Don't Judge a Song by its Cover

 

I know, I know! I've been notable in my absence. Notably absent. Absence duly noted. Thankfully, Eliza's been holding down the LHNA fort in said absence. In my defence, I've been oh so busy; pretty much working non-stop since getting back from Spain a few weeks ago (more on that in the coming months...). And yet it's no excuse! So sorry, dear reader!
 
Here are a few pretty special recent covers (+ an older one) for your listening pleasure:

Grizzly Bear - Boy From School (Hot Chip)

Superchunk - Say My Name (Destiny's Child)

Jay Reatard - Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle (Nirvana)

Ted Leo - With Every Heartbeat (Kleerup feat. Robyn cover)

The Magnetic Fields Announce New Album!

As regular readers of Letters have no Arms will surely already be (perhaps excessively) aware of, we here are rather big fans of The Magnetic Fields. You can imagine therefore our unbridled glee (yes, glee!) (and yes, unbridled!) upon reading today's news: The Magnetic Fields are set to release a new album, titled, Realism, on January 26th!

 Tracklist:

01 You Must Be Out of Your Mind

02 Interlude

03 We Are Having a Hootenanny

04 I Don't Know What to Say

05 The Dolls' Tea Party

06 Everything Is One Big Christmas Tree

07 Walk a Lonely Road

08 Always Already Gone

09 Seduced and Abandoned

10 Better Things

11 Painted Flower

12 The Dada Polka

13 From a Sinking Boat

As for what it might sound like, we can perhaps look back to an interview Stephin Merritt gave to the Village Voice in October of last year:

Q: Are you inclined to unveil the direction of the new material?

A: Well, it will be the third record of the 'no-synth' trilogy. So I'm willing to unveil that it isn't an electro-pop album. 

 

 (Dare we hope for a tour?)

 

The Magnetic Fields - Long-forgotten Fairytale

!!! - Take Ecstacy With Me (The Magnetic Fields cover)

!!UPDATE!! (from The House of Tomorrow official site):

"The Magnetic Fields' new album, "Realism," will be released on Nonesuch Records on January 26, 2010. Swerving from the unrelenting feedback pop of "Distortion," this record explores the various genres under the umbrella of folk. Stephin says, "I thought of the two records as a pair, and I initially wanted them to be called 'True' and 'False.' But I couldn't decide which I wanted to be called 'True' and which I wanted to be called 'False.'" The band will be touring in 2010"

This Past Week

Monday: The Drums are one of my favourite new bands. These guys look like they just stepped out of a Swedish porn flick, and sound like pure teenage yearning.

  

"You used to be so pretty, now you're just tragic" becomes lhnA's favourite new sing-along line.

The Drums - Don't be a Jerk, Jonny

  

Tuesday: Soon to be reunited Pavement are the first (and so far only) band to be announced for Primavera Sound 2010. I immediately grabbed my credit card and bought tickets for both Primavera Sound and Primavera Club (held in December - look out for a LHNA  preview over the next couple of days), which they will headline. I also updated the Primavera Sound Wikipedia page; which, if you haven't yet done (editing a Wikipedia entry), I highly recommend doing; it's strangely satisfying. 


Pet Ghost Project - Box Elder (Pavement Cover)

Wednesday: Jonathan Richman visits our fine city. Tiny venue, packed. Hotter than a pre-heated oven in Hell. Jonathan starts off by apologising for the heat, saying not to blame the venue; he just doesn't like the sound of air conditioning (he later stops playing when the AC is switched on, only returning once it's been turned off). Several smokers grumble about the new no-smoking law, making little trips outside to inhale some smoke during his set.   

 

Jonathan Richman - Our dog is getting older now

Thursday: I come across a Lou Barlow cover of La Roux. Google Music is announced, which won't be available in Europe. What else is new... At least we have Spotify!


 Lou Barlow - Bulletproof (La Roux cover)

Friday: My robot outfit is complete.It required a paper Lidl bag, lots of aluminium foil, two cans of silver spray paint, lots of very strong tape, Daft Punk's Robot Rock and two CDs for my eyes.

 Royksopp - The Girl and the Robot

 

Saturday: Halloween!

