Friday Music

Another week. More music.

We’ll kick things off with something from the “really nifty covers” category. I’m a firm believer in the idea that if you’re going to do a cover of a song, you should put your own stamp on it, rather than just making it nearly identical to the original…otherwise, what’s the point? This track, Oingo Boingo – “You Really Got Me”, is an inventive new wave cover of the Kinks classic, and a good representation of what Danny Elfman was doing before settling down into a career of composing scores for superhero movies.

Here’s something unsual, but very, very cool, that I put on a mix CD for : The Evolution Control Committee – “Rocked by Rape”. This group took samples from ACDC’s “Back in Black” and dialog from CBS News anchor Dan Rather, and spliced it up into a track that manages to not only be a head-bobber, but also a fairly amusing indictment of the “TragiCrimePorn” school of news broadcasting that is so prevalent now. Both ACDC (who doesn’t allow sampling of their songs as a rule) and Dan Rather hit them with a cease-and-desist, and so the track was removed from record stores.

I picked up the debut album from Scissor Sisters on ‘s recommendation. Good call. The album manages to combine several cool elements from 70s music: the biggest influence is glam, but there’s a nearly tone-perfect cover of “Comfortably Numb” done to sound like a Bee Gees tune, and this track: Scissor Sisters – “Take Your Mama”, which has the fingerprints of “Captain Fantastic”-era Elton John all over it.

There’s a cool french movie from a few years back called Vidoq, with Gerard Depardieu. It’s a supernatural/steampunk/mystery, set in Paris in the 1800s. Quite good, and it’s a shame that it was never released in the US. I tracked down a DVD, and when I watched it, I was really blown away by the end credits music. Some of you may have heard of Apocalyptica, a string quartet who does covers of Metallica tunes on amplified and distortion-pedalled cellos, violas, etc. Well, they did the end credits music, which was an original song, rather than a cover. Apocalyptica (feat. Matthias Sayer) – “Hope, Vol.2”. Great stuff.

Another mash-up for you this week. loves this one: DJ Tripp – “She Wants Animals”, which is a mash-up of Ace of Base’s “All That She Wants” and Nine Inch Nails’ “Closer” (no, I’m not kidding….and the scary thing is, it works!).

People who are only familiar with the Cardigans’ sugar-sweet single “Love Fool” will be a bit surprised to learn that their usual sound is a bit darker than that. The Cardigans – “Erase/Rewind”, which I first became aware of when it was used in the soundtrack of The 13th Floor, is a moody, trip-hop-esque song, and I like it quite a bit.

Here’s a brand new track from the soon-to-be-released second full-length CD from Gorillaz: Gorillaz – “Dirty Harry”. Some of you probably remember the Gorillaz first single from a few years back, “Clint Eastwood” (“happy, feelin’ glad, got sunshine in a bag…useless, but not for long, the future is comin’ on…”) I’m detecting a theme here. Still, some of the best stuff you’re likely to hear from a group comprised entirely of cartoons, so there ya go.

…and finally, because I have to get back to working on the latest Thrilling Tales release, here’s one of my favorite tracks from the 1930s (1938, to be exact): Artie Shaw – “Begin The Beguine”.