A new Song of the Day (back to its old spot in the late evening…guess some things never change?), coming right up. Via the a’ight remake of “Footloose,” it’s the captivating tune…
“Little Lovin’” by Lissie!
So I didn’t think much of the “Footloose” remake (then again, years ago when I watched bits and pieces of the original with my dad, I didn’t think much of that either), which I didn’t technically sit down to watch, but was in the room while it was being viewed by the rest of my family, so I basically saw the whole thing anyhow. Anyways, what caught my attention the most was this gorgeous song by folk rock singer Lissie, someone who I had heard of a bit before now, but whose music hadn’t reached my ears until I heard it in the movie. Lissie (whose real name is Elizabeth Maurus) delivers a fearless, haunting vocal, and the song is full of both relentless energy and chilling depth. It’s a song I can’t get enough of right now, pretty much.
More exciting posts are to come. Thanks for reading and listening!
It’s time to revive a feature I haven’t done in a while…in fact, besides the Christmas-themed edition a few months ago, there’s only been one Cover Stories post in this blog’s history (on a few terrific covers of Bonnie Raitt’s heartbreaking classic “I Can’t Make You Love Me”). This post is a little different from that one (and may indicate a shift in direction regarding this feature in general, but we’ll see), in that it focuses on an artist, rather than a song. Which artist? Oh, just a little-known singer/songwriter. You probably haven’t heard of him. His name is Bob Dylan.
Despite Dylan being probably one of the most legendary musicians of all time, I have to admit I’ve never quite taken to his music…or at least, his original versions…at first listen. However, thanks to the numerous times his songs have been covered, I’ve really come to appreciate his songcraft…the man is an absolutely brilliant songwriter. And through those covers, I’ve been able to appreciate Bob Dylan a lot more. For all those who decry covers, they can really do wonders in helping build a bridge from the old to the new. I’m sure I would have come to my senses sooner or later regarding Dylan’s incredible body of work (which I know I’ve only scratched the surface of) regardless, but hearing other artists’ stellar takes on his songs certainly helped speed up the process.
Two of the first Dylan covers I ended up falling in love with were songs that on initial listen, I wasn’t aware were covers in the first place: Adele’s passionate “Make You Feel My Love,” and Madeleine Peyroux’s gorgeous, nuanced reading of “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go.” I discovered pretty quickly that these two recordings weren’t Adele or Madeleine originals but rather tributes to Bob Dylan, but when I first came across them, I wasn’t aware of their origin, being the young, less experienced music listener I was then. Both these covers do a beautiful job of honoring the source material while putting their own stamp on the song…Adele imbues “Make You Feel My Love” with her now-trademark raw vocal power, but keeps the proceedings bracingly intimate, backed by little more than a piano and a string ensemble. It’s a beautifully emotional performance. You’ve likely heard Adele’s studio recording of the song by now (and if you haven’t, you’ve possibly been living under the largest of rocks, and should remedy that immediately), so here’s the music video of the song, a departure from traditional song video clips in that it consists of Adele actually singing the song live, rather than lip-syncing to the recording. (The effect is quite powerful.)
Meanwhile, Madeleine Peyroux (a fine jazz-fueled vocalist whose work has taken a very nice singer/songwriter-oriented turn as of late) brings things down even more with her version of “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go.” Her phrasing is captivating here, and the result is a song that rides the balance between heartbreak and acceptance wonderfully. It’s a bit slower than Dylan’s original, but that brings out some of the nuances in the song in the best ways.
Another Bob Dylan cover I heard around that time was a version of “Lay Lady Lay” by Norwegian musician Magnet and Irish singer/songwriter Gemma Hayes, that ended up appearing on the soundtrack to “Mr. and Mrs. Smith.” I hadn’t heard this cover in a few years, before I listened to it once again just now prior to embedding it in this post, but I still really enjoy it. The vocals are very fragile and almost nonchalant in a way, but the track as a whole creates an intoxicating atmosphere that really plays to the song’s strengths, I think.
