Radio Free Chicago

People Covering Songs I Love ... With MORE Taylor Swift!

So did you hear the one about how Taylor Swift covered "White Blank Page" by Mumford & Sons on BBC Radio and totally killed it? Not to knock the original, because M&S really brought the drama on this one.

Mumford & Sons - White Blank Page

But in all honesty, after hearing Swift sing it with her soft, quavering vocals over guitars and banjo, I'm inclined to say it sounds fit for her, and I think reveals a side of her musicianship that people haven't heard much of. Girl's got a lot more soul than she gets credit for.

 

Taylor Swift - White Blank Page

Chris Bathgate Is Amazing, Needs Your Help To Continue Being As Such

I don't know if you know who Chris Bathgate is but you should. You see, I have the unfair advantage of being born and bred right in Bathgate's own backyard (The backyard of southeast Michigan, that is; not his literal backyard although that would have been weird, right guys?) so it's only natural that I adore the Ann Arbor darling as much as I do. The love for Bathgate, however, is not situational. No matter where you're from, Bathgate's darkly haunting folk tunes are sure to strike a chord of emotional resonance with you. His latest album, Salt Year, not only sits atop the running list of "Best Albums of 2011" compiled by yours truly but has also garnered a signifcant ammount of buzz from such notable sources as NPR. It's no surprise to anyone who's heard Salt Year, of course; The album is a masterpiece. From the opening confessions of "Eliza (Hue)" to the heartwrenching regret of the title track, Salt Year is as close to perfect as I've heard an album be since Okkervil River's Black Sheep Boy. 

Don't take my word on it, though! Check out this great review from RFC sister site Mezzic! (Fun fact: This review may have been written by me. But seriously, this is the best thing I've ever written. Ever!)

 

 Chris Bathgate - Poor Eliza

 

Now, kids, here's where I want to help you out. You see, Bathgate is as harrowing a performer live as his record would have you believe. So do you want to see him come to your town? Of course you do! Now Bathgate, in his infinite kindness, has made that a dream that you can achieve, all by handing over a few dollars to the Michgander's Kickstarter!

Watch Bathgate's video below and see why the singer really does deserve a Lincoln or two from your wallet.

Need more Bathgate? Of course you do! Check out his bandcamp and stream Salt Year in it's entierty before it ends up on everyone's queue at the end of twenty-eleven.

Nose Over Tail for Alkaline Trio's newest release: Damnesia

I'm always skeptical at the idea of artists reworking old songs, it's almost like the band admits that they  didn't do it right the first time. With head held high and negative notions brushed aside, my faith in Illinois natives Alkaline Trio kept my mind open and positive for their eighth studio release Damnesia. 

An eery piano intro, which you would completely expect from these guys, kicks off the album at the start of “Calling All Skeletons,” followed by confident acoustics and simple drum beats. The original recording of this song on 2008's Agony & Irony is fantastic, and while I was a little nervous about how the acoustic version would sound, I was very pleased with the result. These good time feelings continued with “Nose Over Tail,” a raw and in-your-face song that the trio managed to successfully transform into a light, moving piece. While the vocals still hold an air of desperation behind them, they are nowhere near as harsh as on the original release on 2000's The Alkaline Trio.

What was once an upbeat and driving song, “This Could Be Love,” off of 2003's Good Mourning, has been slowed down drastically and given an overall gloomy sound, especially in the piano and bass, to match the violent lyrics. You can really hear in this particular song how Matt Skiba's vocals have matured and become much more ominous and dark sounding. I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that they chose to remake unbearably adorable “Every Thug Needs a Lady,” into your typical sing-a-long love song, with a somewhat folk twang in the acoustics. This song has always been a personal favorite of mine, with honest and true lyrics “Believe in what I am because it's all I have today / And tomorrow who knows where we'll be.” I am unbelievably happy with the end result of this song.

Moving away from the cute love song and onto a more creepy and morbid note, maybe it's just my sick obsession with collar bones, which is a pretty strong obsession, but I love the song “Clavicle.” The original release on 1998's Goddamnit is very messy sounding with almost too much going on including choppy harmonized vocals. The stripped down version composed for Damnesia, though very simple, sounds much cleaner and refined. Soft and delicate piano opens “The American Scream,” an extremely personal song that many can relate to. After hearing the original version of this song from 2010's This Addiction , I was left confused. The upbeat cheerful music distracted from the serious meaning of the song. The new, unplugged version is much more fitting with drums kicking in at the end for added power and drive. In my opinion, this is how the song should have been done in the first place.

