Cover Me Badd: Alphabeat, The Kooks

Since I've gotten more and more into the indie/underground rock realm, I've noticed the impact of covers. Mark Ronson made a solid album full of them with Version. While I was hesitant at first, talented musicians can certainly make someone else's song, their own work.

Its not exactly new any more, but Alphabeat continued Daft Punk's recent resurgence earlier this year with a cover of "Digital Love". With all of the beeps, synth and electro on the original, I was pretty skeptical before I gave it a listen. Surprisingly, Alphabeat re-imagined the track as an acoustic, choral sing-along, rather than Daft Punk's Spring Break heater. Needless to say, I pretty much played this any time I could this summer.

Alphabeat - Digital Love (Daft Punk cover)

More recently, one of my favorite bands of last summer, The Kooks, covered one of my favorites of this summer, MGMT. Similar to Alphabeat, The Kooks opted to turn MGMT's electro-funk sound into a guitar laden foot tapper on "Kids". By exchanging futuristic keys and vocal distortion for the English accent of Luke Pritchard, The Kooks edition will line up to the original on my future playlists.

The Kooks - Kids (MGMT cover)

Passion Pit: Wake Up, "Sleepyhead"

If you haven't been exposed to Passion Pit yet, be prepared, they are about to erupt. After being discovered by now defunct blog, Good Weather For Airstrikes, Passion Pit has been mentioned in more places than I can count. The Good Weather For Airstrikes folks even made them their first signing on Neon Gold Records.

Passion Pit's style is almost schizophrenic. Somewhere between pop and electro. Think MGMT but more upbeat and less psychedelic. "Sleepyhead" had me immediately hooked with its hypnotic bounce, off the wall vocals and eerie sample. The Cambridge-based band opened for Death Cab for Cutie and Girl Talk in the past year, and will hopefully make a stop in your neighborhood soon. Their re-issued EP Chunk of Change drops on 9/16.

Passion Pit - Sleepyhead

Sidenote: Quitting a blog to either open a record label and/or music venue is tops on my list. So if anyone has any ideas on how to do that, let me know. Now....

Pre-Lollapalooza 2008: Part II

Day 2 Tentative Schedule:
Hopefully, I'll have my bearings figured out and know the layout of the Lollapalooza grounds by Saturday morning. Day 2 doesn't pose as many conflicts as Day 1 and Day 3, but it will be nice to know if its actually possible to bounce from stage to stage. I hope to start the day by taking in sets by bands that I only know a few tracks by, like De Novo Dahl, Margot and the Nuclear So & Sos, and Does It Offend You, Yeah?. The Ting Tings will probably have a decent crowd before Mason Jennings captures my attention with his twangy, folk offerings. 3:30 at the Myspace Stage, MGMT is one of the most anticipated acts of the weekend (for me), and I'll be interested to see how their electro-funk music translates live. I'll check out Jamie Lidell's retro crooning, before going to the AT&T stage to see Chi-Town's finest, Lupe Fiasco. I'm probably 3 years overdue, from when I first wanted to see Lupe, but his strong catalog will have made it worth the wait. Day 2's headliners are much more interesting for me. I'll check out Wilco for Jeff Tweedy & company's legendary stage presence, but this will probably be my only opportunity to see Rage live and in-person. All of this will only further my anticipation for Day 3.

My Schedule

Lolla 2008: Day 2
1. De Novo Dahl - Shout
2. The Postelles - 123 Stop
3. Margot and the Nuclear So & Sos - Skeleton Key
4. Does It Offend You? Yeah - Epic Last Song
5. The Ting Tings - Shut Up and Let Me Go
6. Dr. Dog - Worst Trip
7. Foals - Balloons
8. Mason Jennings - Drinking As Religion
9. Mason Jennings - Memphis, TN
10. MGMT - Time to Pretend
11. MGMT - Electric Feel
12. Jamie Lidell - Wait For Me
13. Lupe Fiasco - Daydream
14. Lupe Fiasco - Superstar (acoustic) ft Matthew Santos
15. Serena Ryder - Brand New Love
16. Okkervil River - A Hand to Take Hold of the Scene
17. Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings - 100 Days, 100 Nights
18. Wilco - Walken
19. Wilco - What Light
20. Rage Against the Machine - Killing In the Name
21. Rage Against the Machine - Bulls on Parade