For her new Bjork cover of “All is Full of Love,” indie musician and singer Rosie Thomas enlisted an ‘indie’ all-star cast of guest vocalists for a virtual choir, including Sufjan Stevens, The Shins, Iron & Wine, Alexi Murdoch, Charily Theilen, Kanene Pipkin, William Fitzsimmons, Dawn Landes, and a bunch of others.
The cover track is off of the Lullabies For Parents Vol 1 EP, a “multimedia series of resources, entertainment, and encouragement for parents of all ages featuring music, podcast, videos, essays, assorted content and community that promotes finding common ground, connection, and comfort.”
The song is undeniably beautiful rolling through cycles of choir infusions. The problem is, however, that it is difficult to hear the full force of all of those voices as a listener would expect.
Nonetheless, and to be fair, unless you’re seeing the choir, or virtual choir, at the same time (like the famous Live Aid video from the 80s) then everyone’s voices pretty much get drown out, not to mention the music.
Perhaps one of the things that Quincy Jones did brilliantly with the song, and video, was to record them at the same time, in the studio. But even more than that, Jones realized the ‘drowning out’ effect and therefore had individual solos for a number of the top vocalists of the time – MJ, Bruce, Bono, Michael Stipe, etc.
Death Cab for Cutie, David Byrne, Yo La Tengo, Japanese Breakfast, Sharon Van Etten and the Flaming Lips.
A festival line-up?
Nope. Rather the group of top indie artists all came together for the new album Ocean Child: Songs of Yoko Ono a compilation tribute album “imagined and curated” by Death Cab’s Benjamin Gibbard and set to drop Feb. 18, Ono’s 89th birthday.
Also featured on the album of covers are US Girls, Jay Som, Stephin Merritt (of Magnetic Fields), Thao, Deerhoof; Sudan Archives, We Are King and Amber Coffman.
Byrne and Yo La Tengo’s cover of “Who Has Seen the Wind” is out now:
A portion of the album’s proceeds will go to WhyHunger, a non-profit organization Ono supports. WhyHunger builds social justice and food networks to combat the roots of hunger and poverty.
Over the years, Ono has released a sizeable number of her own singles and albums that have made a variety of charts.
“As an advocate, the tallest hurdle to clear has always been the public’s ignorance as to the breadth of Yoko’s work,” he continued. “To put it into context, this is an artist whose output has run the gamut from avant-garde to bubblegum pop, often across a single album.
“For years, it has been my position that her songwriting has been criminally overlooked. She has consistently created melodies as memorable as those of best pop writers. As a lyricist, she has always written with poignance, sophistication and deep introspection.””
When we first watched this new music video featuring 14-year-old Nell Smith fronting The Flaming Lips, we were blown away.
This amazingly talented teenager could just be a future sensation in the making.
The way Smith commands this spectacular cover of Nick Cave‘s “Ship Song” is so impressive and powerful for ‘a kid’ that it’s a rare thing to experience. But here she is.
Smith’s vocals are deeply touching and beyond her years as far as maturity. It’s no wonder that the band wanted to record with her.
Additionally, to take on such a classic track is ballsy enough for any vocalist. So, there’s that too. It’s such a fresh and personal take on Cave’s classic from the perspective of a young teen girl and thanks to the impeccable recording and production skills of the Lips.
How’d Smith and The Lips Meet?
Growing up in Canada, Smith regularly attended Lips’ concerts always wearing a parrot costume.
Three years ago, the story goes, Lips’ frontman Wayne Coyne noticed Smith (then 11 years old) at a show in Calgary and sang a David Bowie cover to her and Smith sang right along with Coyne.
Through her father, Coyne and Smith maintained a long-distance friendship. Coyne encouraged her to learn the guitar and write her own songs.
A Cache of Cave Covers
Not long afterward, Smith and the Lips joined forces specifically to record a batch of Cave covers.
The result is the new album, Where the Viaduct Looms, set to drop November 26.
On his way to record with the band in Oklahoma in 2019, Coyne encouraged Smith to record vocal tracks of Cave songs and email them to him. The intrepid young singer did just that. Coyne and the band produced the final tracks resulting in nine altogether.
Earlier this year, Smith and the band released their first music video – a theatrical cover of Cave’s “Girl in Amber” with director Alex Hanson.
