Queens Of The Stone Age – White Wedding (Billy Idol)
Califone – No Expectations (The Stones)
Soundgarden -Stray Cat Blues (The Stones)
The Foo Fighters – Band On The Run (Paul McCartney & Wings)

It frustrates me when marginally talented artists garner the public’s attention while gifted musicians are overlooked. The primary reason for the dilemma is marketing dollars. More money=more exposure. Alela Diane is one of the most talented female singer-songwriters in the business today. The critics rave about her, but her music hasn’t received the attention that it deserves.

Alela recently lent her vocals for the Headless Heroes, a new covers project that features musicians Josh Klinghoffer, Woody Jackson, Joey Waronker, Leo Abrahams & Gus Seyffert. She was really excited about using her voice in new ways, saying “It was quite liberating to just sing! And not worry about it being my record, or it being different from the type of music that I’m used to making.” Her beautiful silky voice will not be overlooked much longer.

Download:
MP3: Headless Heroes – Just Like Honey [The Jesus & Mary Chain]
MP3: Alela Diane – Dry Grass and Shadows [Daytrotter Sessions]

Download:
Alela Diane – The Pirate's Gospel (iTunes)
The Jesus and Mary Chain – 21 Singles (iTunes)

Download:
MP3: M. Ward – Tom Violence [Sonic Youth]
MP3: Lispector – Hit [Sugarcubes Cover]

Download:
Easy Star All-Stars – Dub Side of the Moon (Reggae Version of Dark Side of the Moon) (iTunes)

Los Angeles-based West Indian Girl is playing @ Spaceland 11/6, 11/13 & 11/20. They are definitely worth checking out.

Download:
John Hiatt – The Best of John Hiatt (iTunes)
Incredible Bongo Band – Bongo Rock (iTunes)
Cowboy Junkies – The Trinity Session (iTunes)
West Indian Girl – 4th & Wall (iTunes)

“After midnight, we’re gonna let it all hang out
After midnight, we’re gonna chug-a-lug and shout
We’re gonna cause talk and suspicion
Give an exhibition
Find out what it is all about”
-J.J. Cale After Midnight

This is what it is all about. There is a cool story behind the song. Oklahoma songwriter J.J. Cale wrote “After Midnight” and released it as a demo in 1966. Eric Clapton recorded a version of the song as a single in 1970. The first time Cale heard Clapton’s version was on the radio while driving to Tulsa. Clapton also covered two more of Cale’s songs, “Cocaine” and “I’ll Make Love To You Anytime“.

Merl Saunders, Jerry Garcia, Tom Fogerty [CCR], John Kahn and Bill Witt covered the song in 1973. It was reissued in 1992 on Saunders album Fired Up+. They also covered The Band’s “The Night The Drove Old Dixie Down” and John Lennon’s “Imagine“. Definitely check out their albums listed below.

Download:
Merl Saunders & Friends – Fire Up + (iTunes)
Jerry Garcia & Merl Saunders – Well-Matched – The Best of Merl Saunders & Jerry Garcia (iTunes)

My Morning Jacket’s cover of the Pet Shop Boys’ “West End Girls” seemed like a strange musical choice for the southern-rock band at the time. It turns out that Jim James has always had a penchant for pop music. He finally had the confidence and label support [ATO] to express this side of himself on Evil Urges. I look forward to seeing which direction James explores on the next album.

The Conchords’ “Inner City Pressure” is a flawless parody of “West End Girls“. It showcases their talent and strength as singer-songwriters. I expect them to record a serious album once the series ends.

Download:
Pet Shop Boys – Please – Further Listening 1984-1986 (iTunes)
My Morning Jacket – Early Recordings, Chapter 2: Learning (iTunes)
Flight of the Conchords – Flight of the Conchords (iTunes)

Oasis’ “Wonderwall” is one of the greatest songs of all-time. It was thought that the song was written about Noel Gallagher’s then girlfriend Meg Matthews. Noel refuted it by saying “The meaning of that song was taken away from me by the media who jumped on it. And how do you tell your Mrs. it’s not about her once she’s read it is? It’s about an imaginary friend who’s going to come and save you from yourself.”

Over the years there have been some excellent covers of the song. Cat Power and Ryan Adam’s versions stand out.

I found a cool remix by guy named Jon Reed AKA “Elements Of Noise”. Sometimes remixes ruin the song, but Jon does a great job of covering Cat Power’s version. He has several more remixes on his Myspace page. Worth a listen.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) September 4th
“After a rousing concert at the Target Center in Minneapolis, police reportedly arrested close to 85 protesters after a standoff near 1st Avenue Wednesday night.

Those arrested after Wednesday night’s concert are being held at the Ramsey County Jail, pending criminal charges.”

I would love to be a fly on the wall at the Ramsey County Jail tonight.

Payback is hell. The Violent Femmes cover of Gnarls Barkely’s “Crazy” is hard on the ears. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the Violent Femmes in th 80’s.

In an interview Danger Mouse said he was driving to the studio one day and heard “Gone Daddy Gone” and felt the Femmes didn’t get enough love for the classic hit. So he and Cee-Lo recorded the cover that afternoon for their album St. Elsewhere.

According to Ryan, while living in the New York’s legendary Hotel Chelsea, he was doing speedballs (mixture of heroin and cocaine) every day. Thankfully the eccentric singer-songwriter quit cold turkey in 2006, avoiding the fate of deceased Alice in Chains frontman, Layne Staley. On his recent tour supporting 2007’s critically acclaimed album Easy Tiger (buy), he often played Staley’s prophetic “Down in a Hole”; one of my favorite Alice in Chains songs.

Alice In Chains – Down In A Hole

Download:
Ryan Adams – Easy Tiger (iTunes)
Alice In Chains – Dirt (iTunes)