MySpace Playlist: 10/25/09

Ah, the Halloween season is upon us, and children (and overgrown children) are putting on masks and dressing up as personas different from their own. In honor of this tradition, my playlist consist solely of the musical equivalent of dress-up: the cover song.

1. "I Need U/I Need A Man", Morning Elephant
   Shameless plug time here: Morning Elephant (found here covering two Eurythmics songs) will be part of a Ghost of Blind Lemon showcase occuring this Friday at Lakewood Bar & Grill. Iris Leu, Luna Matto, and Jokersdeck will round out the bill.


2. "Lithium", The Polyphonic Spree
   Speaking of Ms. Matto, she's one of the choir members of Polyphonic Spree. This band certainly loves their cover songs; their most recent Dallas show was at least 50% covers. Not surprisingly, no cover that evening had the crowd as enthusiastic as their unlikely take on Nirvana.


3. "All The Pretty Girls", Lovie
   Here's one Texas band covering another Texas band, Pearland based The Judys. Texas, represent!


4. "Ceremony", Hello Lover
   This band fuses punk energy with a new wave sound, so New Order's "Ceremony" is a perfect fit for the band.


5. "Wicked Game", Sara Donaldson
   After I rave about an artist so many times, I feel like I'm at a loss of new things to say. I think I have reached that point with Ms. Donaldson. The great frustration for me, however, is that I think for as much as I rave about her music, there are still very few people who know her work. Check out her covering Chris Isaak, but more importanly listen to her original material. I know few musicians who are as truly multi-talented as she is.


6. "The Waiting", Petty Theft
   I typically do not put cover bands on my playlist. This week, however, seemed the perfect opportunity to do just that. Here, one of my favorite tribute bands, Petty Theft, covers (gasp!) Tom Petty. Who'd have thunk it?


7. "Come Together", Eastwood
   This Beatles track would not seem like an obvious choice for a country band such as Eastwood to cover. The funny thing is that this song fits the band so perfectly. Very nice cover, guys.


8. "Ball and Chain", Noah Caveny
   I'm glad to see that Mr. Caveny's band, The Marfalites, has been performing more frequently as of late. They do a mean cover of this Social Distortion classic.


9. "Then He Kissed Me", Lucy Loves Schroeder
   I miss this band.


10. "The Hokey Pokey", Brave Combo
    This cover may be one of the greatest musical mysteries ever recorded. Polka, as a general rule, is one of the most annoying styles of music. "The Hokey Pokey" is one of the most annoying songs ever written. Yet when Brave Combo covers this song, only the greatest of curmudgeons can deny the joy in this cover. Instead of being as torturous as one would think this cover would be, it is musical genius. And no, I cannot explain why this cover works, but it does.

Finally, I offer up a video of Iris Leu's cover of "Let It Be". I wish I had video of her rendition of "Can't Get You Out of My Head" from the GOBL 2 year anniversary party at City Tavern, but alas, I do not. Don't forget, she'll be at LBG this Friday night for my showcase. Last plug, I promise. Well, for today at least.