A song of goodbye, “You've Got So Far To Go,” is another ode to lovers with lines like “I heard everybody's voice cut out when you spoke.” This is my favorite kind of love song, brutally honest and desperate, complete with sex appeal in lines like: “I wanna grab you by the arms and kiss you so hard / Let's do it right under the streetlight.” When this song came on I instantly began to belt it out at the top of my lungs. No shame. Album closer, and one of their best known songs, “Radio” sounds just as powerful acoustically as the version on 2000's Maybe I'll Catch Fire. Even if you aren't a trio fan, odds are you know this song. Everyone seems to recognize the guitar melody and famous lines “I wish you would take my radio to bathe with you / Plugged in and ready to fall.” A song of dying love bursting with raw emotion. This was the first song I ever heard and was all it took for me to become a dedicated Alkaline Trio lover.

 

Alkaline Trio -  Radio

RFC Thinks You Should Know... Polecat!

Together for just over a year, bluegrass quintet Polecat still needs some introduction in most places outside of its Bellingham, Wash., homebase. But it's probably a good bet that they'll be starting up a storm soon enough.

I interviewed lead guitarist Jeremy Elliott in April for my local newspaper, just on the heels of the band's debut full-length album, Fire on the Hill, while they were touring with a series of CD release shows. Polecat plans to venture away from the West Coast later this year to promote their music nationwide.

Elliott remarked that the band put out its self-titled debut EP just five weeks into being a band. Since then, they've opened for some pretty big deal acts such as the Moondoggies, Trampled By Turtles and the Infamous Stringdusters. Bellingham's What's Up! magazine awarded the group trophies for Best Newby and Best Highway Americana in its 2011 What's Up! Awards.

Polecat maintains trust in the classic sounds of bluegrass, folk and blues, with a bit of Celtic flair from time to time thrown in by violinist Cayley Schmid. It's a solid formula that sounds fresh and new, even while feeding into those old-fashioned roots. Fire on the Hill gives people something to dance to, and something to sing to, and at times even something to chill out to. Most importantly, it's something that could just as easily appease Grandma as be something you'd want to pass along to your peers.

 

Polecat - Evening Train

 

After such an impressive start and such skillful production, it's easy to think Polecat's probably going places. Which is not just good news for them, but for everyone else, too.

People Covering Songs I Love: Taylor Swift Edition

Alright, world, I'm ready to come clean. I love Taylor Swift. I mean, I really love Taylor Swift. In the past six months, I've listened to 751 Taylor Swift songs according to Last.fm. I've used her "The Story Of Us" music video as inspiration for my classy yet sexy summer wardrobe of knee highs and mini-skirts. I've bought a copy of Teen Vogue because she was on the cover. On a particularly good hair day, I tweeted that I was rockin' waves worthy of Swift herself. What is it about Swift that has me so enamored? Well, to be honest, Swift started out as the lesser of evils in my household. At the start of the year, I started my tenure as a live-in nanny and the biggest lifestyle adjustment I had to make (Other than curbing my rampant, intravenous drug use - JUST KIDDING!) was my music consumption. Sure, when I'm in my section of the house, it's all Okkervil River and Timber Timbre but when I'm not in my lair, everything has to be kid-friendly and, let's face it, I'm too nice of a person to tell the kids how I really feel about the likes of Bruno Mars and Jason Derulo, the latter of whom appears to have made a career out of using the most idiotic samples possible. Begrudgingly, I started requesting the kids turn on Swift just so I could escape "The Lazy Song" and thus, my unlikely love affair with the country-pop superstar began.

I wasn't immune to the hooks found in "You Belong With Me" and "Love Story" but it was Swift's non-single tracks that found me warming to her the most. "You're Not Sorry" managed to sum up a year of my love life in a three minute long piano ballad. "Haunted" perfectly encapsulated the long-gone love affair that I just can't get over, although my musician ex isn't nearly of Joe Jonas caliber. "Mean" was an anti-bullying anthem that I first heard when rumor mongering ran rampant in my life and it's chorus of "Why you gotta be so mean?" proved a cathartic listen. More than all of that, however, was the appeal of Swift herself: One of the few pop stars who actually has control over their own image and career, Swift writes her own songs, produces her own records, and shreds on the banjo like you would not believe. 

