Ted Leo Covers Tears For Fears To Great Success

This clip has been up for a while, but we just stumbled upon it after the recommendation of a friend. In short, it is a positively stellar version of Tears For Fears' classic "Everybody Wants To Rule The World", covered by the amazing Ted Leo. The song is unquestionably delivered in Leo's signature style, but in this case that's a very good thing, and it isn't hurting things one bit that the song is killer as well.

The track is part of an ongoing project by the Onion AV Club called "Undercover", in which they get bands to come in and select a cover song from a list. Once the song has been picked, it's crossed off, and the list becomes that much smaller. While some of the numbers are a little questionable in quality, there are some gems as well. Our frank opinion is that the Ted Leo number takes the cake, but let us know what you think. Check out all the tracks here.

mp3: Ted Leo - Everybody Wants To Rule The World (Tears For Fears Cover)

New Music: Lana Mir

Here at HAD, we're more than comfortable admitting that we're suckers for stripped down covers of brit-rock classics. Even more so when the artist in question is a beautiful woman with all the cool of a modern day Astrud Gilberto.

Case in point: Lana Mir's recent debut EP, with it's chilled-out cover of The Stone Roses "I Wanna Be Adored". Sure, it's sort of exactly what you'd expect after the description we just gave you, but that's definitely not a bad thing. Check the video above.

Spoon Covers The Damned

Spoon at Mercury Lounge, from the HAD Archive

Just in case Transference wasn't delivering you quite enough new Spoon tunage in 2010, here's a little bit more to leave you sated: The band recorded a cover of The Damned's tune "Love Song" for a Starbucks (ugh, we know) compilation, and the result is quite tasty. Much like Transference it's built upon a solid foundation of minimalism, but Britt Daniel's voice is a fair bit sweeter, and laden with reverb that recalls "The Ghost Of You Lingers". Check it out below.

mp3: Spoon - Love Song (The Damned Cover)

Flaming Lips Coming To Central Park, Conquering Dark Side Of The Moon

Flaming Lips at Treasure Island Festival, from the HAD Archive. Photo by Brian Fong.

After the already-monumentous news that Pavement will be there at the end of the season, it is with great anticipation and glee that we came upon the news that none other than the Flaming Lips will be gracing this year's Central Park Summerstage. Backed by the awesomeness of their latest record Embryonic, there is frankly nowhere we would rather see Oklahoma City's favorite sons than under the stars on a beautiful summer evening.

On top of that, the band has taken their iTunes-only version of Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon live, with a New Year's Eve performance last month, and now the announcement of a similar gig at this year's Bonnaroo. While there's no news yet as to whether the Central Park gig will be Floyd-homage or otherwise, we can pretty much guarantee you it'll be an awesome show, and that you'd be a fool to miss it.

Tickets go on sale Friday at noon.

mp3: Flaming Lips - Money (Pink Floyd Cover)

Beck's Record Club Is Cooler Than Yours

The last time we checked in with Beck's Record Club, he was hard at work re-recording the Velvet Underground's debut, to amazing results. Since then, he's continued the hard work, and this time he's managed to enlist most of Wilco to help him with the results.

Continuing the late 60's trend, the latest iteration of "record club" has spent their time collaborating on covers of the Skip Spence recor OAR. The results, dare we say, are nothing short of fabulous. The group offers up synthed-out loopy takes on the original record, which is far more earthy in its original form.

We've embedded one of our faves from the sessions above: "Dixie Peach Promenade" finds Beck delivering bubbly synth lines, while Jeff Tweedy on vocals, and Glenn Kotche collaborating with Tweedy's son on percussion. The rest of the session (including an appearance by Feist) can be had over at Beck's Record Club. (And, once you get done with OAR, you can move on to The Songs Of Leonard Cohen, which Beck also managed to cover in the interim. So...much...music!)

mp3: Beck's Record Club (Feat. Wilco) - Dixie Peach Promenade

Phoenix Cover Bob Dylan

Phoenix in Central Park, from the HAD Archive

Yes, you know we love Phoenix. And yes, you know we'd post any new musical trinket that came our way from the French musical masters. That being said, this is actually quite a bit more than a trinket: while on tour in Germany, the band stopped in and did a live acoustic set for the German music magazine Musikexpress, which was subsequently included in the magazine as a CD giveaway.