 

 Mclusky - Dave, Stop Killing Prostitutes

  

***

and finally, a new feature, titled:

Blindfold - Falleg Depurd 

 If Coldplay met Sigur Ros in the clearing of a magical forest on a freezing winter's day (with Keane gently emanating from a nearby old people's home) , it might sound something like this.

The National - Ashamed of the Story I told

  pic: studiozoe



Another letter from home
I don't know why I even read it
There's one big question
I don't know why I must repeat it

 

The National - Ashamed of the Story I told (Polaris cover)

 

This is taken from the upcoming Mark Mulcahy tribute album, Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy.

 

Tracklist:

 

01 Thom Yorke: "All for the Best"
02 The National: "Ashamed of the Story I Told"
03 Michael Stipe: "Everything’s Coming Undone"
04 David Berkeley: "Love's the Only Thing That Shuts Me Up"
05 Dinosaur Jr.: "The Backyard"
06 Chris Harford and Mr. Ray Neal: "Micon the Icon"
07 Frank Black: "Bill Jocko"
08 Vic Chesnutt: "Little Man"
09 Unbelievable Truth: "Ciao My Shining Star"
10 Butterflies of Love: "I Have Patience"
11 Chris Collingwood of Fountains of Wayne: "Cookie Jar"
12 Frank Turner: "The Quiet One"
13 Rocket From the Tombs: "In Pursuit of Your Happiness"
14 Ben Kweller: "Wake Up Whispering"
15 Josh Rouse: "I Woke Up in the Mayflower"
16 Autumn Defense: "Paradise"
17 Hayden: "Happy Birthday Yesterday"
18 Juliana Hatfield: "We're Not in Charleston Anymore"
19 Mercury Rev: "Sailors and Animals"
20 Elvis Perkins: "She Watches Over Me"
21 Sean Watkins: "A World Away From This One" 

 

It's out in September and I suggest you go buy it. It's for a good cause.

 

** Big thanks to the rather lovely I Am Fuel, You Are Friends for the mp3 **

Don't Judge a Song by its Cover!

"This happened on the fourth day. The fish, all 1,200 of them who were journeying overland in that famous journey you have read about, were pulled over by a police officer driving a motorcycle. He stopped all the fish, who were walking in a line approximately three miles long. He asked to see identification, and only a few of the fishes had their wallets with them. He asked where the fishes were going, and they said, "Overland." ... " 
  [to be continued here*]

I found the Josh Reichmann cover in my inbox a few days ago and realized  Letters have no Arms has been conspicuously lacking in the cover department in recent months. Here's a nice little selection for your listening pleasure:

 

Klaxons (Gentlemen Drivers Remix Ft. Soko) - Not over yet (Grace)

Josh Reichmann - Daniel (Bat for Lashes)

Anamanaguchi - So Bored (Wavves)

Jens Jekman - You can call me Al (Paul Simon)

Evan Dando - Knowing Me Knowing You (Abba)
 

Score! 20 years of Merge Records: The Covers!

Ah, surely there is no better combination than your favourite artists and bands covering your favourite artists and bands, AND for the proceeds of said album going to your favourite charities! Merge have created something truly special here, so go out and buy buy buy it!

 

Score! 20 years of Merge Records: The Covers!

01 Quasi: "Beautiful Things" (3Ds cover)
02 Les Savy Fav: "Precision Auto" (Superchunk cover)
03 The Shins: "Plenty Is Never Enough" (Tenement Halls cover)
04 St. Vincent and the National: "Sleep All Summer" (Crooked Fingers cover)
05 Broken Social Scene: "Complications" (The Clean cover)
06 Ryan Adams: "Like a Fool" (Superchunk cover)
07 Bright Eyes: "Papa Was a Rodeo" (The Magnetic Fields cover)
08 Lavender Diamond: "New Ways of Living" (Destroyer cover)
09 The Apples in stereo: "King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 3" (Neutral Milk Hotel cover)
10 Laura Cantrell: "Cowboy on the Moon" (Lambchop cover)
11 Bill Callahan: "Santa Maria" (Versus cover)
12 Barbara Manning: "Through With People" (Portastatic cover)
13 The Mountain Goats: "Drug Life" (East River Pipe cover)
14 The New Pornographers: "Don't Destroy This Night" (The Rock*A*Teens cover)
15 Tracey Thorn and Jens Lekman: "Yeah! Oh, Yeah!" (The Magnetic Fields cover)
16 The Hive Dwellers: "My Noise" (Superchunk cover)
17 Ted Leo & the Pharmacists: "The Numbered Head" (Robert Pollard cover)
18 Okkervil River: "All You Little Suckers" (East River Pipe cover)
19 Death Cab for Cutie: "Kicked In" (Superchunk cover)
20 Times New Viking: "Neighborhood #1" (Arcade Fire cover)

Songs removed upon request. Listen to the whole album here!.


