I’m going into the hospital tomorrow.
My white blood cells are very high, the doctors are unsure of what’s wrong, have told me it could be cancer :( I’m very scared… Please send your prayers and good thoughts, as I really need them right now.

LISTEN

Original: Cold War Kids – Hospital Beds
Cover: Florence & the Machine – Hospital Beds

“Hospital Beds’ is a story of a couple older men that don’t know each other, stuck in a hospital room together. They find connections. They’re maybe going to die, but that’s not totally important, what’s important is that they find something where they thought there was nothing. ‘Put out the fire, boys’ is a way of saying hose me down, all this pain and ugliness, get rid of it, it’s on us.” – Source: Daytrotter

Last night (April 15th) at the Fox Theatre in Oakland, CA, Thom Yorke and his super-group Atoms For Peace including Red Hot Chili Peppers’ bassist Flea, producer Nigel Godrich, Joey Waronker and Mauro Refosco, surprised their audience with a cover of Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart. Enjoy!

On the Ellen DeGeneres show, The Bird and The Bee adorably covered Hall and Oates hit “I Can’t Go For That.”

“The Bird and The Bee have been known to recreate pop hits into unique and contemporary gems for the new millennium. With Interpreting the Masters Volume I, Greg Kurstin and Inara George go one step further and pay homage to one of the greatest duo’s of that time Darryl Hall and John Oates. Classic material is reinvented through Kurstin’s sleek production and George’s sweet lyrical delivery.”

On February 19, 2010, Bat for Lashes performed at the De La Warr Pavilion in England’s Bexhill-on-Sea and showcased a cover of Radiohead’s “All I Need”.  This rendition is lightly dusted with magic, simplified with Natasha Khan’s voice and a string section that transcends into a gentle crescendo of over-analyzing memories and painful lyrics.

this year, i intend to:

1) restructure my character
2) be a bit more like a dictionary (informative, reliable, good speller) and less like a thesaurus (repetitive, offers too many explanations, sounds a bit like a dinosaur)
3) get to grade 2 saxophone
4) learn to drive
5) consider the fact that change for the sake of change isn’t always necessarily a good thing

an early contender for album of 2010 is “IRM” by beck and charlotte gainsbourg. the dark, soothing melodies have a strange wave of effects; the vocals are distanced, yet warmed by the strings. and not only have the pair produced a great album, but great photography as well.

beck has written and produced the album, whilst co-writing the lyrics with charlotte. so it feels like a beck album, which is obviously a good thing. but charlotte’s voice truly adds an extra dimension, whereas beck’s intentionally emotionless voice can sometimes lose momentum; there is a curiosity to her voice, and i don’t know how intentional it is, but it requires repeated listens.

LISTEN:
Beck & Charlotte Gainsbourg – Le Chat du Café des Artistes

and if you don’t love me
let me go

The Decemberists – The Engine Driver

Aimee Man – The Engine Driver (Cover)

(From the 2005 album “Picaresque”, The Decemberists created their song The Engine Driver as catchy and meaningful as can be. Escaping throughout the chorus is a longing shared within a heartbreak and like all great lessons learned, sometimes it is truly better to love than to never have loved at all.)

Panda Bear and Grizzly Bear created their very own majestic and rare remixes for the Notwist’s song “Boneless” from the 2008 beautiful and haunting album “The Devil, You + Me”.

Listen ♥

The Notwist :: Boneless (Grizzly Bear Remix)

The Notwist :: Boneless (Panda Bear Remix)

This cover of Nick Cave and Anita Lane’s 1986 song about hotel sex with strangers (at least that’s what I think it’s about) will appear on a three-disc deluxe edition of Fever Ray’s eponymous debut, out November 24 on Mute.
-Vanity Fair-

[MP3] Fever Ray :: Stranger Than Kindness

I often think about this picture of Rihanna and of the way she was beaten.  It looks so painful that you can understand what she must have gone through to get there.   It always blows me away when others say they can’t imagine how it is to have been abused when most get abused or in fact, abuse themselves daily.  In my experience once you have been hurt, you see the world in an entirely different way. It’s almost a combination of sadness, strength and bright white light that blurs and clears through like a rain storm.  It becomes mind numbing, chaotic and takes so much to get through.  However as important as it is to let others know their not alone, it’s even more of a realization for others to learn to not be quiet.  The impact of this feeling could change the world if someone could just understand how to acknowledge it and wake up.  It’s taken so long to mention that this is real.

HE HIT ME (It Felt Like A Kiss)

He hit me and it felt like a kiss.   He hit me but it didn’t hurt me.
He couldn’t stand to hear me say that I’d been with someone new,
and when I told him I had been untrue, he hit me and it felt like a kiss.
He hit me and I knew he loved me.  If he didn’t care for me,
I could have never made him mad but he hit me, and I was glad.
Yes, he hit me and it felt like a kiss.  He hit me and I knew I loved him.
And then he took me in his arms with all the tenderness there is,
and when he kissed me, he made me his.

ORIGINAL

The Crystals (1962)

COVERS

The Motels (1982)
Hole (1995)
Grizzly Bear (2007) ***
Spiritualized (2005)

“Gerry Goffin and Carole King wrote the song “He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)” for The Crystals (under the guidance of Phil Spector) after discovering that singer Little Eva, known for the Locomotion, was being regularly beaten by her boyfriend. When they inquired why she tolerated such treatment, Little Eva replied, with complete sincerity, that her boyfriend’s actions were motivated by his love for her.” – Wiki

In remembrance of Michael Jackson, his legacy will live on forever.

ARTWORK BY YOMA

All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places, Worn out faces
Bright and early for the daily races
Going nowhere, Going nowhere
Their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression, No expression
Hide my head I want to drown my sorrows
No tomorrow, No tomorrow

And I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad
These dreams in which I’m dying
Are the best I’ve ever had
I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take
When people run in circles its a very very
Mad World, Mad World

Children waiting for the day they feel good
Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday
And they feel the way that every child should
Sit and listen, Sit and listen
Went to school and I was very nervous
No one knew me, No one knew me
Hello teacher tell me whats my lesson
Look right through me, Look right through me

And I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I’m dying
Are the best I’ve ever had
I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take
When people run in circles it’s a very very
Mad World, Mad World

~*~

Artwork by Man Ray

PHOTOS: Fader Magazine February 2009