Covered: Around The World Edition

NORWAY:
Singer/songwriter Ane Brun recently recorded her own acoustic version of Alphaville's 'Big In Japan' for a Swedish documentary called 'Stor I Japan'. It's currently sitting atop the iTunes Sweden chart. The simplicity of her cover reminds me of her sublime collaboration with Koop for 'Koop Island Blues'.

Ane Brun - Big in Japan (Alphaville Cover)


AUSTRALIA:
Angie Hart has a remarkable musical output that's enough for a whole week (or more) worth of coverage. Either when she was with Frente!, Splendid, or on her own, she proved that her voice is one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard. Her cover of The Cure's 'Pictures Of You' was produced for the Transport Accident Commission's anti-speeding campaign ad (which you can watch here), and when put into that context, it's pretty mesmerizing and touching. It's now available as a single on iTunes Aussie, but since I don't have access to that, this 96kps rip from her MySpace has to do. I really wish I could do a feature on her 'oeurve' someday.

Angie Hart - Pictures Of You (The Cure Cover)


SWEDEN:
Aww...Those Dancing Days! I've been quietly following them ever since Swedesplease introduced me to them with 'Hitten'. These girls are like the antithesis to the Disney empire, they're still in high school, and yet they already show more credibility and potential than those Jonas brothers or whomever Disney Channel starlets that are raping my ears by butchering the classics for dvd bonus features could ever dream of. Um, awkward comparison? Maybe I'm just biased because the lead singer reminds me of Molly Ringwald in her heyday. All of them are adorable, though! Here's their cool version of Britney Spears' 'Toxic', a b-side to their latest single 'Home Sweet Home', which is quite good by itself!

Those Dancing Days - Toxic (Britney Spears Cover)


UK:
Surprising listenable! I normally detested the idea of 'indie bands legimitizing pop hits by ruining them' but this is actually quite decent. This song is just that good.

Guillemots - Black And Gold (Sam Sparro Cover)


GERMANY:
Last but not least, a ridiculously awesome Latin-flavored cover of Daft Punk's 'Around The World'. Senor Coconut is just one of the many aliases of German DJ Uwe Schmidt. He has done a remix for Jamie Lidell in the same style. It's great fun to listen to, a very interesting interpretation it is.


Señor Coconut and his Orchestra - Around The World (Full Version)

So Long, Summer. A Mix Compiled By Zeon

It has become somewhat of a tradition for me to make an annual summer mix, and this year is no exception. So here comes the third. I've spent quite a lot of effort on this, as I want it to be capable of capturing my mood, the music I frequently listen to in the summer of '08, like a time capsule, so that one day I can look back and reminisce (and weep and moan about the good ol' days). I'm really satisfied with the results, I think I'm getting better at this, and I hope you will enjoy it, too, though it's kinda late by now, isn't it. I planned to make a muxtape, too, but the site's in trouble now, too bad. You can either download each track by choice or just grab the whole zip for convenience. Either way, here's my way of waving goodbye to an eventful summer.


TRACKLIST:


