vintage

Seriously.

Exclaim! reports that Devo bassist Gerald Casale is quite offended with one of the new McDonald’s American Idol toys. “New Wave Nigel,” as the figurine is called, sports a red flowerpot hat not unlike - well, exactly like - the “Energy Domes” designed by Casale for the band.

Ironically, Devo has always satirized and poked fun at consumerist culture and popular trends. They have taken the corporate giant to court over copyright infringement, and there is no word on whether New Wave Nigel will be pulled from the shelves.

Other dolls in the Idol series include Disco Dave and Country Clay.

(Vintage: bringing you really weird music news like clockwork.)

Wikipedia defines cover thus: “In popular music, a cover version, or simply cover, is a new rendition (performance or recording) of a previously recorded song.”

Cover songs are a subject of great debate among music fans. Are they good? bad? unthinkable? terrific? For my part, I am firmly on the “awesome” side of the fence - if, of course, the cover is done well. True to form or re-worked, it doesn’t matter, as long as the new version does justice to the original tune. In some cases they are even better, which is a great little surprise.

Here, in no particular order, is a list of some covers I can’t get enough of:

1. Marshall Crenshaw, Rave On
   (Marshall Crenshaw, 1982; remastered edition from 2000)

   I can’t get enough of Marshall Crenshaw, and I listen to this song over and over and over. It’s true that it’s a pretty form-fitting cover of the Buddy Holly (which is also really good, of course), but there’s something about it that I particularly love. Crenshaw’s voice is terrific. Even his countoff is endearing.

2. Jully Black, Seven Day Fool
   (Revival, 2007)

   A lot of people seem to have no idea that this is actually a cover; Etta James first did it on her album The Second Time Around in 1961, and now Black has brought it back to the forefront with her excellent version. Quite similar to James’ song, Black has still managed to infuse it with her fantastic sense of soul. Beware of earworms.

3. Sloan, Waterfalls
   (Listen to What the Man Said: A Tribute to Paul McCartney, 2001)

   An uptempo version of the somewhat ponderous tune from 1980’s McCartney II. This is one of those cases of “cover is better than the original”, and I’m not saying that lightly (I love Sir Paul); however, Sloan’s interpretation just seems to suit the song so much better, and Ferguson’s crooning of “polarbears” is the cherry on top.

4. The Bad Plus, Tom Sawyer
   (Prog, 2007)

   Yeah, a jazz cover of Rush. No big deal. I had the pleasure of seeing this ridiculously cool cover performed live, and it was just as great, and perhaps even better, than the Bad Plus’ recording. (Some argued it was better than Rush, but I wouldn’t go quite so far.) This trio fragments, reworks, and solos all over the Geddy Lee & Co. standard, but it is still completely recognizable. A pretty fun romp around jazzland, especially if you like the original.

5. The Golden Dogs, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five
   (Big Eye Little Eye, 2006)

   I know, two Paul McCartney covers in the same post? Really, though, the Golden Dogs’ take on the Wings tune is a super good one, and I didn’t want to leave it out. It’s taken a little faster than the original, but otherwise is quite true to it; barring the little “Band on the Run” reprise at the end, it is pretty close.

* I’m having some trouble uploading “Seven Day Fool,” so check back in a little while to see if it’s back. Sorry about that.

BBC News reported jazz pianist Esbjörn Svensson died in a scuba diving accident near Stockholm on Saturday. Svensson’s piano trio enjoyed great success throughout Europe and won a fair number of European jazz awards throughout their career.

Svensson leaves behind a wife and two sons.

Esbjörn Svensson Trio

It’s finally here: Sloan’s release of a follow-up to the mammoth 30-track Never Hear the End of It (2006); clocking in at 37 minutes, Parallel Play’s thirteen tracks seem to fly by. More than on previous records, this really showcases Sloan’s four-songwriters modus operandi, and the result is an improbable stew of sounds that somehow still works. I suspect the brilliant production has something to do with it.

Guitarist Patrick Pentland leads the record off with “Believe in Me”, a breezy rocker with stunningly unremarkable lyrics. Though Pentland has never really been known for his earth-shattering wordplay, he usually hits the nail on the head with a solid song, and this is the track’s redeeming factor. It’s fun and singalong-able, but not that enduring; for now, I’ll certainly enjoy belting along with the chorus when no one’s listening. The organ is an enjoyable addition.