Even though I keep the fact that I'm a proud Swiftie no secret, I still consider Swift somewhat of a guilty pleasure lest all of my indie cred be erased. And who better than my favorite guilty pleasure artist to cover my favorite guilty pleasure song?

 

Taylor Swift - Viva La Vida (Acoustic)

 

Let's get something straight - Coldplay isn't all bad. They're just bland and douchey. If given the choice between Coldplay and death, I'd chose Coldplay, albeit begrudgingly, and hope that the god-awful X & Y album wasn't on my forced-listen list so I wouldn't have to hear Chris Martin whine about his longing to "fix" Gwenyth "I Have A Music Career Now, You Guys!" Paltrow. In their early days, however, Martin and co. had some pretty sweet songs on their hands. Nearly half of their first two releases are not only tolerable, but actually enjoyable and the Six Feet Under promo set to the band's "A Rush Of Blood To The Head" remains hauntingly memorable after all these years. (Seriously, am I the only one who remembers that commercial?) By the time the band released Viva La Vida or Death & All His Friends, however, their schtick had grown tiresome. The band had found their soft-rock niche and they stuck with it. After all, they were raking in the dough. Why should they bother changing their winning formula? 

Martin still has some talent left in him though, when he's not busy whinging about the Goopster, and that was made evident with Viva La Vida's title track, a haunting, soaring song about the pitfalls of power and fame. Something about "Viva La Vida" has always appealed to my better nature, perhaps because I'm a sucker for remembering the "glory days" and "Viva La Vida" is three and a half minutes of reminiscing about when King Martin's subjects didn't want his "head on a silver plate" before surmising his whole sorry existence: "Oh, who would ever want to be king?"

 

Coldplay - Viva La Vida

 

It's a great allegory and Swift's loyal, acoustic version is one of the more beautiful cover songs I've heard this year. Plus, the whole "king" allegory really reminds me of the Stark family but that just might be because the majority of my summer has been spent simultaneously reading and watching George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones so anything involving a crown, incest, giant puppies, boobs, or dwarves is apt to remind me of the epic series. Winter is coming, ya'll!

NYC Popshop staple Penguin Prison headlines Unofficial Pitchfork After Party

Justin Timberlake's tenor has been snoozing of late. Taken away by cinema, pop and dance music has been creeped on by electronic and Adele. One fellow, Chris Glover, has taken it upon himself to fill the gap from a more independent standpoint; remixes without hearing the originals and a string of releases through NYC/London's Neon Gold. Performing as Penguin Prison, Chris has become a standard at POPSHOP; a successful NYC electropop party that's been running for some time now. Most recently his song "Multi-Millionaire (Shook Remix)" was released for free via RCRD LBL.

Chicago gets its taste of Penguin Prison and his own tenor, which even captured a slot opening for Jamiroquai, July 15th at the Mid for the Officially Unofficial Pitchfork After Party. Come out that night for an evening headlined by one of the more knowledgable, passionate guys in dance/pop I've interviewed (at Mezzic) with today. Other artists that night include Jessica 6 and Hey Champ.

For another sample of his live set, catch this video SXSW cooked up for this year's edition:

 

Nothing Is Wrong With The Sophomore Disc From Dawes

I almost feel as if California quartet Dawes had planned the name of their second album Nothing Is Wrong just to land the above headline that renders the album a perfect masterpiece. I know they didn't but it's a clever move, especially considering at what caliber of talent Nothing Is Wrong finds Dawes performing at. 

Dawes became darlings of the Midwest with the unironic classic rock sound of their debut album, North Hills. In the years since the release, Dawes has found themselves sharing the stage with everyone from Bright Eyes to The Walkmen, playing noteworthy festivals the world over, and selling out venues like Lincoln Hall on their own solo tours. Of course, the adoration coupled with the fact that Dawes isn't exactly doing anything new or groundbreaking resulted in a bit of a Dawes backlash that left me curious to see how the naysayers would react to the band's newest disc. 

