Thom Yorke & Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead Playing No Surprises - KROQ Radio (2003)
One of the few bands that could remix their own tracks with children's instruments and make them sound better.
Troy Keiper
Leonard Cohen's Suzanne et al
Leonard Cohen, the solo performer, was revered as a writer more than a performer. This makes sense as his greatest hits were covered by others who gained success from his songwriting. In the '60s, Judy Collins covered his song, "Suzanne," and it garnered attention for the fledgling Cohen. Much later, Collins' was interviewed by Bill Moyers about this song. The reference point (for us) was a 1976 performance with Cohen. The problem is that--as talented as Collins is--nothing can compare to the raw invocation of his regret at giving the song away. So. One of Cohen's most iconic songs was "stolen"…
Goodbye to The Fall’s Mark E Smith
In 1988, as a kid with a fresh CD of "I Am Kurious Oranj," I was not the toast of the party. I remember playing it for friends. No one was into it.* Christgau loved it apparently but that didn't amount to anything (despite the VV's popularity in that era). My favorite records have always been alienating. When I was 10, I played this LP for my grandparents and it, appropriately so, horrified them. A few years later, I bought Fact. 40 in a sealed purple box at a Listening Booth record store (without knowing what was inside). I couldn't shut it…
14 Years of Heartbeats
The Knife's "Heartbeats" is 15 years old now. Not soon after its release, fellow Swedish musician José González released an acoustic version, setting the stage (along with Gary Jules' version of "Mad World") for a genre of pop song renderings that challenge the success of their source material. José's Version The Knife In case you haven't heard it recently, here's the original Tears for Fears version of "Mad World."
Mike Skinner, The Streets and Norwegian Death Metal
1999 Norwegian death metal band, Bloodthorn releases the epic (and I am not being facetious) The Brighter the Light, The Darker the Shadow. 2016 The Street's Mike Skinner begins posting tracks under the name The Darker the Shadow, The Brighter the Light (iTunes Music people, get them here). Stripped down, like early Mountain Goats, the music is a framework for the author's quirky stories. Unfortunately, for Bloodthorn fans, it's not very Norwegian and, for Mountain Goats fans, it's not from Denton. 2017 The media is distracted. We're the only ones left to ask for comments from Mr. Skinner and Mr. Darnielle.
We Were Promised Jetpacks - Unravelling
Scotland is a hell of place if you love music (and whiskey) without pretense. So many artists, so many radically different sounding artists: Primal Scream, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Arab Strap and Belle & Sebastien. Hell, even the Bay City Rollers. They might share a homeland but that's about it. We Were Promised Jetpacks--like The Twilight Sad and Frightened Rabbit--are the inheritors of this iconoclastic tradition. Their 2009 release "These Four Walls" was a remarkable freshman record that evoked the arty roughness of their post-punk forebears Josef K, The Prats and The Fire Engines. I still listen to that album. Strand me on an…
Perfume Genius - Put Your Back N 2 It
It's been five years since Seattle's Mike Hadreas released his first record on Matador. A beautiful, low-fi affair, it was the work of a songwriter who clearly needed a few more records to exorcise his demons. Now that he's thirty--and two years after releasing his second record, Put Your Back N 2 It--Hadreas is getting ready for a third movement. After wrapping a tour with punk labelmates Fucked Up, those early days of Learning seem like a demo tape now. Put Your Back N 2 It feels like a full-on Wall of Sound production in comparison. We're expecting a lot from his third release, September 2014. If you're in the UK, catch…