Let Them Eat Cake!

If you haven't checked out and then bookmarked I AM FUEL, YOU ARE FRIENDS, then seriously, you are a total claimer. On a daily basis Heather consistently cranks out posts of such high quality that it puts the rest of us (ok, just me) to shame. Yesterday, as with every Monday, she had her Monday Music Roundup and included a cover version of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" from one of my favorite bands, Cake. Never heard that version before, and I'm thankful she posted it. I guess this makes up for me losing out on a contest to win a sweet litho of an Oasis album cover (but at least I had my entire entry mentioned, read it here, I'm just sayin'). So, needless to say, her post kind of inspired me to check in on Cake.

I had heard last year that they were going to release a live album. But the damn thing never came out. Here's what the band's website had to say:

"The “Live at the Crystal Palace” CD will not be coming out this fall due to CAKE’s strict quality control enforcement. We are still working on it for next year. Thank-you for your patience and understanding."

I wonder what the heck that was all about! Problems with the label? The mixing? Kinda vague dontcha think? Instead it looks like the band will be releasing a "Rarities" album in 2007 and the cover of "War Pigs" will be included. Check out their myspace page for more tracks.

Anyway, there is at least one track from the concert that is available, and I bring it to you. The track is called "Mexico," and the original version of the song can be found on their "Prolonging the Magic" release. And for some "frosting on the Cake," I have also included a live version of "Never There" from the 2004 release "ONXRT Live From the Archives, Vol. 7" because I'm cool like that.


For Your Consideration:
Cake - Mexico (Live At The Crystal Palace) Mp3
Cake - Never There (Live) Mp3

B-Sides The Point: The Killers

A lot of fuss has been made about the Killers. Their first album "Hot Fuss" spawned a number of hits including the juggernaut single "Mr. Brightside." Their second album? As Borat would say, "Not so much."

"Sam's Town" and it's sprawling anthems of Springsteenian proportions could not live up to the hype and expectations of the millions of fans who loved the first album. Maybe it needs to age a bit before we can appreciate it. Perhaps it's just a bad sophomore effort. But what the album accomplished, and it was produced to do so, was spread the musical horizons of the band, and in some respect, its listeners.

But hey, how about that first album? Even it's B-Sides were good! My favorite one that has been blasting up my most often played playlist is called "Glamorous Indie Rock & Roll." It's got a slow buildup with a true declaration for the love of indie rock, and should be a staple of your collection. Also I've included an acoustic version of "Mr. Brightside" which can be found as a B-Side on its single. What is the big clue that any song is a classic? Well, the track has to work plugged in and acoustically, each version revealing something new about the song. That is the case for "Plush" by Stone Temple Pilots, "Everlong" by the Foo Fighters, and now you can add this track to the list.


For Your Consideration:
The Killers - Glamorous Indie Rock & Roll Mp3
The Killers - Mr. Brightside (Acoustic) Mp3

The Brady Bunch & Getting Davy Jones: "Girl"

Of my most recent posts, the Lonely Man Theme from the television show "The Incredible Hulk" was quite a popular one. So, I was thinking of other songs from my television past that you might like to own in your collection. It actually might make for a good weekly posting. I have tons of songs that would fit in to this category. I mean after all, do you own the chase songs from the original Scooby Doo cartoons? Ummm, I do. (Side note: Should I be proud of this?)

Anywho, this week, I am highlighting one of my favorite obscure tracks from "The Brady Bunch." Episode #64 which originally aired on December 10, 1971 was called "Getting Davy Jones." In case you forgot what happened, Marcia, president of her school's Davy Jones fan club, hastily promises she can get the former Monkee to sing at her school's upcoming dance. Her boast results in her having to scramble to get the singer to actually agree to appear.

About halfway through the show, Davy is in the (state of the art?) studio recording his newest single "Girl," which you can watch in its entirety in the clip above, and for your consideration, you can get it here! The version below was taken from the motion picture soundtrack to "A Very Brady Sequel." Enjoy.


For Your Consideration:
Davy Jones - Girl Mp3

DA BEARS GO TO DA SUPERBOWL

You can crown em now, Dennie. Da Bears are doin the Superbowl Shuffle.

