Death Cab for Cutie- I Will Possess Your Heart

I'm very proud to say that this band is from Bellingham, Washington, my aunt's haunting grounds.
Now let's talk about the song.....Creepy? Yes.  Scary?  Uh huh.  Melodic?  You bet your ass.  It's almost as if a stalker wrote this song.  I don't know if Ben Gibbard is a stalker, but he sure does sound like one.  "How I wish you could see the potential, the potential of you and me.  It's like a book elegantly bound but in a language that you can't read just yet."  Those are some of my favorite lyrics of all time.  It just paints an unsettling picture in my head of a sick and twisted lover imagining his prey is in love with him and just doesn't know it yet.  Chilling and terrifying, yet sweet and sincere.  This one will have you looking over your shoulder for sure.

Metric - Help, I'm Alive

I was vaguely familiar with Metric before I saw them live at Voodoo Fest in New Orleans in October.  What I didn't realize is what an amazing live show it is.  Whether she's banging furiously on the keyboard, tapping lightly on the tambourine or running back and forth across the stage, Emily Haines is just phenomenal.  There is a lot to be said for an artist that puts on a good 45 minutes of non-stop action and can still sound awesome live.  In a world of backing tracks and autotunes, there's just no place for Metric.  You can't fake this stuff.  Emily has also contributed to tracks for The Crystal Method and recorded Black Sheep for the movie "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World".  Check out Help, I'm Alive.  It's a catchy song with a dark throbbing underbelly.  That will open the doorway for you to discover more Metric.

Regina Spektor - The Calculation

Maybe it's just my sick sense of humor, but I really adore this song.  It sounds so sweet but then when you listen to the actual lyrics is kind of sick.  "So we made the hard decision and we each made an incision past our muscles and our bones our hearts were little stones.  Pulled them out and they weren't beating and we weren't even bleeding as we lay them on the granite counter top.  We beat 'em up against each other.  We beat 'em up against each other.  We struck 'em hard against each other.  We struck 'em so hard, so hard until they sparked."   Love it, love it, love it.  Give me the guts and gore.  But if you weren't paying attention you'd think she was singing about daisies and sunflowers.  Gotcha!

Beth Ditto

I was just introduced to this artist today.  Synthesized and probably tracks all composed on a computer, Beth Ditto gives us a little blast from the past when drum machines were "in".  Her voice is a little reminiscent of Lisa Lisa or Robin S.  I can't quite decide.  My favorite picks are I Wrote the Book and Do You Need Someone?

Under the Covers

Today we're going to go through some of my favorite remakes.  Let's start with Muse and Feeling Good.  I mentioned it in one of my first posts and there's a reason why.  It's special.  Everyone has covered this song from Micheal Buble to Jennifer Hudson.  Nobody does it this well.  Okay, on to G. Love's 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, originally recorded by Paul Simon.  It's a cool original, but G. Love puts a grassroots spin on it with a little banjo twang.  Moving on, Alanis Morrisette's King of Pain, originally recorded by The Police.  The cover is just as haunting as the original but I like the female version. Letters to Cleo has a punk girly cover of Nick Lowe's classic Cruel to Be Kind that I absolutely adore.    Phantom Planet has a great cover of Somebody's Baby, originally released in the 80's by Jackson Brown.  Ladies, get ready to throw your panties at Tom Jones and The Cardigans with their version of Burning Down the House, originally a Talking Head's 80's hit.  It's funky and cool all at the same time.  P!nk covered Tell Me Something Good for the "Happy Feet" soundtrack.  Moving to more alternative artists, check out Under Pressure by The Used and My Chemical Romance.  It's very much like the original, but it packs a little bit more punch. Then there's the mother of all covers.  Girls Just Want to Have Fun has been covered by over thirty artists including a remake by Cyndi Lauper herself.  But the best cover I've heard is by Greg Laswell which has been featured in several movies and TV shows including "My Sister's Keeper" and "Confessions of a Shopaholic".  This one will make you cry....if you're into that sorta thing.  So, get under the covers and try to find some of your favorites with a new spin.

Rufus Wainwright - Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk

"...these are just a couple of my cravings"  Rufus Wainwright might be most popular for his cover of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah which is how I came about finding him.  But Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk spoke to me in ways I couldn't describe when I first heard it.  Going through his vices and habits, he melodically tells us about all the things that he loves that are bad for him...even the darker ones.  But to end it all he asks for forgiveness..."I'm just a little bit heiress, a little bit irish, A little bit tower of pisa, Whenever I see ya, So please be kind if I'm a mess."  So, since I'm sometimes a mess myself, here's to Rufus who shares my love of cigarettes and chocolate milk.

Anjulie vs. Christina Perri

Which is more catching?  Is it having that one guy you just can't resist or telling that one guy to go to hell?  Anjulie gives a sultry and sexy performance in Boom where she can't let herself get away from the one who hurt her.  It's steamy and throbbing.  Christina Perri, on the other hand, makes sure her ex knows exactly where he stands in Jar of Hearts.  "You're gonna catch a cold from the ice inside your soul..."  Damn!  Ouch!  So to all the girls out there...is he the right one or should he take a hike?  Let your music speak for you.  (Super duper bonus, the Jar of Hearts video has at least one if not more dancers from So You Think You Can Dance, I know I recognized Allison for sure)

Ludacris - My Chick Bad

EXPLICIT MUSIC PEOPLE
I know, I know, this ain't new, but I was listening to it on my MP3 player and wanted to elaborate.  I do enjoy me some Luda!  This track has that thump thump that makes you want to dance.  Ludacris gives us his regular hilarity by going on and on how his chick supercedes all the others.  The special part of this track is the practical introduction of Nicki Minaj who gets even dirtier and grittier than Luda himself.  She compares herself to the horror gods Jason and Freddie.  All in all, it's one of those tracks that you pop in, turn up and bounce to.  "My chick bad tell your chick to go home!"  Listen here and watch the So You Think Dancers kill it!!!

Muse

As far as I see it, Muse is one of the greatest bands of our time.  Channelling Freddy Mercury, Depeche Mode and David Bowie, Matthew Bellamy has shown the world that a three piece band can do as much destruction as a full orchestra.  Take Butterflies and Hurricanes for an example.  It starts out synthesized and small but reveals itself into a huge monster of a rock masterpiece.  "Change everything you are, and everything you were, your number has been called...".  Amazing lyrics and screaming guitar riffs are not all this band is about.  In I Belong to You he goes off into French while he strokes the piano like a concerto.  What can't this band do?  They bring us catchy tracks like Uprising that our kids can play on Guitar Hero, then give us the most unbelievable cover of Feeling Good that I have ever experienced.  It's a good thing I was lucky enough to catch their live show at Voodoo Fest in New Orleans last year before they won the Grammy.  Now Muse is on the rise and no one on earth will be the same again.

Florence & The Machine - Addicted to Love

Of course you've heard Dog Days, but have you heard Florence's cover of Addicted to Love?  If you want to hear how snaky and sexy sounds, listen to it.  It's unlike any cover you've heard before.  I almost imagine it being used in a steamy love scene for a movie.  Robert Palmer couldn't make us that hot with his original.  Yes, Florence Welsh pounds out like a heartbeat the throbbing sounds of Addicted to Love with a breathiness that will literally get you excited inside.  Check it out.