More covers - Eef Barzelay / Clem Snide

This is insanely good. Plus whistling!


Clem Snide covers Journey


I could listen to him sing anything, but besides that, he just imbues his performances with so much soul - it can be a cheese-laden Journey song and coming from his lips it sounds heartfelt, longing, and tender... that takes talent. (Although I contend that a ukulele also lends earnestness and character to any song; e.g."Amanda Palmer Performs the Popular Hits of Radiohead On Her Magical Ukulele" - highly recommended.)

 He is exceptional live as well. If you need any more convincing, here are two other Clem Snide versions -


Here is his version of "Beautiful" - Christina Aguilera: He starts this performance with a story about pee, then proceeds to rock this song.




And here is his version of "I'll Be Your Mirror" - Velvet Underground: this video is just pictures. But you can soak up the song. I love this version, hard. Powerful, sweet, and wistful.

The weather is still gloomy here

And I may have to go in to work tomorrow even though it's my day off. June is just way too crazy. The sun better come out sometime soon =(

Until then, have some cheese:

Watch people's fan videos/edits for the delightful Richard Cheese. National treasure! Even if they don't seem to have made any actual videos. But I have to mention him first before I post the video below (which my sister (again) showed me quite some time ago). Because when I think cheesy lounge versions, I always think Richard Cheese first.

But across the pond they do the same, and I just had never experienced it, although apparently it was a big deal in like, 1996? I don't remember what I was doing in 1996, but it certainly wasn't spending time on the internet finding these things out.

Regardless of how old this video is, it's still amusing. To bring a smile to your face (albeit perhaps a creeped out one) on a grey, drizzly, no-fun Thursday in June, I give you The Mike Flowers Pops, covering the classic Oasis hit "Wonderwall":

The sun came out today!

...And that's a big deal around here. It was even over 70F, lovely. About damn time. In honor of that, sunny catchy dancy videos/songs!

There's a lot of praise out there right now for Janelle Monáe, and well deservedly. A nod goes to my sister for pointing her out to me a while back. Such a great video - delightful song, fun dancing, the vintage vibe, everything just works.
"Tightrope" - Janelle Monáe


And what she calls "classy brass"? Love it. Horns can be extremely effective in making a song somber or joyous.


"Maybe" - Emma Bunton: Baby Spice on her own, and I have to admit - I love this song. Always have. It's cheery and the '60s theme really makes the video. This skirts "ridiculous" and it could have been a disaster, but I think they knew that and just went for it.



"Our Love is Heavenly" - Heavenly: the video is low-fi, but one can't deny the pervading poppy cheeriness. The whole twee indie '90s thing, where did that go? Definitely a lot less romantic/earnestness in the indie-pop world now. IDK. Now I am rambling...



If you can't bear straight cheer, (and really, who can for very long, it starts to grate) - then "Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse" - of Montreal is the song for you. An entertaining video, with some sparkle. "Come on, chemicals!" has never sounded so desperate and yet still strangely upbeat...



A fairly straightforward video - but the yellow filter (digression time: I love an occasional use of the yellow filter, it puts me in mind of summer afternoons/memories where everything is that hazy gold), the group dancing, the lighthearted brass, the goofy grin on the singer's face, the rollickin' piano solo, all of these combine to very happy effect. "Sly" - The Cat Empire:




And last, but not the least (by far) - The Polyphonic Spree cover of "Lithium" - which takes a (lovely gloomy) Nirvana song and turns it into an effervescent, buoyant, rapturous thing. Just. Awesome. (It's not a full on video, per se, but they are always wearing robes/uniforms/costumes of some sort and are big on spectacle/energy so it's close enough.) Overshare of the week: if I were a) magically getting married and b) magically well-connected/able - this is the band I would have play at my wedding reception. They are not even a band I listen to all that much, but they are so infectiously joyous that I think it would be amazing. Feel free to overshare in the comments with your own picks.

Cars

Last night, I went to minor league ball game, and had a good time despite the rain. I had left my car at home since I was riding with other folks, and I had it parked on the street (cause my roommate had her car in the driveway when I came home). I do this because I live on a generally quiet residential street without much through traffic. So I was out late, but came home around 11:30pm and all was fine, quiet, usual...

Woke up this morning to find some hooligan(s) had thrown a beer bottle or two, at least one of which hit my car. Which cracked the windshield. A very large circular web of cracks in the lower left-hand side. Spent the morning at work trying to get in touch with my insurance agent and then they contacted some random auto glass company. Which means I get to spend my Saturday getting a new windshield, not to mention the cost (lower than my deductible, lucky me, all out-of-pocket). It's not a horrific expense, but still. Some drunk imbecile parties, and I have to pay for it. Galling.

Also, this is the first time anything like this has happened to my car. So I was stunned to walk out to find the damage this morning and was not sure what to do at first, too much drama. And I'm not even as emotionally attached to this car yet (as opposed to my beloved old truck), but I was still quite upset. And it's still new-ish to me, so that makes this damage even more annoying.

In honor of this - a few songs about, mentioning, or featuring cars.


"Cars" - Gary Numan: The obvious first choice. Best YouTube comment? The person who said "Gary Numan invented guyliner."
(Digression time, let's discuss how appalling YouTube comments often are. They are the worst! People get INSANE. Over nothing. It never ceases to amaze me. I read a lot of amazingly cruel, crude, pointless comments on the net, it is, after all, the Internet. And one can kind of understand it when people get upset over, say, political posts or something. But on videos of babies and kittens? Frightening/extremely amusing.)



Another obvious choice, though while cars do figure in this video, they are probably not the most memorable part for many people:

"Here I Go Again" - Whitesnake:



Another classic, and possibly the downright funniest video of this group - "Stay the Night" - Chicago:



The Beatles' classic "Drive My Car" covered by The Hot Rats: On principle I am not a huge fan of people covering The Beatles, but I actually don't hate this. I do rather like what I have heard of their covers album Turn Ons . The video itself I find rather tepid. Not horrible, but not thrilling. Good face-making.



In the part of the previous video where they ride the big wheel down the hill, it put me in mind of this next one -

"Steady as She Goes" - The Raconteurs: An excellent song with a cute video. Best YouTube comment on this one? "guns dont kill people. people with mustaches kill people."



Cars are so integral to our lives that they feature in a ton of music videos. This is by no means an exhaustive list, nor a best of, just the first few that I thought of tonight. Now I am going to bed early, as I have to be up for the ordeal of getting a new windshield tomorrow.

Do you have any favorite videos that mention/feature cars?

Covers: Ben Folds covers Elliott Smith

Since I did just talk about Elliott Smith, here's a little cover action, from a tweet today from The Onion , A.V. Club. They have a covers thing going on, and I'm glad that of all the people who could have picked this song to cover, it was Ben Folds.


Ben Folds covers Elliott Smith

Bonus: a fun site to explore: The Covers Project