“Nell shows a remarkable understanding of the song, a sense of dispassion that is both beautiful and chilling. I just love it. I’m a fan” – Wayne Coyne
On his website, Coyne wrote: “This version of ‘Girl in Amber’ is just lovely, I was going to say Nell Smith inhabits the song, but that’s wrong, rather she vacates the song, in a way that I could never do,” he said. “I always found it difficult to step away from this particular song and sing it with its necessary remove, just got so twisted up in the words, I guess. Nell shows a remarkable understanding of the song, a sense of dispassion that is both beautiful and chilling. I just love it. I’m a fan.”
A Promising Future
As this new video/song proves, Smith is talented, knows it, and is determined to grow as an artist. It would not surprise us one bit if she were to start getting inquiries from A&Rs and label execs.
Hopefully, however, Smith will not sign any deal, and/or her parents won’t consent, in any form. Firstly, she’s only 13. Secondly, staying in school, of course, is priority one. Nevertheless, a recording or video here and there could be just the right formula, especially now that hundreds of thousands (eventually) – millions? – will see this video.
Even if no such numbers are achieved, the facts remain: a talented Flaming Lips teenage fan records an album of Cave covers with the actual Flaming Lips as the backing band.
Of course, leave it up to Coyne and the other Lips to be original, daring, and different, and more importantly, are good and have fun, well into their middle years.
Up and comer Black Bear (Sam Beebe) from Brooklyn is an interesting new indie rock artist.
He has recently released two new tracks, “Overflow The Boarders” and “Such Great Heights”. Both songs offer a fun and airy feel, with a propelling beat and a unique sound. They offer a great insight to the true talent this artist has.
“Overflow The Boarders” is a track about grabbing freedom for yourself. It is based on the story of Beebe’s father-in-law, who was a journalist in Bulgaria in the 70’s, but it is extremely easy to relate to. The song is intriguing and easy to listen to. It seems like a perfect track for anyone looking to feel free.
“Such Great Heights” is Black Bear’s collaboration with Viki Peitchev, with whom he’s been in love for 14 years. The couple chose to cover this Indie classic with a twist of their own. They chose to reimagine it as a duet of their own, with a whole new soundscape. This is an interesting take on the song and simply a good listen.
There is much to pay attention to when it comes to Black Bear. His tracks are easy going and simply good listens. It would truly be a mistake to miss out on these two amazing songs and the talented musician behind them.
Indie/alt-rock band The Black Keys has dropped a new single from the duo’s upcoming new covers album, Delta Kream, set for release on May 14.
The band, via their website, said the cover album “honors [the] music of Mississippi Hill Country Blues, R.L. Burnside & Junior Kimbrough, among others who have influenced The Black Keys.”
Returning to their gritty, basement-blues roots, the duo pays tribute to the artists that have had the biggest impact on their music. We can’t wait to hear this album.
The revealed track, and album opener, “Crawling Kingsnake,” is a cover of blues legend John Lee Hooker‘s 1948 track of the same name. To listen to the Keys’ cover, you’ll need to sign up to become a member of the Black Keys’ famous fan club, The Lonely Boys & Girls Club.
The 11-track album features songs from the Mississippi hill country blues artists who inspired guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney when they were just starting out as an indie blues-rock duo in Akron, Ohio.
Here is the John Lee Hooker original (1941) to check out before, or after, signing up to hear the new single.
The Black Keys will be performing on April 19th as part of the Triller Fight Club boxing league pay-per-view live stream. Tickets are on sale now.
DELTA KREAM TRACKLISTING
1. Crawling Kingsnake (John Lee Hooker / Bernard Besman) 2. Louise (Fred McDowell) 3. Poor Boy A Long Way From Home (Robert Lee Burnside) 4. Stay All Night (David Kimbrough, Jr.) 5. Going Down South (Robert Lee Burnside) 6. Coal Black Mattie (Ranie Burnette) 7. Do the Romp (David Kimbrough, Jr.) 8. Sad Days, Lonely Nights (David Kimbrough, Jr.) 9. Walk with Me (David Kimbrough, Jr.) 10. Mellow Peaches (Joseph Lee Williams) 11. Come on and Go with Me (David Kimbrough, Jr.)