Jazz vocalist Kate McGarry, an innovative and engaging interpreter, covered “The Times They Are A-Changin’” on her 2008 album “If Less Is More…Then Nothing Is Everything.” (I finally got around to putting the song in my iTunes library a day or two ago. No idea why it took that long, to be honest.) Her percussive, almost frenzied take on the song brings out its urgency (and for me, highlights just how applicable it can be to today’s cultural climate, despite the fact that Bob Dylan wrote it for another era of change altogether) wonderfully. I couldn’t find a way to embed the studio version, but here’s a stellar live performance of the song by Kate and her trio. It’s first up in a 3-song set here:
Finally, there’s a recent charity project that has added many fine Dylan covers to the musical landscape: Amnesty International’s 50th anniversary compilation, “Chimes of Freedom,” featuring a large host of artists singing songs from Bob Dylan’s sizable catalog, and in many cases paying tribute to an undeniable influence. Much like Amnesty International’s last high-profile tribute collection, “Instant Karma” (which took on the songs of John Lennon), there’s quite a few unexpected gems to be found here…particularly in the case of two much-maligned pop-artists.
Ke$ha is one of my least favorite artists by a long shot, and she’s the last person I would expect to do well with a Bob Dylan cover…and that’s why her version of “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” shocked me so much. It’s heartstoppingly raw, and hearing the usually AutoTuned-to-death Ke$ha in such a naked, stark setting certainly catches you off-guard. (Reportedly, the vocal was recorded on Ke$ha’s laptop without any professional recording equipment, in a demo-type setting, and rather than re-recording it, they ended up using that first take, feeling it was more powerful that way. You can even hear her crying in some parts.) Singing a cappella for a good chunk of the song, and accompanied only by soft, almost ominous strings for the balance of it, Ke$ha has quite honestly never sounded better. In this cover, she relies on the undertone of sadness and heartbreak inherent in the song (something that Dylan’s original only touched on), and the result is almost spine-tingling. It’s a cover that certainly has the potential to be polarizing, but I for one was thoroughly impressed. The imperfections, the flaws, the unpolished nature of it only make the song better, I think, rather than worse. If only Ke$ha would stick to this kind of music. (Unfortunately, with how well she’s doing currently, I doubt she will…it’s sad what it takes to be a successful female pop artist nowadays.)
The other cover that surprised me? Another take on “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go,” by none other than Miley Cyrus. Her vocals have never struck me as particularly strong in the past, but as demonstrated on this song, she really shines in an acoustic setting. The studio recording is very nice, but really caught my ear was her performance of the song on “Ellen,” accompanied by only a guitar. I’ve never seen her actually dig deep into the meaning of a song as much as she does here, and it’s a wonderfully refreshing change of pace. She acquits herself exceptionally well, and much like Ke$ha, it would be much better for her artistically to stay in this setting (and also much like Ke$ha, she likely won’t).
Three other standouts from the album? Ximena Sariñana’s subtly haunting but beautifully uplifting version of “I Want You” (I love how she really brings out the longing in the song), Diana Krall’s spare, piano-driven take on “Simple Twist of Fate,” and Oren Lavie’s deliciously atmospheric reading of “4th Time Around.” I hadn’t heard of any of these songs before these 3 fine artists took them on, but now I’m quite curious to hear Dylan’s originals. (See how covers do good?) Hear them all for yourself here, then be sure to check out the rest of the compilation on your favorite musical outlet, and support Amnesty International while you’re doing so…it’s a great organization. (Note: I could only find a truncated version of Oren’s cover to embed. However, it’s a great way to get acquainted with his cover, and if you want the whole thing, then you can go buy it…a course of action which I highly recommend.)
Whew, that’s a lot of Bob Dylan covers (and that’s not even the smallest part of the tip of the iceberg). I’m sure there’s quite a few more great ones out there. If you have any recommendations, feel free to share in the comments. Thanks for reading and listening!
Alas, aside from the last lingering remnants of my “Sing-Off” recaps, I haven’t posted much else lately. Here’s a Song of the Day to whet your whistle (and for those of you who feel a bit oversaturated with holiday tunes, it’s a normal one this time around), and coming hopefully today or tomorrow, I’ll be making a Sketches post highlighting my all-time favorite Christmas albums. (This post will serve as a replacement for the round of holiday album reviews I had planned.) But for now, let me share with you…
“Robots” by Dan Mangan!