1. The Sundays - Summertime
The definitive summer song. This summer, I found myself listening to this song while going for a walk quite a lot, with the chorus constantly ringing in my head ("And it's you and me in the summertime..."). No one can sing like Harriet does. And the guitar slide at the end. This deserves its opener spot in every way. Classic.
2. Nine Black Alps - Bitter End
A jaunty, catchy number I discovered last year. I don't know much about the band and I doubt their other materials are as good as this track, but this really is a good one.
3. Irene - By Your Side
Probably the cheeriest song on the mix. From the mighty Swedish label Labrador. Wait 'til the singalong climax - I fell for it every single time. Oh, there it goes in my head again...
4. The Billionaires - The End Of Summer Song
I've been saving this one for this mix - very relatable lyrics. Great spirit, if by great you mean 'Let's get drunk by the campfire like we don't give a shit about tomorrow'.
5. Aimee Mann - Ghost World
Inspired by the graphic novel of the same name. I watched the film and read the book a few months ago, and I already declare it one of the greatest teen movies I've seen. So much angst & bitterness. I'm still in the process of coming of age, you know, and I don't think I'm coping well with it.
6. The Cardigans - Pooh Song
One of the best Cardigans b-sides. I think it is indeed named after Winnie The Pooh. There's not a note gone to waste in this track. So wonderfully twee. This is way before Nina started to drink too much and penned sad sad songs.
7. Club 8 - Heaven
More lovely Swedish indie pop. Club 8's last album was my number one album in 2007, which is not surprising as I became quite obssessed with twee pop last year, and this gorgeous single is one of the highlights of that album. So uplifiting, though there's a slight melancholy undertone.
8. Beth Orton - Central Reservation (The Then Again Version)
Remixed by Ben Watt, the other half of Everything But The Girl. Sweet slice of '90s electronica. I like the part when she says 'It's like...'.
9. Ivy - It's All In Your Mind
A short instrumental track, a very rare bonus from 'Long Distance'. Ivy is one of my favorite bands ever, I just had to include something by them. This one is a summery, relaxing groove, suitable for a stroll down the beach/along the park.
10. Texas - Say What You Want
A rediscovered gem. I didn't like Texas enough to feel the need to listen to every album and single they put out, but still I can't believe I missed this one. I saw my mistake and it's been on rotation ever since.
11. Goldfrapp - Caravan Girl (Live Choral Version)
Overlooked summer song of 2008. This version can be found on the single. The choral crescendo is eargasm.
12. Jens Lekman - Your Arms Around Me
I wish I could write love songs as easily as Jens does. An awkward tale about cutting off your fingers while slicing an avocado in a hot day in August. So silly, yet so romantic. This is movie-ending-soundtrack fodder, imagine lovebirds walking together as the camera pans to the dreamy skyline. Somebody hire me!
13. Caribou - Irene
A tad more leftfield. Psychedelic ambience. With a video full of National Geographic footage to boot.
14. Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man - Mysteries
Now this is just too beautiful for words. Almost hymn-like. I would have chosen this as the closer...
15. Alphaville - Forever Young (Hamel Album Remix)
...but I gave this one the honor instead. A sublime mix from Bill Hamel, probably the best one of this classic yet. No other track would do. Yes, I'd like to live forever, please, at least until I got bored of it. With this I bid adieu to the summer of '08, and say hello to what possibly will be the busiest quarter ever...Time doesn't wait for no one...


DOWNLOAD THE ZIPPED FILE WITH ALL 16 TRACKS

Stop!!! New Pipettes Track Surfaces!!!

I was having sort of a bad moment and then down from the sky came a miraculous ray of light in the form of some Pipettes news with a brand new track to cheer me right up. I knew subscribing to Pitchfork News will pay off someday. The track's called 'The Shoe That Fits', and they're generous enough to offer you a free download at their new remix Myspace page. So what's the catch? Well, it's acappella only since this is for a remix contest, but if your submitted version is the best, it will get to appear on an upcoming tour CD. Here's the version with Gwenno, Anna & Ani, and you can get the versions with seperate vocals of each Pipette here.


The Pipettes - The Shoe That Fits (Vocal Mix) [alt. link]


The smart move is now you get to hear and judge for yourself how good are the two new Pipettes' pipes. It seems that Gwenno stepped down a notch here to give the new member more singing time. Vocally, Anna & Ani are doing a goob job, but personality-wise, guess we'll have to wait and see. It's a nice little track to tide us over for now. There's still a whole floppy forest ("tee-hee") before them, The Pipettes V2.0 V3.0, but I'm quite sure their sweet harmonies will continue to thrive. And best of luck to the former Pipettes, Rosay & Riotbecki and their solo projects.

A little confession: I still can't tell Ani and Anna apart. :-(

Susanna - Sonata Mix Dwarf Cosmos

I once posted about the magnificent Susanna & The Magical Orchestra here. And now, Susanna has left the Melody Mountain (oh I'm funny) to make a solo debut with original songs this time. It's wickedly entitled 'Sonata Mix Dwarf Cosmos', released in August last year. She may be without the Magical Orchestra (Morten Qvenild), but she still makes strictly nocturnal music. The understated production gives the record an old-fashioned, sparse feel, and Susanna's hauntingly beautiful and quietly powerful voice's still capable of giving me the chills. The tone is still quite sombre, so it's best to listen to it at night, in solitary silence, as you're winding down after a stressful day. To be honest, her lyrics follow a certain pattern that gets repetitive after a while, but then for this kind of music, lyrics are allowed to come second to the mood it creates. All in all, for those of you looking for new music to listen to in the late hours, this would make a tasteful choice. You can sample the two cuts below. The album was released by Norwegian label Rune Grammofon.




Susanna - Born In The Desert
Susanna - Better Days
(Sonata Mix Dwarf Cosmos, 2007)



Swing by her MySpace for more song streams.

