Walk off the Earth covers Goyte & a special Madonna cover from Jane Lui
It’s been a while since we’ve seen a cover that was mind-trippingly good enough to warrant a new installment of Cover My World. Well here it is. Five players (L-R): percussion, rhythm guitar, lead guitar, bass, and effects. One instrument: Epiphone acoustic. The song: “Somebody That I Used to Know” from Goyte. Ladies and gentleman, Walk off the Earth.
And it wouldn’t be spectacular unless we did something epic. Here for an unheard of third appearance, and a just ridiculous three times in a row, is the superb Jane Lui. One player: xylophone, water bottle, foam core, synth, and shaker. Watch Jane transform frothy pop nothings into art with her mashup of “Crazy for You” and “Rain”. Or watch Madonna sing lip-sync at half-time. America – the choice is yours!
Pretty white girl purveys psychedelic pop with a sci-fi edge
We first featured Erin Hill as one of the “Five things that make the Fab Faux fabulous“. In addition to her work with the Fab Faux, Erin has sung and played with Kanye, moby, Enya, a-ha, Cyndi Lauper, Randy Newman, and a long list of other artists.
Erin bills herself as a “singer, harpist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, screenwriter, actor and science fiction geek.” She has appeared on and off Broadway, in films, and on television as the pretty white girl from “Chappelle’s Show”.
A woman of diverse interests and many talents, she is bringing them all together with a Kickstarter project to make sci-fi music video album. The video album will accompany her next CD release: “Girl Inventor”, which is available for pre-order by making a pledge on her project page before November 16, 2011.
You can find her featured artist page here, or by by selecting her name from the Featured Artists dropdown list at the top of each page. Be sure to hover over the photo and click the targets for more stuff, including “Giant Mushrooms” the first sci-fi video from the new album.
Cover My World #7: History of Lyrics That Aren’t Lyrics
We introduced Jane Lui last week with her mashup of Moves Like Jagger and Rainbow Connection. Now she returns for an unprecedented second consecutive appearance in the Cover My World series. Yes, she’s THAT good.
This edition finds her outside of LuieLand taking a chronological stroll down memory lane, from doo-wahs to da-da-da-da-da-da-das. Check below for the remaining dates on her European tour. In addition to the Belgium meet-up, you can catch her in Switzerland, France, and Amsterdam.
Cover My World #6: Maroon 5 Meet the Muppets with Moves Like Jagger
It’s refreshing to have your expectations not just exceeded but upended and turned inside-out. After spending a little time in LuieLand watching clever mash-ups of cover songs, I thought I had this Jane Lui thing figured out.
Then I went over to MOG and listened to her latest album Goodnight Company. The song styles are constantly shifting, while managing the neat trick of sounding both meticulously crafted and effortlessly performed. Classically trained in voice and piano, her compositions mix those influences with soul, pop, and r&b, then throw in bits of Broadway and Dixieland to keep you guessing.
At times her voice is layered (“Edelweiss“) and accompanied by an eclectic chamber ensemble that includes an accordian, strings, piano, celeste, percussion, and synths. (Check out the Casio SK-1 in the clip below!) On other songs, her voice is laid bare against a single acoustic piano or guitar (“Yellow Light“, “Illusionist Boy“). No matter the context, the vocals sound pure, natural, and unforced.
Jane just started a tour that includes stops and meetups in NY, DC, and Europe. If you can’t make one of the shows below, check out her music on CD Baby, or spend a little time in LuieLand.
Millennium Stage 14th Anniversary featuring OK Go and Pomplamoose
If you like your music fun, and your music videos funner, then Pomplamoose is the band for you. Or OK Go. Or better yet, see them both in DC this Thursday at the Kennedy Center for the Millennium Stage 14th Anniversary celebration.
If you didn’t get your free tickets, pay closer attention to the MMT twitterfeed next time. Or wait in line for standby tickets starting at 10 AM on Thursday. Or catch them on the MMT YouTube Channel. Or else, check the schedule below and follow them to another city. Now!
Fabulous. Fantastic. Phenomenal. This month marks the thirteenth anniversary of the faux five, which puts them a couple years past what the fab four were able to manage. What is it that keeps them together, and has kept their fans coming back for well over a decade? The Fab Faux played Lisner Auditorium in Washington, [...]
Performing with the Hogs Head Horns and Creme Tangerine Strings Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band in its entirety and a full set of fan favorites Go to the brand new MMT Facebook page to enter for a chance to win two tickets to see the Fab Faux at Lisner Auditorium in DC on 4/15/2011. [...]
Among the influences listed on Atomic Tom’s Facebook page are The Cure, The Smiths, and New Order (twice). The UK Pop/Rock sound of the 80′s comes through on many of the cuts from their first full-length record, The Moment. Recorded not in a home studio, but in an apartment studio in Brooklyn, The Moment explores [...]
We last looked at the Best Covers of 2010. Before that was a list of covers that eclipse the originals. We started with artists covering themselves and Amanda Palmer’s ukulele take on Radiohead. Now we begin 2011 with the most ambitious cover project we have yet discovered (via Interstate Live). The Beatles Complete on Ukulele [...]
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