I was introduced to this song thanks to a coworker’s iPod that was playing at work. (This is the great place where I work, btw.) It’s a fairly enigmatic tune, but still incredibly emotionally resonant nonetheless. According to a comment on this song’s entry on my favorite lyrics site, SongMeanings, Dan once said in an interview that this song was inspired by having to live without a broken cell phone for a few days. Not sure if this is completely accurate, but it does make sense, and whatever this song was written about, it’s a gorgeous ride nonetheless. I especially love the last part, where the lines “Robots need love too/They want to be loved by you…” are repeated quite a few times, with a chorus joining in with Dan to sing the song out. It’s a beautiful mix of melancholy and celebration.
See you soon with more posts, both Christmas-themed and otherwise. Thanks for reading!
That’s my extremely low-budget attempt at trying to make these anniversary week posts all shiny. Anyways, here is the first of four (maybe more, but probably four, and what the heck am I rhyming for?) commemorative posts, all with some type of connection to music or artists I shared in my first month of blogging here. Today, celebrating one of my first Songs of the Day, the beautiful “Goodbye England (Covered In Snow)”, we turn the Artist Spotlight onto…
Laura Marling!
Laura is an immensely talented English singer-songwriter who’s only 21 years old. To say the maturity of someone’s music belies their years has become a bit of a cliche when it comes to younger musicians, but with Laura, it’s absolutely the truth. I was literally shocked to find out her age when I was looking her up on Wikipedia a year or so ago, after I had fallen hard for her songs. I could not believe that this kind of beautiful music was coming from someone scarcely a year or so older than I am. Age shouldn’t be a factor when it comes to good music, really, but looking at Laura’s body of work, it’s incredibly impressive that a 21-year-old could have come this far, so early in her life. It never fails to boggle my mind.
“Goodbye England (Covered In Snow)” was one of the Laura Marling songs I found, right after I first started checking out her music, seeing her name around the Internet (due to her Mercury Prize nominations and general positive buzz) and being curious about just how good she was. I have of course already posted about it, but it doesn’t hurt to share it again…
Her second album, “I Speak Because I Can,” which that song came from, is an absolute gem (no wonder it attracted Mercury Prize attention…P.S., the Mercury Prize is one of Britain’s most prestigious music awards, given to the best album of the year from the UK and Ireland. Laura has been shortlisted for her first two albums). It’s strikingly unique, but also warm and familiar. Here’s the firecracker opening track, called “Devil’s Spoke” (sorry the sound isn’t perfect…I would have linked the official video but her label inexplicably removed its US availability on YouTube):
Here’s another beautiful cut from that album, “Rambling Man.” It shows off her knack for starting off songs soft and fragile at times, then bringing in the full band to create an amazing atmosphere:
And one more of my big favorites, the title track, naturally called “I Speak Because I Can.” It’s sweeping, beautifully evocative, and absolutely addicting, all in one. (I love the line: “I speak because I can, to anyone I trust enough to listen/You speak because you can, to anyone who will hear what you say.”)
I actually wasn’t familiar with Laura’s first album until just recently. It was actually the first album I came in contact with…a good friend of mine recommended Laura’s music to me, and I was hooked…but one of the songs had the F-word in it (I’m one of those pesky people that doesn’t listen to those kinds of songs…sorry), and for some reason I was a dork and it took me a while to dive into Laura’s music again, after I checked out “I Speak Because I Can.” Anyways, just recently, I decided to take another look at “Alas, I Cannot Swim,” her debut album (in fact, right now, I’m listening to clips from it for the first time), and it’s just as terrific. Here’s one of my absolute favorites from it, a gorgeous song called “Ghosts.” The lyrics are riveting and poetic, and the instrumentation is just perfect:
Here’s another great song from her debut that I may have just listened to (part of) for the first time, called “My Manic & I.” I’ll be listening to the whole song soon, probably about the same time as you.
Laura’s music is folk with an edge…there’s the traditional guitar/vocal framework that has helped shape the world of folk music for many years now, but she also adds something new, almost intangible to the mix that really makes her music shine. It’s not quite modernized folk…it feels very old-school in many ways…but perhaps it’s reimagined folk in a sense. Here’s a lively number from her new album (“A Creature I Don’t Know”), called “The Muse.” There’s a bit of jazz influence in there, which I love.