Oh, and BUY it, it's great!

Don't judge a Song by its Cover

 

Letters have no Arms would hereby like to unequivocally state that it in no way, shape or form encourages and/or condones providing alcohol to alcoholics. Letters have no Arms is very sorry for any offence and/or discomfort caused by any callous statements it may have made, and duly recognises its social responsibility and duty towards, well, everyone. For this reason we have decided that 100% of the proceeds of this post will go a rehab programme in your area. Kids, alcohol is not a joke. It's a drink.

 

 

 Alphabeat - Digital Love (Daft Punk)

Camera Obscura - Super Trooper (Abba)

Friendly Fires - I'm Good I'm Gone (Lykke Li)

TV on the Radio - Heroes (David Bowie)

Little Boots - Ready for the Floor (Hot Chip)

Other People's Songs

So we haven't done a covers post in quite a long time and were feeling quite guilty so we're gonna make up for it. And our timing is perfect because...

The Sarcastic Dharma Society
...happen to have a new covers album out. I have good news and even better news and amazing news about it, which one do you want to hear first? The good news is that we're talking covers of such artists as Julie Doiron, Why?, Mount Eerie, and Pedro the Lion. Even better news is the fact that you can download the whole thing over at cllct.com. How about I tell you the best news about the album then? Here goes: It's good.

Bad Bad Things (Andrew Jackson Jihad Cover)
"And then I grabbed the knife and I let the blood out of your throat
And I smashed those tiny mirrors inside of your skull
And I got to thinking: if I don't go to hell when I die I might go to heaven"

Simeon's Dilemma (Why? Cover)
"But I still hear your name in wedding bells
Will I look better or will I look the same rotting in hell?
You're the only proper noun I need; hurry."

First Day of My Life (Bright Eyes Cover)
"This is the first day of my life
Glad I didn't die before I met you
Now I don't care, I could go anywhere with you and I'd probably be happy"

Other cool covers that either are or will soon be embarking on a 'round the blog in 80 days mission:


Little Pictures - Buddy Holly (Weezer Cover)

We Are Scientists - Hoppipolla (Sigur Ros Cover)

Dawn Landes - Young Folks (Peter, Bjorn and John Cover)

Zooey - Father to a Sister of Thought (Pavement Cover)

The Twilight Sad - Half a Person (The Smiths Cover)

Emiliana Torrini - Sound of Silence (Simon & Garfunkel)

Ian McGlynn - Mistaken for Strangers (The National Cover)

First Aid Kit - Tiger Mountain Peasant Song (Fleet Foxes)

Winter Gloves - Someone Great (LCD Soundsystem Cover)



*illustrations on the left by Maxwell Loren Holyoke Hirsch (yes, I know, with that name how can you not be talented?)

The Postmarks devise a cunning plan to make people listen to something other than 'goodbye' (and maybe sell a few records while they're at it)

 

Ok, so here’s what I think happened. The Postmarks were sitting around one day, writing a new album, discussing whether they’d ever sell more than 8 records, and whether anyone would ever listen to anything but ‘Goodbye’. And just then, as if by magic, a Nouvelle Vague song came on the radio. “Damn” they said, looking at each other. “These guys sell thousands of records. They play sold out shows. And they don’t even write their own songs!!!”

So they scrapped their own material and compiled a list of songs they liked.

Fast forward to today, and they're releasing an entire album of covers.

So is it any good, you ask? 

It's brilliant! 

Even though this is an album of covers, The Postmarks make it their own. Anyone familiar with their sound of beautiful melancholy and cloudy mornings, heartbroken late-night bus rides home and that voice, will recognise that sound on the album. Fans of the originals will also appreciate the new interpretations. So go out and buy buy buy it (so that The Postmarks can record some of their own stuff again sometime soon)!