While we have yet to get our hands on the full CD, we have snagged (courtesy of Pitchfork) this cover of Bob Dylan's "Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands", which is nothing short of spectacular. It's quiet, and subtle, and expertly executed in a way that allows Thomas Mars to channel Dylan in a way that is astoundingly authentic, given the disparity in their voices. Listen. Now.

mp3: Phoenix - Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands (Bob Dylan Cover)

David Bowie (and Tin Machine) - "Debaser"

It's no secret that that Doolittle is considered by many to be The Pixies masterpiece, and with good reason: the record is a killer front-to-back listen. However, perhaps less well known is that in the early 90's (with his band Tin Machine, pictured above) David Bowie covered Doolittle's opening track "Debaser" with some regularity.

While it doesn't quite have the perfection of The Pixies version, we have to admit we dig Bowie's take quite a bit. The band (who already had a pretty solid bluesy vibe going) take on the song as a sped up heavy rock version of its former self. It's not the original, but if you're a bit of a Bowie fetishist (as we most certainly are), then it's worth your time.

The version here is a fantastic sounding board feed from the band's 12-17-1991 show at San Francisco's own Warfield. Enjoy!

mp3: David Bowie (And Tin Machine) - Debaser (Pixies cover, live @ The Warfield San Francisco)

John Cale: "All My Friends"

Our John Cale obsession this week continues with this, a cover of LCD Soundsystem's killer track from Sounds Of Silver. Apparently it was a bonus track, included only on the vinyl version of the record. That would make it more than a year or two old, but brand new for us, so what can we say? We decided to share.

The cover is definitely distinct from the original, with slightly more aggressive beats, and a more forward moving feel. However, that's not really what does it for us: Cale's thick Welsh accent completely dominates the song. In contrast to James Murphy's original vocals, this version is aggressive, urgent, and domineering in a way that adds an entirely different emotional take.

Given how amazing the original is, we're hesitant to call this one better. That being said, there's no question that Cale has made the song his own, and in the very best way possible. We're pretty content enjoying both and not picking favorites. That, and secretly hoping that Murphy and Cale would make a record together. Tasty, no?

mp3: John Cale - All My Friends (LCD Soundsystem Cover)

The Dandy Warhols Cover "Blackbird"

In perhaps the most auxiliary turn of events resulting from the death of Michael Jackson, The Dandy Warhols have indeed covered "Blackbird".

For those not aware, on the opening track to Welcome To The Monkeyhouse, the Dandies promised "when Michael Jackson dies, we're covering "Blackbird"". Presumably this was in reference to Jackson's rather obnoxious purchase of the Beatles' catalog rights from under Paul McCartney's nose many years back, and a desire to deny Jackson any royalties.

Well, now here we are post-Jackson-mortem, and The Dandies have lived up to their promise. Ironically, the event also comes right on the heels of the band re-releasing their alternate version of Monkeyhouse entitled "The Dandy Warhols Are Sound". The cover of "Blackbird" is now being included as a bonus with the purchase of the new record.

We gave the track (which you can hear below) a listen, and we have to say we're a little bummed. It's such a straight-ahead cover, with Zia on vocals a highly manipulated Courtney Taylor Taylor on vocals and a bunch of layered synths, that it never seems to really go anywhere or do anything. Granted, the original is pretty mellow as well, but we were kind of hoping the Dandies would push it to another level. That being said, at least they kept their promise!

Beck Overhauls Website, Starts Cover Band, Covers The Velvet Underground

We're typically pretty skeptical when we get a press release or update about a website overhaul: They can be interesting, but more often than not, they're just a marketing mechanism for a new record. So, that being said, we were psyched when we went to check out Beck's new website and wound up with an whole lot of awesome.

Specifically, Beck has embarked on a project he calls "Record Club", where he and an assortment of musicians and producers (Nigel Godrich, Joey Waronker, Brian Lebarton, Bram Inscore, Giovanni Ribisi, Chris Holmes, and Thorunn Magnusdottir) cover classic records in a twenty four hour period. They then release the tracks weekly, and eventually you have yourself a whole disc. Odd, but cool, right?

Not one turn his nose up at a challenge, Beck has chosen The Velvet Underground & Nico as the first target record of the project. Yes, we were a bit skeptical as well, but you need not worry. The first track ("Sunday Morning") has been posted on the web, and it's damn, damn good. In short, the assemblage of musical heavyweights nails it dead on. Now we're just "Waiting For The Man". Get it? See, it's like, the next track on the record, but also we're waiting for the track. Get it???? Nevermind. xoxo

mp3: Beck - Sunday Morning

The Flaming Lips w/ Stardeath And White Dwarfs - "Borderline"

Apparently this has been floating around on the internets for almost a month, but we just caught wind of it and really couldn't pass up posting about it. There's so much awesomeness going on here it's tough to say where to begin, but we'll give it a go.