And finally, an absolute tour de force also from her latest album. It absolutely blew me away on first listen…and to be honest, my reaction hasn’t really changed after listening to it quite a few times. It starts off in one place…and ends up somewhere entirely new and even more amazing. Here’s “Sophia”:
Laura is an artist full of depth, life, and beauty. I’m happy to finally be able to share much more of her music with you. Thanks for reading, and be sure to comment and enter the giveaway! Happy Anniversary Week.
So I recently made a personal queue of posts I’d like to make on this blog in the near-future. I came up with about 15…so yeah. I need to get around to posting much more regularly. My “Behind The Hymns” post for this past Sunday is forthcoming, but for now, here’s a lovely Song of the Day…
“How Come You Never Go There” by Feist!
I’ve been a huge fan of Feist’s for a while now (ever since her last album, “The Reminder,” came out back in 2007 and its lead single, the irresistibly catchy “1234,” took the world by storm, me included), and this is the first full-length taste from her upcoming album, “Metals.” New material from Feist (her first name is Leslie, and she’s Canadian, for those of you who might not have heard of her) has been quite a long time coming, and this new single of hers is incredibly captivating. It’s subtle and alluringly complex, but also very infectious and inviting at the same time. The lyrics are very ambiguous, but also very poetic. “Jazzy” is a word I don’t like to throw around too much (as others tend to do), but that’s a quality I’d say this song has in a way. It moves along at a sultry kind of shuffle, and Feist’s vocals are in top form. Her phrasing is fascinating, and the purity in her tone really helps hit this song home. This song keeps getting better and better for me with each listen (and there have been quite a few listens on my iPod/iTunes the past week or so), and if it’s a sign of things to come, I simply can’t wait for “Metals” to arrive.
Since, as usual, I haven’t posted in a while, here’s not one Song of the Day…but two! They’re very nicely contrasting in style, and they’ve been on my mind (and in my ears) for a while. The first song? How about a little…
“Keep Your Head Up” by Andy Grammer!
A good friend, who’s now living and working as a sound engineer in the very entertainment-filled city of Branson, Missouri, actually tipped me off to this song, and Andy Grammer’s music in general. (He also was lucky enough to be able to attend an Andy Grammer/Natasha Bedingfield/Kate Voegele concert a month or two ago.) This song is very upbeat and positive, but what I really love about it, and a lot of Andy’s music that I’ve heard, is that it balances that positivity and catchiness with a nice sense of depth and maturity. It’s a very happy song that will most likely get stuck in your head (and keep your finger glued to the repeat button), but it has substance and a little something that keeps it from being too sticky-sweet, like some upbeat songs can tend to be. It also helps that Andy’s voice is soaring and very easy on the ears…it’s a great balance of textures, and it works very nicely for this song.
Now, for a more introspective offering…
“Landfill” by Daughter!
This was the Indie Spotlight Free Download on iTunes a week or two ago, and even though I got it for free (you can too…this SoundCloud widget includes a download link), I would have gladly paid quite a bit of money for it. It’s a gorgeous, heartbreaking, beautifully fragile song, full of warmth, longing, and soul. (Enough descriptors there for you? Whew.) The lyrics are very powerful…the crux of the song comes at the end of each chorus, when Daughter (AKA Elena Tonra) sings the very relatable line, “I want you so much…but I hate your guts.” The duality of desire and bitterness over a love lost is a very striking one, and it, along with Elena’s stunningly pure, expressive voice, and the beautifully stark instrumentation, makes for an unforgettable listening experience.
See y’all soon with some more new posts (in fact, if all goes to plan I should be introducing an intriguing new weekly feature tomorrow), and quite possibly, a new blog theme. Stay tuned for more musical goodness here at Harmony Avenue.
Hey, I’m back with a new Artist Spotlight. Alas, as always, it has been too long. This post is a milestone for Harmony Avenue…it’s this blog’s 50th post. More celebration of that to come…but first, let’s jump right into talking about an artist I’ve been wanting to spotlight for quite a while now, the amazing…
Alyse Black!