The album is out today, November 11th, and you can buy it here. 

The Postmarks - 11:59  

The Postmarks - Five years

The Postmarks - One note samba

Bicycle Records. Bobi Illustrations.

There are two sites we want to recommend to you today.

This.
And this.

If you visit the first you'll find the pretty illustrations that embellish this post and many more like them; so stop wasting time and right click-open new tab now!

The second website is the home of a small record label called Bicycle Records, where you can download the latest mp3s and buy the albums of artists such as: Anni Rossi, Polka Dot Dot Dot, Antsy Pants, Yes Please, Luke Temple, Your Heart Breaks, Ghost Mice, June Madrona, Jenny Jenkins, Agent Ribbons, etc.

To give you a small taste:

June Madrona: Serious Baby
"You'll only be a baby for a little while; you're gonna grow."
Antsy Pants: Sleep
"Please, little friend, get in your bed and let the adventures be dreams in your head
Sleep little one, tomorrow's more fun; we'll dance in the rain and we'll sing in the sun"
Luke Temple: You're Gonna Land
"I know they're gonna land; they cannot stay up there forever in the air"

And: totally unrelated but I really really really really like the Dirty Mittens' cover of 'White Winter Hymnal'. Apart from the fact that it's probably my favorite Fleet Foxes song, they did a fabulous job on it. And I never get tired of those lyrics, they're so damn sweet.

"I was following the pack, all swallowed in their coats
with scarves of red tied ’round their throats
to keep their little heads from falling in the snow
and I turned ’round and there you go
And, Michael, you would fall
and turn the white snow red as strawberries in the summertime..."

Head over to Music for Kids Who Can't Read Good for more great covers that were released this year.

My body is a cage but my mind holds the key.

photograph by Bettina Rheims

Sara Lov - My Body Is a Cage (Arcade Fire Cover)

paper thin walls don't hold warmth or conversation

 I wake up in a start on the floor of a rented apartment in West Berlin, a song audible from the next door apartment. I had a dream in which I was thirsty. I went to the fridge, only to find it completely full of expired milk, litres and litres of it...

I came here 8 and a half months ago looking for Bohemia or adventure or whatever, but found mostly punks and dog shit. It's 7:02 and my room-mate had another one of his Greenpeace chicks over last night (paper thin walls don't hold warmth or conversation, let alone grunts), and hasn't paid his half of the rent again this month. "I have to send most of my paycheck back home! You KNOW this! How many times do I have to tell you, you capitalist sjit" (he's joking, of course, about the 'capitalist sjit' part. But yes, this is how he pronounces the word shit). He's referring to Czechoslovakia, and I still fail to understand why he has to keep sending money there, given the fact that he hasn't been there in over 17 years (he's eighteen), is as American as I am, and grew up in Connecticut
(nor does it explain his inexplicable pronunciation of sjit).

I have a headache, and there's a bad draught in my room. I'll probably head back home soon.

The 6ths & Lloyd Cole - Human

Ladytron - Open Your Heart  

Future Bible Heroes - Don't You Want Me

All songs are taken from Reproductions, 

a tribute album to the Human League,

released in 2000.

***

Best part? 2 minutes and 6 seconds into Human, when Stephin Merritt sings speaks...

Don't judge a song by its cover

*

Deftones - Please, please, please, let me get what I want (Smiths)

Morrissey - That's Entertainment (The Jam)

Dr Dog - Heart It Races (Architecture in Helsinki)

Bright Eyes - Devil Town (Daniel Johnston)
Sia - Paranoid Android (Radiohead)

 

Don't judge a song by its cover (Vol II)

 

Lykke Li ft El Perro Del Mar - After Laughter come Tears (Wendy Rene)

If you have a brother or sister, you'll probably remember hearing the following warning when growing up, usually spoken by your mother: 'someone will get hurt'. I don't know how she knew it (well, probably from the fact that it happened ALL the time), but she tended to be right!

You might also recognize it as the sample used in the Wu-Tang Clan's Tearz

 

Kings of Convenience - Free Falling (Tom Petty) 

Soko - Love No (Teenagers) 

Check out some amazing pictures by Quentin Delafon of the Teenagers here!

