Classin' Up the 80's

This past weekend I started working on a mix. I was trying to combine two of my favorite types of music...lo-fi indie, folk and/or bluegrass, with cheesy 80's pop music. My mission was to find some great covers of 80's pop music and compile them into a mix that sounded more like any respectable indie/folk mix you might share with a friend. I accomplished this task, and have been listening to the result ever since.

Since I was so content with the result I thought I would share the tracklisting with you and include a few links for the songs with you guys. Enjoy!

Classin' Up The 80's

The Pickin' On Series - "Unskinny Bop (Poison)"
The Be Good Tanyas - "When Doves Cry (Prince)" (via My Old Kentucky Blog)
Gilli Moon - "Need You Tonight (INXS)"
Nina Gordon - "18 and Life (Skid Row)"
Emm Gryner - "Pour Some Sugar On Me (Def Leppard)"
The Puppini Sisters - "Heart of Glass (Blondie)" (via Adzuki Bean Stash)
The Boy Least Likely To - "Faith (George Michael)" (This can be streamed on his site)
Rasputina - "Fire & Ice (Pat Benatar)"
Jerree Small (w/ Scott "Starfire" Lunt) - "You Spin Me Round (Dead or Alive)"
Adrianne - "Blister In The Sun (Violent Femmes)"
The Harvey Girls - "White Wedding (Billy Idol)"
The Softies - "Together Forever (Rick Astley)"
Petra Haden - "Don't Stop Believin'(Journey)" (left click)
Greg Laswell - "Girls Just Want to Have Fun (Cyndi Lauper)" (via Line of Best Fit)
Christy Jefferson - "Come On Eileen (Dexy's Midnight Runners)"
Jonatha Brooke - "Eye In The Sky (Alan Parsons Project)"

Nina Gordon - Even the Sunbeams

Nina Gordon has released a free downloadable EP of a few songs from her unreleased album "Even the Sunbeams" that was the predecessor of her latest album "Bleeding Heart Graffiti". This EP features a few of the songs from Even the Sunbeams as well as a few demo versions of songs from Bleeding Heart Graffiti and some that are drastically changed from that album.

All in all it is a more acoustic, stripped-down album. Considering her more recent work has been been more gentle than her rock 'n' roll backround (she was in the 90's band Veruca Salt, in case you forgot), I actually think the acoustic qualities lend themselves well to the quality of the music instead of the light FM sound that Bleeding Heart Graffiti sometimes slipped into. It's definitely worth checking it...especially since it's free!

• Going South
• Turn On Your Radio
• Lighter On The Moon
• The Bright Side
• Pure

Demos

• A Different Song
• Someday Is Too Far Away

Hip-Hop Covers

I am a big fan of cover songs. There are many covers I love more than the originals, but many more I just love because of how much they are able to transform the original into their own. Some cover songs just seem natural and the only thing that's really different is that it is someone else singing. Other times the difference is immense, so much so that it may even make you re-think your feelings on the original (like how Tori Amos covering "Smells Like Teen Spirit" did to me).

Perhaps the most challenging of cover songs are when waspy white folk like myself take on rap and hip-hop music. I admit, it gives me quite the thrill to hear this done, and done well. It may just be giving me more "access" to a genre I may not identify with normally, or perhaps I find it downright humorous (really, it's a bit of both most of the time), but either way I cannot deny the satisfaction I get from listening to one of these covers done well.

Here are a few of my personal favorites:

• Nina Gordon - "Straight Outta Compton" (N.W.A. cover)
• The Magic Numbers - " Crazy In Love" (Beyonce cover)
• Ben Folds - "Bitches Ain't Shit" (Dr. Dre cover)
• KT Tunstall - "Get Your Freak On" (Missy Elliott cover)

Updates on past posts...

Just a quick few notes...

• I learned last night from Looking At Them ( and she from Pink Is The New Blog) that Nina Gordon who I wrote about on the 7th, is expecting her first child, a girl, in November...congratulations, Nina!

• And I learned this afternoon from Songs:Illinois that Lullaby Baxter, whom I wrote about on August 3rd, is back and has recorded a new album entitled "Garden Cities of Tomorrow" that is being released on August 22nd! She has a new site set up here, and you can download a song from the new album, link below...

Lullaby Baxter - "Rattled Little Clam"

Nina Gordon: Bleeding Heart Graffiti

Nina Gordon, co-founder of 90's rock favorite Veruca Salt, has a new album entitled "Bleeding Heart Graffiti" hitting the shelves tomorrow (August 8th). This is a long overdue release as it has been put off numerous times and been in the works a few years now. Her last album, first solo effort "Tonight and the Rest of My Life", came out in 2000.

For fans of Veruca Salt, the reviews were mixed. Many fans favor the harder flavor of her fellow co-founder Louise Post's style, but Nina found a bit of a softer side. I always prefered Nina's work. When I really loved a Veruca track and checked the liner it was almost always a Gordon song. Nina has gotten some minor airplay since leaving Veruca Salt with the title single from her "Tonight and the Rest of My Life" album. Louise Post, on the other hand, put on weight, dyed her hair blonde (both of which, admittedly, were only the case right after the initial breakup for the band and her friendship with Nina, they were long time best friends) and is choking out pseudo-punk songs under the same Veruca Salt moniker, despite her being the only original band member left. That doesn't sound like a lot of success to me, but she still has a good deal of fans, while Nina is just making some new ones.

My copy of Bleeding Heart Graffiti is pre-ordered and on its way to me and I couldn't be more excited. The first single, "Kiss Me 'Til It Bleeds" sounds great and I have high hopes for the rest of the album.

• Nina Gordon - "Kiss Me 'Til It Bleeds" (from Bleeding Heart Graffiti)
• Nina Gordon - "Black and Blonde" (b-side from Tonight and the Rest of My Life)
• Veruca Salt - "Number One Blind" (from American Thighs)
• Veruca Salt - "Loneliness is Worse" (from Eight Arms to Hold You)