Lotte Kesner - China Mountain

Lotte Kestner is the current solo project of Anna-Lynne Williams, the singer of one of my favorite bands, Trespassers William. 'China Mountain' was quietly released earlier this year, so quietly that I wasn't aware until I passed by the band's website for some updates on their new album. The project sees Anna heading for a different direction, gone are the shoegaze tendencies, in favor of a more stripped-down, acoustic sound. Very little percussion was used, and Anna's bewitching vocals flow like a stream through the woods in the moonshine. The overall mood is drenched in melancholy, not that I'd expect anything else from her, but there's also a certain meditative quality to it. With 'China Mountain', she has managed to walk the fine line between beautiful lo-fi bedroom pop and Starbucks coffee table music. Although the album could have used a bit more variety, overall it's a respectable effort, the kind that could easily be overlooked but shouldn't be. If you like the two tracks below, then the rest is definitely for you.



Lotte Kesner - Crush The Bird
Lotte Kesner - Compasses



You can find the album on iTunes, order it from the band's website or CDBaby.

The album cover was done by Japanese illustrator Heisuke Kitazawa, who was responsible for the beautiful artwork for Trespassers William's last album 'Having'. You can check out his website for more of his amazing works.

Rediscovered: The Baldwin Brothers - Dream Girl (feat. Miho Hatori)

Cibo Matto was ace. 'Sugar Water' is one of the true '90s alternative classics (and so is the video). After the disband, both Yuka Honda & Miho Hatori continued to pursue their solo careers. Honestly, I haven't heard Yuka's stuff, but I remember Miho's latest album 'Ecdysis' being quite decent. So here's what slipped through the cracks. In 2002, Miho Hatori lent her vocals to a track by The Baldwin Brothers (no, not those two) called 'Dream Girl'. I only got wind of this a couple days ago. It's worth the search, though, because I absolutely love it upon the first listen. It's a splash of fun, upbeat, bubbly, dreamy offbeat electronica with a dash of psychedelic grooves (sorry for the puns). Nothing boundary-breaking here, but lovely nonetheless. 'Lost gem' stamp approved.
There's a nice track featuring one of my fave vocalists, Angie Hart (Frente!) on that album, too.


The Baldwin Brothers - Dream Girl (featuring Miho Hatori)
(Cooking With Lasers, 2002)


Here's the video:

Rediscovered: Lillix - Sweet Temptation (Hollow)

Remember Lillix? They were this Avril-lite, Disney-friendly version of The Donnas that hit it big once with their cover of 'What I Like About You' that seemed to appear in every chick flick back then. I didn't even know it was a cover of The Romantics until a couple weeks ago. That shamefully late discovery made me wonder if they had actually had any good punk-pop songs on their own, and so off to Youtube I went. The singles from their debut weren't any good. But the lead single for the flopped second album really is something. On 'Sweet Temptation (Follow)', the girls switched from generic teen-punk-pop to faux-glam-pop-rock. A major pop number with a monster of a chorus. Really, it's insanely catchy. I had no idea what went wrong, was it the label's disinterest in promoting, the dull video, or what? What was supposed to help them rejuvenate their career and gain more exposure ended up pushing them into oblivion instead. I know the life span of bands like this is not long, but still, such a shame that this was overlooked. Were this to be released now, it'd have the potential to become a big hit. What happened happened, the band was dropped, 2 members left, a guy was recruited and apparently they're working on new materials, though I doubt if they'd ever find a way back into the limelight again. Well, those royalties from 'What I Like About You' should be enough to fund another album, I guess. So if you enjoy your pop with big hooks and miss this like me, give it a chance. A new addictive guilty pleasure of mine.


Lillix - Sweet Temptation (Hollow)
(Inside The Hollow, 2006)

Covered: Kids In America

I'm no longer a kid, nor am I in America. Doesn't mean I can't still sing this out loud and pretend to be both.
Okay the first part was a lie. I'm still a kid.


The Muffs - Kids In America
(Clueless OST, 1995)
The Donnas - Kids In America
(Nancy Drew OST, 2007)
LEN - Kids In America
(Digimon The Movie OST (!), 2000)


Can you spot a pattern?

And here's an electric updated version from Kim Wilde's 2006 album 'Never Say Never', featuring Charlotte Hatherley of Ash.

Kim Wilde - Kids In America (feat. Charlotte Hatherley)

Everyone lives for the music-go-round...

Oh almost forgot this part. Apparently, those freaking Jonas Brothers have covered this, dubbed as 'Kids Of The Future'. And this idiot actually thought that they ripped off Len. Oh the hilarity.

Spiralling Down With Keane!