It ends up if those naysayers are still saying their nay, it's fallen on deaf ears. Nothing Is Wrong has capitolized upon the buzz Dawes has built over the past two years and then some. The group's garnering high profile tours and glowing reviews left and right and with good reason: Nothing Is Wrong is filled with instant classics ("So Well", "How Far We've Come", a stellar version of which can be found at Daytrotter) that find Dawes perfecting the timeless formula that's endeared them to so many. Sure, Dawes isn't doing anything that the likes of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young haven't done before but Dawes isn't about being groundbreaking. It's about making anthemic, '70's tinged songs that wear their heart on their sleeves in an endearing every-guy sort of way. Anyone who's ever had their heart broken will find a sympathetic shoulder to lean on in front man Taylor Goldsmith's lyrics, which find the frontman alternating between sober apathy, bitter disdain, and lovelorn longing.

Nothing Is Wrong is chock full of songs that the band has perfected on the road and the tightness of the foursome is evident throughout the album. For proof of this, look no further than the quick paced and intricate guitar work on "How Far We've Come", a track anyone who's caught Dawes over the past two years will remember from the song's triumphant sing-along nature. Nothing Is Wrong finds the band taking the formula they perfected with North Hills and running with it. The song writing is stronger, the musicianship more precise. With their sophomore effort, Dawes proves that the instant-classic sound of their debut was no fluke and if this trend continues, we'll have a lot of the same to enjoy from the foursome in the future.

 

 Dawes - Coming Back To A Man

 

In Case You Missed It: Middle Brother Bests The Competition With Debut

A lot of albums have come and gone this year without a listen from me. It's like this most years: There's simply too much new, noteworthy music to keep up with when having an active life outside of sitting at my dekstop for hours on end. Usually these releases are ones I haven't heard hide nor hair from, and crop up towards the end of the year after a slow, steady gathering of buzz. This year, however, it seems that one of the best discs of 2011 was one I was supposedly anticipating but had languished in my iTunes library, unlistened, for months after it's release. That album? The debut by indie rock supergroup Middle Brother.

There was no reason for me not to like - Nay, love - Middle Brother. The group, after all, is comprised of the frontmen of my three favorite "non-Devotchka bands that start with the letter D": Dawes, Delta Spirit, and Dear Tick. However, after being let down in the past by supposed "super" groups of the alternative persuassion (Namely Bad Books, the collaboration of Manchester Orchestra and Kevin Devine that was more like a split LP than a collab, and Monsters of Folk, the supergroup no one asked for.), I just couldn't muster up the excitement to care about Middle Brother. I mean, honestly, so far as supergroups go, Traveling Wilburys inarguably did it best so why bother trying? Leave it to Dawes frontman Taylor Goldsmith to prove me wrong.

Middle Brother features an impressing array of tracks that showcase the talent of each member in turn all the while still sounding like a collaboration. No one gets overshadowed and each guy's talents are showcased in equal parts, in equal turns.

Middle Brother - Someday

The band's titular track recalls the supremely talented Jonny Corndawg. "Thanks For Nothing" is a sunny-sounding track for the unlucky in love, with Goldsmith and Deartick's John McCaully harmonizing like sweet baby angels. "Someday" is a completely sincere 1960's romp, complete with a choir of girl-group "Ah"s. "Blood and Guts", however, takes top honors here. A track from Goldsmith's old Simon Dawes days, "Blood and Guts" is a rarity that made an appearance during the band's first Daytrotter session and is a song that I always hoped would show up on Dawes's new record. I loved "Blood and Guts" upon first listen. To hear that it's only gotten better with age has forced me, with Middle Brother, to rethink my aversion to supergroups and embrace the sound.

Middle Brother - Blood and Guts

Wiping off the Dust... Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer!

I know the length of time since Dragonslayer was released is pretty miniscule compared to the average of most WotD entries but I can't help it- I've fallen much too deeply in love with this album this summer to not write a million jillion (or a couple hundred, mundred) words about it! When Dragonslayer dropped in 2009, I liked Sunset Rubdown and the rest of Spencer Krug's work but was not fully enamored by it. Not that I felt it was lacking, oftentimes it just felt like too much and I couldn't give it the focus it asked for. Two years and almost three Krug releases later, thank God it's finally clicked.