Pentland’s other tracks are slightly disappointing. “Burn For It” and “The Other Side,” both under three minutes, have their moments of glory but fail to really hit the mark - the kind of songs you don’t mind listening to but forget about when they’re over. The chorus of “Burn For It” - I wanna walk through fire, walk through the fire and burn for it - is catchy enough, though. I can’t say that I dislike his work on this album, but his songs don’t grab me. It is not Pentland’s worst showing by any means, but he is capable of quite a lot more than he shows us here.

Jay Ferguson (Rickenbacker, denim jacket) provides his usual dose of charming pop with his three offerings, all below the three-minute mark. The second track, “Cheap Champagne,” features some beautifully sly vocal harmony and guitarless verse sections. The shouty “ba ba da”s that lead it off are really too jarring, but they sound much better when they return later in the song, and the rest of the tune with its perfect feel more than makes up for that.

Ferguson’s others, “Witch’s Wand” and “If I Could Change Your Mind,” are no less delectable. The latter is reminiscent of ’60s Motown/Phil Spector, a sure way to my heart. “Witch’s Wand,” a nice little swingy tune, features a chorus so catchy it is maddening. Jay’s been on quite a roll the last few records, and this is no exception; sometimes his tunes can come across a bit formulaic, though his current fixation on making them super-short helps alleviate that, but he’s good at throwing in some handclaps and piano ornaments to get you back to feelin’ the love.

Sarcastic bassist Chris Murphy has, thankfully, improved upon his lyrics since Never Hear the End of It. While we are still unfortunately subjected to many verses about how his life is going lately, at least it isn’t “People Think They Know Me”. Here he weighs in with three pretty solid tunes, the best of which is probably “Living the Dream” - some more of “this is my life!”, but disguised in a happy little song with a cute riff and some delicious placement of D7s.

“I’m Not A Kid Anymore” features good solid power-chording, but is not the most remarkable of songs. The chorus is probably the most exciting feature, but overall it stands around the same place as “Believe In Me” (fun, but not all that enduring). “All I Am Is All You’re Not” is surprisingly understated, giving it a cool, playing-hard-to-get vibe. I’d been listening to All Things Must Pass the day before the record came out, and the lyrics constantly remind me of Harrison’s “I’d Have You Anytime”; lyrical allusions aside, though, it’s a good song. Nice to have you back, Chris.

And finally Andrew Scott (drums/guitar), who rambles all over the map on this album. “Emergency 911″ has a bit of a Stooges/Sex Pistols feel, wherein he yells about bullies and ambulances and firetrucks. The looseness and anger comes off well, but I wish he had left off the Henry Rollins ending part. The rest is a good shouty rant of a time.

“Down in the Basement” is a happy, rolling Bob Dylan blues number, featuring lots of good keys; Scott pulls off the blatant Dylan ripoff well. It’s definitely my favourite of Scott’s tracks on the record. “The Dogs” is slightly ponderous, but grows on you, and even features an Animal Farm reference (Four legs good and two legs bad keep chasing each other ’round my head). Brownie points.

Scott also provides the album’s closer, “Too Many,” a somewhat confusing reggae-influenced loose thing with tons of organ. It is a strange choice for a final track, but then none of the tracks stand out as the perfect closer. It has some great harmony and little nuances, and he shows us quite often that he’s not afraid to play with boundaries and different sounds at every opportunity.

Scott and Ferguson definitely carry this record to great heights; Murphy, though, is finally staging a comeback from the lyrical Someone to not watch The View with rock bottom. Pentland is coasting a little, but manages to redeem himself with excellent instrumentation and some undeniably good hooks. Parallel Play is a solid 9th record, and I can see it sitting in my CD player for a while - or it would, if Yep Roc would bother actually mailing it to me. Well, you can’t win ‘em all.

Listen: Cheap Champagne or Living the Dream

The long list for the third annual Polaris Music Prize has been announced. As the website informs us, the long list consists of the top 40 full-length Canadian records released from June 1, 2007 to May 31, 2008, selected by the 185 members of the Polaris Music Prize jury. Thirty of these albums will be eliminated to produce the 10-album shortlist, to be revealed on July 7.

The Polaris Prize is judged solely on artistic merit, without any regard for record sales; the idea is to reward outstanding Canadian artists who may or may not be enjoying proportionally outstanding sales. The winner of the prize will receive $20,000 and some pretty hefty press. The past two years’ winners were Patrick Watson (2007) and Final Fantasy (2006).