Alyse is a dynamic indie singer-songwriter with a very engaging, interesting artistic vibe. Her music is warm, playful, passionate, unique, alluring…sometimes all at once. I stumbled upon her music while on a road trip with my family through California and Washington up to Spokane (where I lived when I was little for about 4 years, and where a good portion of my family still lives). I was in our hotel room in Spokane, after a long day which included a whirlwind 2-hour visit to Seattle. (Not. Enough. Time. City. So. Awesome.) (Oh, and trying to get out of Seattle traffic when you’re in a hurry? NOT fun.) Since I’m the Wikipedia-browsing fiend that I am, I was looking at the article for Pike Place Market, and since I had seen a few really cool buskers on the street while we were walking to Pike Place, I took special interest in that section. Alyse’s name was mentioned among the many performers that have graced Pike Place, and for some reason (maybe the description of her of “alternative jazz-pop singer-songwriter,” AKA “a combo of genres that Brandon adores”?), I clicked through to her own Wikipedia article, and subsequently started dipping my toes into her music. (There’s also some interesting biographical info on her Wikipedia page…such as the fact that Alyse actually worked in the corporate world before deciding to pursue her passion, music.) Thanks to the fact that the article mentions it “won the 2007 Billboard World Song Contest in the jazz category,” this was the first song of hers I listened to (seen here in a live version, as the studio version isn’t quite embeddable here):
That was the only interaction I had with Alyse’s music for a bit, until late in the fall of 2009, when I was starting out my freshman year at BYU, she came up with a special offer for her fans…to buy one or both of her CDs (“Too Much and Too Lovely” and “Hold Onto This”) for any price. Being a college freshman at the time (I rarely had any money to buy new music), I jumped on this, wanting to hear more of Alyse, and soon I was hearing her two albums for the first time. I really loved what I heard, and as always, the rest is history.
Alyse counts the likes of Regina Spektor, Fiona Apple, and Norah Jones among her influences, and while you can certainly hear that sort of atmosphere in her work, she’s created a sound that’s really all her own. Her rich voice is full of character and charm, and it’s a key to bringing her music to life. “Mesmerizing” would be a great word to describe her music…it’s captivating and Alyse really puts her all into every song she creates, even when it’s something more upbeat, such as this fun little number from her debut album, called “Complete With Sound Effects” (sorry for the pictures of random people…you don’t really need to watch the video, per se…but this was the only way I could embed this song):
One of the press quotes on Alyse’s homepage says, “Boy, she’s got a sexy voice” (that would be courtesy of Back Beat Seattle). She uses it to devastating effect on the very slow-burning, breathlessly inviting “Willowing.” (Alyse herself has described it as a song that requires a shower afterwards. )
Some of her other ballads take a different kind of flavor…they’re similarly stripped-down, but they’re also very vulnerable and introspective as well. Take this beauty from her second album, a song called “B-17 Bomber Girl”:
Here’s another example of that captivating sense of vulnerability and honesty, taken from (naturally) her recent extended-play called “The Honesty EP.” (It’s so named partly because of the concept behind its production…Alyse essentially went back to basics and often sings on it with little more than a piano backing her.) The song is “Dim The Lights.”
One of the many reasons that I love Alyse’s music is that her whole artistic sensibility is very uplifting and positive. Her song aren’t always “happy” songs, per se…but they bring a smile to my face (or heart) in some way. Here’s two songs that embody that quality very well…”Wild Child” from her second album, and “Watch Me Jump,” the opening track off “The Honesty EP.”
Finally, even when she’s taking on others’ songs, Alyse’s passion and love for music, as well as her top-notch, authentic artistry, really shines through. Last year she did a little covers series on her YouTube page, and here’s her stunning version of a Regina Spektor tune you may be familiar with:
Alyse is that special kind of artist with the type of music that just begs to be explored and listened to again and again. It’s very individual and unique, and it’s definitely not like much out there in the music world right now, but it speaks to the listener in a very profound way, and that’s a quality that shouldn’t be taken for granted. I highly urge you to check out more of her music, and you can find her website here.
So this is my 50th post on Harmony Avenue. Months ago back in October, when I was starting this little experiment off, I never could have imagined I’d make it all the way to 50. Being the small operation this is (it’s just me, blogging, whenever I feel the fancy to), and looking at my past blogging activities (none of my previous blogs have ever had this many posts or been updated this regularly, at least for this amount of time), that’s a huge milestone for me. It’s been a terrific experience running this site, and although I’m planning to leave on a mission before the year is out, I hope to continue sharing music (and my thoughts on it) for a long time to come. A special thanks to those who have helped get me to this point:
The good folks at WordPress, who of course host this blog (for free!), and make it as easy as pie to post, share, and shape this blog into exactly what I want it to be.