Sunset Rubdown - Idiot Heart

Dragonslayer is an epic, romantic yarn. Not "epic" in the sense of a buzzword from a new Doritos ad-campaign but epic in the sense that the name of the album is Dragonslayer. Pretty much every song is a muscular machine filled to the brim with emotionally resonant moments! Krug's gotten a reputation for inscrutable lyricism- here his words remain as fanciful as ever but with an ever-present (and welcome) hand outreached to you and yours. His songwriting hasn't been simplified, just streamlined; my imagination sees a white board in the studio with "MOVEMENT" and "FEELING!!!" underlined and circled a few times at the top of the 'do not erase' section. The songs here don't dawdle, they hurdle, or gallop, or soar, or at the very least scuttle slyly before erupting in pieces like the stirring, melancholic finale of "Apollo And The Buffalo And Anna Anna Anna Oh!"

Sunset Rubdown - Apollo and the Buffalo and Anna Anna Anna Oh!

The best song of this set of some of the best songs I've ever heard in my life (IMHO!!!) is "You Go On Ahead (Trumpet Trumpet II)." It's danceable, it's beautiful, it's a cry-while-smiling/smile-while-crying masterpiece, as Krug makes promise after promise to a strained lover. "I'd like to have to you navigate to hills where no musicians live, and on the way decide which mendings of your will you're willing to allow," flows into "I'd like to throw this trumpet down and go on empty handed, and I'd like to think I am not one of them- but I know I am. So I'd like to just, follow you a while," and the song rolls higher and higher into a climax that even the backseat of a car can't tarnish.

Sunset Rubdown - You Go on Ahead (Trumpet Trumpet II)

I always felt Spencer Krug was brilliant, but brilliance doesn't necessarily translate to favorites. With the rise of Dragonslayer, Krug has handily become one of my favorite songwriters. Between this and his 2010 Moonface EP "Dreamland: Marimbas and Shit-drums" alone he's been taking up a whole lot of space in my head, heart, and body. To my ears, Dragonslayer is a genuine opus and achievement even from someone as endlessly prolific and ambitious as Spencer Krug. It's a blessing! Look at you go!

People Covering Songs I Love ... With Horse Feathers Honoring Nirvana

One of the coolest things about cover songs is having the chance to hear a song you love in a completely new light. It's easy to repeat a song in its own style, but there's something very impressive about an artist who can respect the song's essence while putting a different spin on its sound.

"Drain You" is quite possibly my favorite Nirvana song. It's rough and hard and heavy in all the right ways. Sometimes, it's exactly what I need to exorcise my demons.

 

That said, I'm a huge fan of folk music, as well. As much as rocking out is a very powerful catharsis for me, sometimes it takes something lighter to grab me where I need to be grabbed (not in a dirty way, EIC Amber Valentine!). And behold, no matter what mood I'm in, "Drain You" can still be my medicine of choice. Because Portland, Ore., folk quartet Horse Feathers has proven that Kurt Cobain's songwriting can't be pigeonholed.

 

Horse Feathers - Drain You

The band's cover of "Drain You" is soft and poignant in a way that can't be absorbed while rigorously banging one's head. Horse Feathers' translation feels strangely natural, and appropriately pays tribute to a truly amazing piece of work.

 

Ben Sollee Expands His Repertoire With Inclusions

I've always had a weak spot for the cello so it's no surprise that I took an immeadiate shine to Ben Sollee when I first found out about the classically trained cellist-slash-dreamboat (Seriously. Look at him! He's cute as a button!) via his collaboration with Daniel Martin Moore. With Dear Companion, his cd with Moore, Sollee cemented his place in my heart and we all know that with that place comes the outlandish adoration that involves a vigorous daily e-stalking regime that makes certain no forthcoming release will go unnoticed. Somehow, however, Sollee's latest solo effort, Inclusions, escaped me so when I found out about the disc's existence, it was like getting a belated birthday present from my second favorite cellist (My first, naturally, being the eleven year old cellist-in-training I babysit).

Inclusions, start to finish, is an album that gets lovelier with each passing listen. Each element audible here - Be it Sollee's intimate vocals, a gently strummed acoustic guitar ("Captivity"), or the album's recurring brass section - has been captured at it's finest and it seems as if each element of Inclusions begs to be noticed in a different fashion the more familiar you get with the record.

You can listen to Inclusions all the way through at Sollee's bandcamp and if you like what you hear (which I'm sure you will), you can toss the man ten bones to get a copy for your very own. If you're still not ready to commit, just take a listen to the triumphant "Close To You".

 

 Ben Sollee - Close To You