This year’s long (long, long, long) list of Polaris Prize nominees are:

The Acorn, Glory Hope Mountain
Attack In Black, Marriage
Basia Bulat, Oh, My Darling
Black Mountain, In The Future
Born Ruffians, Red, Yellow and Blue
Buck 65, Situation
Cadence Weapon, Afterparty Babies
Cancer Bats, Hail Destroyer
Caribou, Andorra
Christine Fellows, Nevertheless
City And Colour, Bring Me Your Love
Constantines, Kensington Heights
Corb Lund, Horse Solider! Horse Soldier!
Crystal Castles, Crystal Castles
Destroyer, Trouble In Dreams
Fred Eaglesmith, Tinderbox
Gatineau, Gatineau
Ghislain Poirier, No Ground Under
Hayden, In Field And Town
Hilotrons, Happymatic
Holy Fuck, LP
Islands, Arm’s Way
Justin Rutledge, Man Descending
Karkwa, Le volume du vent
Kathleen Edwards, Asking For Flowers
The New Pornographers, Challengers
Pas Chic Chic, Au Contraire
Plants And Animals, Parc Avenue
Protest The Hero, Fortress
The Sadies, New Seasons
Sandro Perri, Tiny Mirrors
Shad, The Old Prince
Socalled, Ghetto Blaster
Stars, In Our Bedroom After The War
Tegan And Sara, The Con
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra and Tra-La-La Band, 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons
Two Hours Traffic, Little Jabs
Veda Hille, This Riot Life
The Weakerthans, Reunion Tour
Wintersleep, Welcome To The Night Sky

Note to bloggers: think before you decide to type links for a 40-strong list of artists. Wow.

It has been a busy couple of weeks for new albums in Ruheeland. The Futureheads’ This Is Not the World, Sloan’s Parallel Play and Sam Roberts’ Love at the End of the World have all made it into my hands within the past little while. And now, I get to weigh in.

First up: Sam Roberts’ third full-length LP - well, and what a record it is, ladies and gents. I could just sum it up like so: I love it.

However, since I’m prone to rambling on and on for longer than is necessary, I’ll keep going.

I have all of Roberts’ recorded output so far: the aforementioned three LPs as well as a 2002 independently released EP. And I really like it all. My first experience was We Were Born in a Flame, about a year after its release, and things just went merrily along from there. I soon found out that Sam Roberts has a particular style and sound, and you can count on his records to contain that. Chemical City was one that I enjoyed, but never completely pulled me in; it sounded and felt like Sam, which I liked, but nothing really stood out about it when I compared it to We Were Born in a Flame. And so I continued on being an average fan.

Then Love at the End of the World hit, and things changed a bit.

This record is fantastic. It is hard to put your finger on exactly what is so great about it sometimes; it still sounds just like Sam Roberts, that breezy, jaunty pop-rock thing he’s got going on, but something about it is far more worthy of praise and repeated listening than Chemical City was. “Detroit ‘67″, the piano-filled summertime-rock closer, alone makes the record worth it.

I’ve spent quite a lot of time with it in the week (!) that I’ve had it, and it’s amazing to me how it holds up. The album is a joyful dash through green summer fields, yelling the lyrics along while the sun sets. I’ve been fixated on “Lions of the Kalahari,” which starts off somewhat sparse and somehow manages to be laid-back and driving at the same time (what?). “Fixed to Ruin” is a pretty catchy little number, and there’s no discounting the single “Them Kids,” featuring trademark simple-but-instantly-recognizable guitar work as the kickoff. Roberts is an excellent musician, and nothing is compromised here.

It’s hard to write this review, for some reason, because I just want to say “It’s awesome!” over and over (which, arguably, I already have) … so I will end with the affirmation that yes, Love at the End of the World might just be Sam Roberts’ best yet.

Have a listen: Detroit ‘67

According to Uncut Magazine, duo Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook from the good ol’ pop/new-wave band Squeeze took home the “Outstanding Contribution to British Music” at the Ivor Novello songwriting awards. The ceremony was held in London on Tuesday; other winners included Radiohead, Amy Winehouse, Mika, Phil Collins, and a Lifetime Achievement Award for David Gilmour (Pink Floyd).