Sites like YouTube, SoundCloud, and Grooveshark, that help make sharing music simple, universal, and incredibly accessible. Harmony Avenue wouldn’t be the same without them.
Although I thanked her at the end of last year (in my end of 2010 spiel), I’d like to take another opportunity to give a shout-out to the amazing Julia Barry, who helped set up an interview AND give-away here on Harmony Avenue (as well as inspiring an album review I did of her last album, “Once, or Twice”). That was back when this blog was still in its infancy (well, even more infant than it is now ), and it really gave me a boost of confidence, and a feeling that this music blog endeavor could actually be worthwhile. Thank you, Julia, for the terrific music you create, and for seeking me out on Twitter in the first place.
Any of you who have ever read this blog, even if it’s just been a post, a paragraph, or a sentence. I harbor no illusions about my readership…it’s rather small, spotty, and potentially nonexistent, and I’m pretty sure at least half of the views I get are by spammers and the like…but I know at least some of you reading this are humans, and I’d like to thank you for taking your time to read what I have to say (and share, music-wise). It means a lot to me.
Making it to 50 posts is great, but I won’t stop here. I hope to continue making this blog better, and finding lots of new artists, songs, and music to share. As always, thanks for reading, and thanks for listening. See y’all soon with a new post, and for now, Happy 50!
I hope you all had a wonderful Fourth of July. I really need to get back to regular posting…anyways, here’s a gorgeous Song of the Day…
“Hoppípolla” by Sigur Rós!
So about a year ago or so, thanks to a viewing of “How To Train Your Dragon” (an excellent film, by the way) with my family, I fell madly in love with the music of Jónsi, the lead singer of (you guessed it) Icelandic band Sigur Rós. He had contributed a song to the movie, which played during the end credits, called “Sticks and Stones,” and while the rest of my posse didn’t pay it much mind at the time, I was hooked. I checked out his recently released solo album (called “Go”), and from then on it was musical love.
Except I forgot one thing. As I said before, Jónsi is the lead singer of a band…and I had neglected to check out any of said band’s music. Sigur Rós had actually caught my eye in a somewhat unusual way a few years prior…their most recent album, “Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust,” features a rather revealing cover, and while seeing it on the iTunes front page, and recognizing the name of Sigur Rós, I decided to briefly check their music out, mainly due to curiosity. I must not have stayed long, because I didn’t end up downloading or searching out anything else of theirs.
That all changed, though, a few days ago. After seeing a random song of theirs in passing on my iTunes sidebar (iTunes seems to be the key to a lot of my music discovery lately…), and taking a brief listen to it, a few nights ago I decided to take another look at their music, spurred by my admiration of Jónsi’s work. I don’t know how it came to be the first song I listened to, but “Hoppípolla” was my official introduction to Sigur Rós (I think it might have had something to do with the fact that I looked up the band on a favorite sheet music website of mine, and the song was one of only two the site had for sale), and it grabbed me almost instantly. It starts off with a simple piano line, then grows with guitars and strings…and takes off into something truly special. About halfway through the song, it starts to build even more, and after a sweeping orchestra melody kicks in…it’s pretty much musical heaven. Full disclosure: I started crying while listening to this song for the first time. That’s certainly not something that happens often with me, and when it happens, it’s something to be excited about. Even though the lyrics are in Icelandic (and, for the latter, part, “Hopelandic,” the ethereal made-up language that Sigur Rós utilizes very often), this song touched me in a deeper, almost unexplainable way than just any normal tune does. It’s music of intense beauty, creativity, and happiness, and it’s something that most certainly should be shared.
As always, thanks for reading! Up next on my writing queue is a new Artist Spotlight, on indie songstress Alyse Black. See you soon with that (hopefully “soon” this time will actually be “soon”), and keep on the lookout for some new posts, new features, and new ways to help make this blog better.
How about I skip the usual “aaah, I haven’t posted in a long time” nonsense and just skip to a new feature I’ve been meaning to debut? Yeah? Here we go.
