalia
bionic
the innocence of sleep

ps. i know there are a few words in 'bionic' but it's just the same shit repeated over and over again and the lead is sweet tits. plus it's my blog so kiss my grits.


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boss tuneage tuesday 11/13

it's good to see da bears back to being big winners.

clogs - thom's night out
the field - sun & ice
fela ransome-kuti - jeun ko ku (chop n quench)
bowerbirds - in our talons
the groggers - one more crass display
the highwaymen - live forever
russian futurists - sentiments & syllables
perry como - magic moments
ruth ruth - uninvited
bob dylan - sara
the morning-after girls - lazy greys
grampian police pipe band - amazing grace


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the twilight singers part two

so i meant to post this earlier but i didn't. after revisiting 'powder burns' again tonight, i remembered there was supposed to be a part two. there were facts and anecdotes in the part one i think. i don't remember. word around the campfire is that 'powder burns' was the first record that greg dulli has done completely sober. but that doesn't mean you need to be while you listen. anywho, on to the jambs.

from 'she loves you'
strange fruit
what makes you think you're the one
black is the color of my true loves hair
summertime

from 'powder burns'
there's been an accident
bonnie brae
candy cane crawl
underneath the waves


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better than mtv

r.e.m. - e-bow the letter


2pac - dear mama


dj qbert - lamb chops


califone - spider's house


wax - california

david coverversion: the beach boys vs. stevie wonder vs. youngblood brass band

upon releasing his 8th album--1967's 'i was made to love her'--a teenage stevie wonder was just emerging in the funky r&b/soul scene he would later dominate. upon this record's release he achieved his 2nd highest chart placing to date when the title track reached #2. his first single 'fingertips part 2' reached #1, a live recording with marvin gaye on drums released when he was 13. brian wilson saw the talent in little stevie wonder and the beach boys gave 'i was made to love her' a sunny cali makeover for their 'wild honey' record released that same year. i'm a fan of any brass band; dirty dozen, forgotten souls, rebirth, madison wisconsin's own youngblood brass band, et al. on their 3rd record, 2000's 'unlearn', they gave a spectacular cover of stevie's 'pastime paradise'. turning those eerie strings into a funky horn section seems an impossible task, but youngblood is up to it. many of you should know that coolio sampled the living fuck out of it for his 'gangsta's paradise'. 'weird al' yankovic is good shit and coolio is kinda lame for agreeing to let weird do 'amish paradise' and then getting pissed about it. first off, coolio, you can only get partially pissed because you basically did the same thing to stevie. secondly, why don't you fucking cry about it, pussy? anyways, let the funk into your soul.

youngblood brass band - pastime paradise
stevie wonder - pastime paradise
stevie wonder - i was made to love her
the beach boys - i was made to love her

jimi hendrix - i was made to love her
stevie wonder - fingertips part 2
'weird al' yankovic - amish paradise
coolio - gangsta's paradise

ps. stevie plays drums for jimi on his blistering instrumental bbc session take of 'i was made to love her' as well. sweet!


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david coverversions: exit music (for a film)

with the possible exception of 'where i end and you begin' from 'hail to the theif' and 'like spinning plates' from 2001's live ep 'i might be wrong', (granted the downtempo trippiness of the studio take is unrivaled, it can't compare to to the amazing piano/bass/voice take they gave for said ep) my favorite radiohead song could possibly be 'exit music (for a film)'. legend has it they were given the last 5 minutes of the 1996 movie 'william shakespeare's romeo + juliet' and were asked to write a song for the closing credits. from that comes exit music. i'm glad thom yorke had the foresight to keep it off the soundtrack, keeping it for ok computer and giving them 'talk show host' instead. 2 versions of the song appear on the easy star all-stars cover of the album previously posted. one being the straight ahead reggae take and one entitled 'exit music (for a dub)' which is sweet. classical pianist and public radio host christopher o'riley transcribed a bunch of radiohead tracks for 'true love waits: christopher o'riley plays radiohead' album and it's follow up 'hold me to this'. they are both great, if you like music interpretations and the piano. speaking of musical interpretaions, i was somehow surprised to find 'corporate love breakdown" a bluegrass tribute to radiohead. most of those bluegrass tribute or pickin' on discs are ok, some are lame, but radiohead's is spot-on. keeping true to the original arrangements this disc is quite an enjoyable time around the old victrola. lastly, music website stereogum commissioned a ten year anniversary ok computer tribute album called okx. stereogum is like pitchfork and filter and shit. minus the pretentiousness and plus the sweet cover albums. they just gave us this a month ago. christopher o'riley's discs of elliot smith songs and nick drake songs are worth seeking out as well. why is 'i will' posted?

radiohead - exit music (for a film)
christopher o'riley - exit music (for a film)
vampire weekend - exit music (for a film)
corporate love breakdown - exit music (for a film)
easy star all-stars - exit music (for a film)
easy star all-stars - exit music (for a dub)

radiohead - i will
radiohead - where i end and you begin
radiohead - like spinning plates
radiohead - like spinning plates (live)


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david coverversion: steely dan vs. the mountain goats vs. hank williams vs. mark lanegan & isobel campbell

i've always thought that steely dan was the bastard child of the cheesiest aspects of 70's culture and the coke-fueled yacht rock scene. well, those that aren't the coke-fueled yacht rock scene. that being said, steely dan gets me in the same mood neil diamond does--it lifts me up when i'm feeling down like when i heard motley crue was getting back together. and doing a live album. hopefully everyone knows about hank williams. dying early, he set the bar pretty high for songwriting and helping to roll out honky tonk. many many artists, too many to list, have also covered his work. oddly enough, the last two songs associated with hank were his final single 'i'll never get out of this world alive' and the unrecorded 'then came that fateful day', the handwritten lyrics for the latter being with him when he od'd. weird. prolific lo-fi songsmith the mountain goats covered both previously mentioned artists. any of the albums, eps, cassettes or whatnot you can get you hands on from the mountain goats is worthwhile and should be picked up. mark lanegan and isobel campbell's 'ballad of the broken seas' offers a excellent take of hank's excellent loner tale 'ramblin' man'. i'm still amazed how everything mark lanegan is involved with is great. i'm sure mondo generator is ok for at least one song... anyone know?