For one, this is the best cover version we've heard out of the Lips in a while: "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "War Pigs" lacked a little something in the soul department, and this version of Madonna's (already amazing) classic truly delivers. For another, the tune really rocks: it starts out mellow, but it gradually builds, and when it truly kicks in at around the four minute mark, it's pure bliss. Top it all off with an awesome video reminiscent of the Lips surround DVD's, and well, you've got yourself a big barrel of awesomeness.

Okay, we'll let you enjoy now.

mp3: Flaming Lips With Stardeath And White Dwarfs - Borderline

Land Of Talk Covers Wintersleep, Results Are Awesome

A few weeks back we mentioned just how much we dug Wintersleep's set opening for An Horse at Hotel Utah. Well, given that the band was thus far unknown to us, we wouldn't have guessed they'd pop up this quickly again on our radar. Let us just say, we're glad they did!

HAD faves (and fellow Canadians) Land Of Talk decided to cover the Wintersleep tune "Weighty Ghost", and the results are nothing short of awesome. Granted, we don't keep it any secret that we totally love Land Of Talk round these parts (and were totally bummed their SF show got cancelled), but still, we think it's pretty undeniable: this tune rules.

mp3: Land Of Talk - Weighty Ghost (Wintersleep cover)

Britt Daniel: "Let Me Roll It!!"

Years ago, far away from hit records and sold out shows, Britt Daniel was just a dude home-recording tape cassettes and being interviewed by his little brother. Even way back then, Daniel was putting cover songs on his records (okay, tapes), and one of our favorites is "Let Me Roll It!!".

The tune, from the Drake Tungsten-alias tape Clocking Out Is For Suckers, is a far more fuzzed out and lo-fi take on Paul McCartney's original. True to Daniel's other covers, it takes some sonic liberties. He manages to make the song completely his own. And, as always seems to be the case with Spoon, we, like, totally heart it to the max.

Check it out below, compare and contrast, enjoy.

mp3: Wings - Let Me Roll It
mp3: Drake Tungsten (Britt Daniel) - Let Me Roll It!!

Elvis Costello Takes On Xtina, Oh How We Love It

We'll be the first to admit that we completely dig on Xtina's 2002 hit "Beautiful", and not without reason: For one, the woman's voice is just killer. For another, it's penned by former 4 Non Blondes leader Linda Perry, so it has a bit of cred. And really, we can't help but chuckle every time we see the melodramatic video that includes droves of stereotypically "ugly" protagonists. Ah, Hollywood.

Yet for all it's famous connections, we also think that "Beautiful" is really just an amazing song, and apparently Elvis Costello agrees with us. Costello covered the tune for the 2007 soundtrack to House MD, and we've had his version on near-constant rotation since. Costello completely abandons the grandiose balladry of the original to deliver a sparse version that depends largely on a lilting drum beat, and borrows more than a little from the arrangement of his own "The Bridge I Burned".

More than anything, we love this version because it shows just how great this tune truly is. Even disected and minimized to near-demo form, it swells with power and relevance. At the same time, Costello's version loses much of Aguilera's vibe of the "encouraging friend", and instead instills it with a triple dose of "get off your ass". Love it, people. Truly.

mp3: Elvis Costello - Beautiful

Mark Kozelek: Covers Record, Free MP3

San Francisco local Mark Kozelek, he of Sun Kil Moon and Red House Painters, has a new record (credited as a solo effort) largely of cover tunes coming out entitled The Finally LP. The record drops on December 9th from Caldo Verde Records. Last week's "Gum Drop" over at Stereogum featured a quick interview and managed to finagle a free mp3 out of the deal, a cover of Husker Du's "Celebrated Summer".

Kozelek has a pretty solid history of reworking covers (see "Silly Love Songs" and
All Mixed Up" for two), and this record looks promising. Apparently it's culled from 10 years of bonus tracks and unreleased material, with the intent of getting some of the rarer material out there legitimately. In addition to two original instrumentals, it features songs by Low, Will Oldham, and Stephen Sondheim, among others. If the mp3 below is any indication, it looks to be a choice piece of text book Kozelek, and we mean that in the best way possible.

mp3: Mark Kozelek - Celebrated Summer (Husker Du cover, click through)