You can now grab the first taste from Keane's forthcoming album 'Perfect Symmetry' for free on their website. The track's called 'Spiralling', and it has all the right reasons to get excited about. A vast departure from the Keane I knew and loved, it has a strong '80s-influenced sound, and may be the first Keane song ever that I think would sound nicer with the 'Dance' equalizer preset in iTunes. It's a refreshing and unexpected change, and still properly catchy. Everything from the new press photos to the much more colorful artwork has 'subtly' suggested that Keane is going for a lighter, brighter direction this time, which is fine with me. Laugh as you may, but 'Hopes & Fears' was one the albums that nourished my mentality as a teenager. With producers Jon Brion (Fiona Apple, Kanye) & Stuart Price (aka Jacques Lu Cont) on boards, October really can't come soon enough, as it's been a so-so year musically so far...

In case the website crashes (as it should), here are some alternate mirrors. Even if you never liked them before, just give it a try.

Keane - Spiralling

This is also the perfect opportunity to bring up some Keane covers. Pick some, enjoy.


Keane - Enjoy The Silence (Depeche Mode Cover)
Keane and Faultline - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Elton John Cover)
Keane - With Or Without You (U2 Cover)
Keane - That's All (Genesis Cover)
Travis - After Mark And Lard Go (Somewhere Only We Know cover with new lyrics, which is supposed to be a joke that I don't get, I suppose)


(credits to Keaneshine.com for the last two!)

Themes Remixed

So I'm on a roll. Another spontaneous post. It's been raining outside all day, and that's how the idea for this post was conceived. As a little playlist for a rainy day. So here you go - famous themes, remixed by cool people. Good background music for a summer night.


Paul Oakenfold - James Bond Theme


Mark Snow - X-Files Theme (UNKLE Remix)
Another '90s phenomenon that I didn't get to know. By the I was old enough to care for it, it had already gone. The only episode I remembered watching is this rerun in which this guy imagined the Brady bunch living in his house and when he met the agents, he changed his surrounding to this place that looked like the Windows XP default wallpaper (why the hell could I remember it so specifically?). Anyways, the new movie's out this week in the US and I planned to watch the first movie this weekend as an introduction. And then maybe search that hilarious The Simpsons episode in which Mr. Burn got all alieny and googly-eyed on YouTube. If this proved a success, then hopefully it'd pave the way for more 90s TV series to come back on the silver screen. Like Buffy. Or Xena?

Pink Panther Theme (Fischerspooner Mix)
Not from that rather stupid Steve Martin movie version, but from a surprisingly decent (and totally uncalled for) chillout compilation Pink Panther's Penthouse Party. Yes, I didn't make that up.

Thomas Newman - Six Feet Under Main Theme (Rae & Christian Remix)
Another show that I heard nothing but praise for, yet I never watched it. It seemed to have impeccable taste in music, though (hello, Sia?).

The Sims Theme (Ralph Myerz and The Jack Herren Band Remix)
Yes, this actually exists. They do remixes for game tunes now. Fortunately, it's not shit, actually quite a laidback groove.

The Landau Orchestra - A Place In Time (Instrumental Arrangement)
The 4400's not of my interest, but the theme song is so damn sweet in a dream-pop, Ivy-esque kind of way that I eagerly awaited for a soundtrack release for a full-length version of the song. There is one, but those lazy bastards just phoned in the same one-minute theme. Epic fail! (Yay, an excuse to use hip slang!) At least, there's this smooth "instrumental arrangement" by The Landau Orchestra to get me by.


That's all for today. Enjoy.

Rarities: Nina Persson/David Arnold - Deceased

Inevitably, with the anticipation of a new Bond film comes the anticipation of a new theme song. For 'Quantum Of Solace', ever since Amy Winehouse was officially considered out of the picture, speculations have begun making their rounds. Among the fans' favorite candidates are Leona Lewis, Duffy, and Alicia Keys. Personally, I'm rooting for Goldfrapp, but we all know it ain't gonna happen. I just like rooting for the underdog like that. Anyone would sure be better than Chris freaking Cornell, though. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if they chose Chris Daughtry for the part.
Anyways, now here's a real unlikely candidate.

Nina Persson, the voice of The Cardigans.

Odd choice? Not convinced? Just me being a good fanboy? Well, listen to this ultra-rare gem, her very hard-to-find collaboration with James Bond composer David Arnold.


Nina Persson/David Arnold - Deceased (Theme from Randall and Hopkirk)


Gorgeous. Is there anything she can't do?
One day, I might gather up a fraction of my Cardigans rarities collection and make a week-long special, possibly maybe.

Update: Apparently, there's a music video for it, too.