More exciting, though, is the magazine’s report that “[the] band plan to start work on their first album in ten years in 2009.” Squeeze’s last album, Domino, was released in 1998 to less-than-stellar reviews. Their best works, however, including back-to-back Argybargy (1980) and East Side Story (1981), are excellently crafted pop masterpieces; lyricist Difford and composer Tilbrook are oft-compared to Lennon & McCartney, more in terms of sheer songwriting prowess than actual stylistic similarities. Whether or not the comparison is a good one, there is no denying that Squeeze - who have an impressive 22 releases to their name, including a 6-disc remastered box set, Live at the Royal Albert Hall, and some singles and greatest hits collections - are certainly top contenders in the songwriting department, and a new record is an exciting prospect.

The band has announced quite a few tour dates for the summer, which you can browse here. Currently, their only Canadian date is — wait for it — Toronto; they’ll be hitting the Kool Haus on August 28th, supported by Aimee Mann. I have had my ticket for about three weeks already and will probably be first in line. Pack a lunch and come keep me company.

Well, this is many weeks overdue, but when am I ever on time with concert reviews? Man oh man. Sorry guys, I have been a real deadbeat.

On May 24, quirky Columbia Records jazz trio The Bad Plus rolled into Calgary for a show at 7th Ave jazz club Quincy’s. It was tight, energetic, and everything else you would expect from this startlingly innovative threesome. Lest I run out of adjectives too soon, though, let’s not forget the openers: Calgary’s own Sinistrio, a group of exceedingly talented local jazz players who were really well matched to their headliner. Matching the Bad Plus’ appetite for originality, their set included some pretty wild collective improvisations and a quite fantastic ballad in 11 (in 5 in the bridge, I believe).

When the Bad Plus were introduced (rather later in the night than many of us were expecting) the place sounded more like a rock venue than a jazz one, testament to the group’s successful merging of rock covers and influences with their original jazz sound. They’ve done covers of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, David Bowie’s “Life on Mars?”, and yes, Rush’s “Tom Sawyer”. They’ve done Tears for Fears and Neil Young, Bjork and Blondie, Aphex Twin and Queen, but somehow they still manage to be the freshest and most original jazz group I’ve heard in a very long time - and that was how they were that night too.

Their set was largely original compositions - all three are prolific and talented composers as well as performers, and have recorded a substantial amount of their own material in addition to their famous covers - and although there wasn’t as much material from their latest effort, Prog, as I would have liked, everything they did include was terrific (particularly “Dirty Blond” and “1972 Bronze Medallist”). Throughout the night, pianist Ethan Iverson took the mic between tunes, introducing the ones they were playing and providing a bit of background, taking care to introduce his fellow group members - bassist Reid Anderson and drummer David King - multiple times throughout the night to assure everyone he was not stealing the spotlight.

Not that he doesn’t deserve it; all three should be getting as much spotlight as is affordable. King’s solos were completely ridiculous, for lack of better term; the time never wavered while he was performing superhuman feats of kit skills. A friend I was sitting with, a drummer himself, was sitting openmouthed for most of the show. They are that good.

Their final song was introduced again by Iverson, but he refused to tell us the name, only saying that we’d recognize it (everyone here, including myself, was hoping very hard it would be “Tom Sawyer”). He put the microphone down on top of the piano lid and continued to stand, back to the piano, facing the audience, as the tune started. For maybe two minutes he played scattered melody notes with one hand, staring deadpan and unmoving at the audience. Rather surreal. Then he sat down and really began to play, and then we realised: “Chariots of Fire”.

The Bad Plus are one of the few bands that can do a cover of “Chariots” - as their final tune, no less - and still make it seem like the coolest song ever to be played in jazz. Iverson’s giant block chords turned it into even more of an epic than would be expected, and by the end we were all converted to the church of Vangelis … okay, maybe not that far, but certainly to the cult of the trio on stage in front of us.

They did get called back for an encore, which was not a bit unexpected. Iverson came back to the mic with a bit of a mischievous smile. “Wow, you guys! You’re so nice here in Canada. We really like Canada. It’s pretty great. Okay, this next tune … is from Canada.”

The crowd went nuts.

Debates afterward followed whether Rush’s “Tom Sawyer” or the Bad Plus’ take on it (live, even more fabulous than on record) was better, and you know if this debate is happening in Canada it is probably pretty serious. The night was capped off by the house playing the original Rush tune after their set, of course. And what a night it was.

See them if you can. There’s nobody out there quite this fantastic, I promise.

Coming up: reviews of Sam Roberts’ Love at the End of the World and the Futureheads’ This Is Not The World!