This is where we are. Don't be frightened. This is where we are.

'Do you think when I die I'll be alone in the room with the yellow walls?'

• Ravens & Chimes - This Is Where We Are
• Ravens & Chimes - Archways
• Ravens & Chimes - So Long Marianne (Leonard Cohen Cover) 

Let the Arcade Fire comparisons stop, please. 

Don't let the name fool you. We rock.

Love is All - Nothing to be Done (The Pastels Cover)

Love is All - Felt Tip
+
Love is All - New Beginnings (Demo 2008)

A little folkier than the original:

*******************************

The Brooke, A Tiny Ocean:

"Jamie" (Weezer)

from the 'Roaring Nineties' compilation -

download it for free from cllct!

Bonnie Prince Billy:

"World`s Greatest" (R Kelly)
from his 2007 album "Ask Forgiveness"

Emmy the Great:

"Where Is My Mind?" (Pixies)

Existential Hero:

"If Winter Ends" (Bright Eyes)

from his cover album "Barely Covered" -

download it at cllct

Mallu Magalhaes:

"Folsom Prison Blues" (Johnny Cash)

The Magic Numbers:

"There Is a Light That Never Goes Out"

(The Smiths)

*******************************

The Hanged Man

by Dave McKean

Last week I saw Batman Begins
which reminded me I have a borrowed copy of Arkham Asylum somewhere on a shelf
which has beautiful albeit creepy illustrations by Dave Mckean
which brought to memory the picture above
which in turn made me think of this song.

Nirvana - They Hung Him On a Cross (Demo Version 1989)
*I don't know if we can call it a Leadbelly cover, but it's an American folk song and the first recorded version that exists of it (1945) belongs to Leadbelly; in fact, Cobain apparently planned to record this for a Leadbelly tribute album

Don't judge a song by its cover

Of Montreal – Make Out, Fall Out, Make Up (Love is all)

CSS – Knife (Grizzly Bear)

British Sea Power – Caribou (Pixies)

Ladytron – Open your heart (Human League)

Pavement – Something (Beatles)

Final fantasy – Peach, Plum, Pear (Joanna Newsom)

The Postal Service – Against all odds (Phil Collins)

Lou Barlow - Cold as Ice - (Foreigner)

...on love and mystery and ignorance and knowledge

The Accidental - Knock Knock

The Accidental - Wolves

I first heard The Accidental in February, when Nothing But Green Lights featured the beautiful 'Illuminated Red'. I fell in love with the song, but (having downloaded it without taking the time to read the article) the band was a total mystery to me. They were suddenly there and I had never heard anything about them. I had no idea who they were or why they were so good. And I didn't really look it up at first, but I downloaded all the songs I could get my hands on and listened to them quite religiously for a couple of months. Recently I found out that the band is comprised of Stephen Cracknell (the man behind The Memory Band) , Sam Genders (member of my beloved Tunng), Hannah Caughlin (from The Bicycle Thieves) and singer-songwriter Liam Bailey. Thus the mystery was solved. With such an impressive line-up, how could they not be good? But somehow after I knew that I started comparing them to The Bicycle Thieves, and then Tunng - and of course both those bands I had loved for a much longer time and Tunng had released one of my favourite albums of 2007... So you see this was not a wise thing to do. 'Cause in the perfect mathematical equation in my head the result of Tunng + The Bicycle Thieves + The Memory Band equaled something more than The Accidental and I started feeling a little less in love with them. Of course I still think they're pretty damn good (otherwise I wouldn't have included them here) but after close inspection some of their magic is lost...

Tunng - Bullets (watch the beautiful video)
Tunng - Pioneers (Bloc Party Cover)
The Bicycle Thieves - Open City
The Bicycle Thieves - You Speak So Eloquently About Love

"I do not like to work with patients who are in love. Perhaps it is because of envy- I too crave enchantment. Perhaps it is because love and psychotherapy are fundamentally incompatible. The good therapist fights darkness and seeks illumination, while romantic love is sustained by mystery and crumbles upon inspection. I hate to be love's executioner"

-> Irvin Yalom - 'Love's Executioner'