steely dan - fm
the mountain goats - fm
the mountain goats - i'm so lonesome i could cry
hank williams - i'm so lonesome i could cry
hank williams - ramblin' man
mark lanegan & isobel campbell - ramblin' man


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david coverversion: alphaville vs. youth group

most 80's music can stay put. this song, however, was excellently dug up for 'napoleon dynamite' maybe showing just how out of touch some places are. maybe it's the reverse reverb scattered thru-out the song. maybe i'm a sucker for cheeseball synths. either way, i like this tune and was happy to see alphaville's 'forever young' debut record in a used bin for $1. noice. i don't know much about australia's youth group, but i picked up their 2006 album 'casino twilight dogs' because it has the word twilight in the title and as it turns out, it's a totally competent record. i don't know how aussie bands like jet and silverchair get blown by every journo-cunt out there, but bands like augie march and youth group fly under the radar for so long. payola dudes! actually... i guess silverchair was pretty good for at least their first two or three records but jet will always suck a farts dick.

alphaville - forever young
youth group - forever young

augie march - sunstroke house
augie march - the honey month
silverchair - cemetery


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david coverversion: leo kottke vs. sons of the pioneers

everyone remembers this sons of the pioneers song from the introduction to the coen brother's 'the big lewbowski'. one thing about the coen brother's films is that, like quentin tarantino, the music is always a right-on definition for the scene it's over. even if it means reusing a song or two in the same movie. then again, when you have t-bone burnett as your musical archivist and producer on a bunch of your films, the soundtrack and music selection are going to be great and appropriately fitting. for his 1981 album 'guitar music', yes the one with the cheeseball 80's cover (but don't let that frighten you away), leo kottke gives an amazing 12sting instrumental rendition along with some other pigeon kicking favorites; namely 'sleepwalk' and 'all i have to do is dream'. let's be honest here, any leo kottke album is an enjoyable listen, especially the album 'clone' he did with mike gordon.

sons of the pioneers - tumbling tumbleweeds
leo kottke - tumbling tumbleweeds

leo kottke & mike gordon - clone
leo kottke & mike gordon - the collins missle


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boss tuneage tuesday 11/6

tommy james & the shondells - i think we're alone now
funkadelic - i'll stay
a band of bees - the russian
i love you but i've chosen darkness - the owl
cat stevens - morning has broken
merle travis - peach pickin' time in georgia
m83 - don't save us from the flames (superpitcher remix)
satan's pilgrims - haunted house of rock '95
my bloody valentine - when you sleep
jam & spoon - stella
aesop rock - basic cable
the tyde - best intentions


go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

better than mtv

elbow - powder blue


the ventures - slaughter on 10th avenue


quasimoto - bullyshit


ravi shankar - some song


steve martin, bela fleck & tony trischka - the crow

free record #1: terrene 'the indifferent universe'

hello reviews. we promised them and we eventually make good on our word goddamnit. so let's get down to business. only half of us here at pigeon kickers have even heard of this site, and only half of them know what the wall street urinal is, so we will all (hopefully) be doing these in-no-way professional reviews. after everything thought up for a review system has, in some form or another, been used by some other entity, and our final decision was 'fuck it'. so, the first defendant be: terrene.

seeing that the knob fiddler phil ek was involved with terrene's debut 'the indifferent universe', i was like 'who the fuck is phil ek'? well, phil ek is the bad ass that was responsible for the halo benders 'the rebels not in', dios (malos)'s self-titled debut, both band of horses albums, 2 shins albums and on and on. fucking a. he also engineered the david cross stand-up album 'shut up you fucking baby'. as you would imagine, things were already looking up for portland oregon's terrene. i mean even if the music sucked balls, i'm sure the production would have been good. yet the music doesn't suck balls. it's the exact opposite, it's getting your balls sucked. taking cues from all over the map--explosions in the sky-esque leads, arcade fire's sense of epic urgency, shinsy nerdiness, sigur ros' surreality--combined with an overall good pop sensibility, makes this record quite an enjoyable listen.

'the indifferent universe' was released in august (i think) on the mostly hip-hop label, wax orchard, whose credo i greatly agree with and admire. anyways, as a whole the record flows very nicely--in fact so smoothly in some places you don't notice it's already half way thru the next song. there is still nerdjuice oozing from all over this record as well. for example, the intro to the track 'unwelcome' sounds like the music from bubble bobble and the music and some sound effects from ms. pac-man took a whole buncha quaaludes, drank some yukon jack and spacefucked all night long like a couple of catholic school girls. wicked good. no you guys, i'm seriously, this was free. anyways, maybe these reviews will get better with time, maybe not but i hope this is a promising sign for the rest of the reviews...

arbitrary grade: a fried-egg sandwich

andromeda
media sift (through heart rises)
unwelcome
spirits on the shelf


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david coverversion: the fireflies vs. air vs. franz ferdinand

at times air (not to be confused with these buttfuckers) can be a little frou-frou. i don't know much about the fireflies but some of it seems a little frou-frou. franz ferdinand probably referred to themselves as dandy lads or something of the like, which is totally frou-frou. these songs are good. but a little frou-frou.

the fireflies - cherry blossom girl
air - cherry blossom girl
air - sexy boy
franz ferdinand - sexy boy


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