I’m calling this one “Cover Stories”…every so often, I’ll highlight a well-known song, and share a few choice covers of said song. I’ve always been a huge fan of well-done cover songs–and thus they populate my iPod and listening habits quite heavily. And I’ll probably write about them a bit. And that’s pretty much it…if you guys have any suggestions of how I can spice this up, let me know, but hopefully the beauty lies in its simplicity. The first song? Let’s go with a gem originally by Bonnie Raitt…
“I Can’t Make You Love Me”
In case you haven’t heard it, its music video is embedded above. It’s an absolutely heartbreaking song about the end of a romance…but rather than being simply being something depressing and sad, it’s completely powerful and riveting. Here’s an excerpt from the Wikipedia article about the song, explaining some of its early origins:
“The idea for the song came to Reid while reading an article about a man arrested for getting drunk and shooting at his girlfriend’s car. The judge asked him if he had learned anything, to which he replied, “I learned, Your Honor, that you can’t make a woman love you if she don’t.” Reid and Shamblin were both country music songwriters, who according to some accounts originally wrote the song as a fast, bluegrass number. Upon slowing down the tempo considerably, they realized the song gained considerable power. It then made its way to Raitt.”
Bonnie also reportedly recorded the song in just one take, saying that she couldn’t recapture the emotion in the song again in the studio.
With such a singular, almost magical song, how could any other artist add on it? Jazz vocalist Sophie Milman did just that, with an absolutely gorgeous take on the song on her most recent album, “Take Love Easy.” The arrangement is stunning, her vocal is passionate and beautiful, and a few terrific reharmonizations within the chords bring the song to even more life:
Another great cover I’ve heard of the song is from a somewhat unlikely source…a contestant on “American Idol.” And in this case, someone who in my opinion is one of the best the show has ever had…season 8′s Allison Iraheta. She injects the song with tons of raw fire, and almost an effortless-sounding sense of the emotional core of it all. Add to that the fact that at the time she performed this, she was only 16 years old, and prepare to be impressed. The studio version of her live performance is embedded here (a quick YouTube search should turn up the just-as-terrific live version, which I wasn’t able to embed):
Finally, here’s probably one of the most unconventional takes of the song I’ve heard…a version by indie artist Bon Iver (the stage name of Justin Vernon), performed on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” that mashes up a bit of the song with the classic Donny Hathaway tune “A Song For You,” and another Bonnie Raitt hit, “Nick of Time.” It’s something that seems like it wouldn’t work on paper…but thanks to the stark, lovely piano backing, and Justin’s committed, wonderfully unique vocal, it all clicks together very nicely.
So there we go. The test drive of the new Cover Stories feature is complete. Let me know your thoughts about it. I’ll see y’all soon with a new Artist Spotlight, on the amazing singer-songwriter Alyse Black. Thanks for reading!
So…16 days have passed by. Without a post. For shame, Brandon, for shame. This tonight, and an Artist Spotlight tomorrow. Plus I still have a lot of interesting things cooked up for later. For now…today’s/tonight’s Song of the Day? How about…
“To Build A Home” by the Cinematic Orchestra (feat. Patrick Watson)!
This is a gorgeous tune by a British group called The Cinematic Orchestra, which actually usually does instrumental music, from what I understand. According to Wikipedia (because Wikipedia knows all? ), they often have a more jazz/electronic vibe. I haven’t checked out their music much, but since Jamie Cullum name-checked them, and this song is so terrific, perhaps I should. Anyways, it’s a very sparse, yet driving piano-based ballad (with some tasteful, beautiful strings) with vocals by Canadian singer/songwriter Patrick Watson (who I’d actually already heard of, and I have 2 of his songs on my iPod to boot). Of all people to introduce me to it…my sister actually told me about this, which is kind of crazy, since she’s totally into more mainstream music than I am. (Apparently she’s in a ‘contemporary music’ mood right now, so she’s been getting into a LOT of artists/music I love much more than whatever we agree on in the field of music normally. It’s kind of amazing. ) It’s sweeping, heartbreaking, and uplifting all at once. It’s rather hard for me to get enough of it.
See you soon with fresh posts, and lots of great music! My next post (if things according to plan) will be an Artist Spotlight on the aforementioned Jamie Cullum. You’re gonna love him, I know it. Thanks for reading, as always!
), they often have a more jazz/electronic vibe. I haven’t checked out their music much, but since 