For Your Consideration:
The Chicago Bears: The Superbowl Shuffle Mp3

Friday Afternoon Funnies: Wonder Showzen!

Wonder Showzen Season 2 Episode 3 "Knowledge"

It's four thirty in the afternoon. You've done your week's work, and there's still an hour and a half to kill before you go home for the weekend. Throw on your headphones and kill fifteen minutes with Totally Claimin's "Friday Afternoon Funnies!" The boss won't know. And you'll be thankful for it! Today's funny is an episode of "Wonder Shozen."


"Wonder Showzen is an American sketch comedy television series that began airing in 2005 on MTV2. It was created by John Lee and Vernon Chatman of PFFR. The show's format is that of educational PBS children's television shows such as Sesame Street or The Electric Company (e.g. use of stock footage, puppetry, and clips of children being interviewed). However, Wonder Showzen parodies the format in a very adult-oriented manner. In addition to general controversial comedy, it satirizes politics, religion, war, and culture with black comedy.

Recurring skits include interviews with kids who give irreverent, controversial answers (a parody of similar segments on Sesame Street), kid reporters interviewing adults in a segment titled 'Beat Kids', and man-on-the-street interviews by the puppet Clarence (voiced by co-creator/writer Vernon Chatman). Clarence has a knack for harassing New Yorkers with innocent questions. Every episode also features short animated cartoon segments, many of which are produced at Augenblick Studios." Wikipedia

I know you will enjoy!

A Fine Iron & Wine

IPods have a weird way of making you "discover" an unknown (at least to you) artist. You set the thing on shuffle, and occasionally a song you didn't even know you had in there pops on and blows you away. The song is so good that it makes you wanna go out and buy everything the artist has ever recorded. If you haven't already figured it out, I'm a sucker for a good cover song (read my previous posting on the subject here) especially when I already love the original version. So when an artist covers a Flaming Lips or a Postal Service song, and perhaps makes it even better, well, I take notice. For me, Iron & Wine did just that.

Iron & Wine is the stage and recording name for Florida singer-songwriter Sam Beam. His music has been compared, variously, to that of Nick Drake, Simon and Garfunkel, Neil Young, Elliott Smith, John Fahey and Ralph Stanley. His music is often characterized as alt-country, progressive folk, or indie folk. In other words, it's just plain goodness.

For your consideration, I offer you his cover of "Such Great Heights" originally recorded by The Postal Service and was featured in an advertisement for M&M's, in the 2004 film Garden State (and its soundtrack), and in 2006 in an Ask.com advertisement. Undoubtedly you know that tune, but it's the other song you may not be as familiar with. The Flaming Lips recorded "Waitin' For Superman," which was already a wonderful song filled with meloncholic lyrics and sung with passion. Iron & Wine covered the song for KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic and not only made the song his own, he added even more levels of emotion to it.

Here are the lyrics:

I asked you a question
But I didn't need you to reply
Is it getting heavy?
But then I realize

Is it getting heavy?
Well, I thought it was already as heavy as can be

Is it overwhelming
To use a crane to crush a fly?
It's a good time for Superman
To lift the sun into the sky

Cause it's getting heavy
Well, I thought it was already as heavy as can be

Tell everybody waiting for Superman
That they should try to hold on best they can
He hasn't dropped them, forgot them or anything
It's just too heavy for Superman to lift

Here are the songs.

For Your Consideration:
Iron & Wine - Such Great Heights Mp3
Iron & Wine - Waitin' For Superman Mp3

My Morning Jacket: How Could I Know?

My last purchase at Tower Records (the one on the Sunset Strip, pictured above) was the CD Single for My Morning Jacket's "Off The Record." I paid eighty cents. Here for your consideration, is a B-Side from it. "How Could I Know" is a great B-Side that doesn't really fit in with the vibe of the album for which it was recorded, but stands on it's own. It's more of a country-ish vibe, one that would fit perfectly on "It Still Moves."


"It Makes No Difference" is My Morning Jacket's take on the Band's classic tune. The track appears on "Endless Highway: the Music of the Band," a wonderful album that was just recently released. For more information on the album and hear Gomez cover "Up On Cripple Creek," click on the artwork to the left.



For Your Consideration:
My Morning Jacket - How Could I Know Mp3
My Morning Jacket - It Makes No Difference Mp3