photo: allison michael orenstein

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

He Could Be The One - Hannah Montana Cover





This song is not up there with my favorite Miley Cyrus songs. And listen carefully to the end of the verses. There isn't even an attempt at rhyming. Strange.

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: He Could Be The One - Hannah Montana Cover

this: on facebook

Monday, June 29, 2009

MEDLEY MONDAYS - Here We Go Again/Waking Up in Vegas - Demi Lovato/Katy Perry Cover





It is Medley Monday. Yesterday was Pride here in NYC. Pretty fun night. Went to a party at the Standard Hotel by the Highline. Super fun. Was on a terrace when the Pride fireworks went off. It was like being in that movie Metropolitan for some strange reason...Fun


CLICK TO DOWNLOAD : Here We Go Again/Waking Up In Vegas - Demi Lovato/Katy Perry Cover

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Sunday, June 28, 2009

You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift






Taylor Swift does it again! I love this song. She is so tortured. I love it..



CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift

this: on facebook

Saturday, June 27, 2009

The New Divide - Linkin Park Cover






The new Linkin Park song. Wow, they are really trying for that larger than life U2 bullshit. Lyrics thatmake no sense but sound pompous? check..



CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: The New Divide - Linkin Park Cover

this: on facebook

Friday, June 26, 2009

FLASHBACK FRIDAYS - Human Nature- Michael Jackson Cover







What can I say? I will, in the next couple of days, fill in the missing days on this blog, but here is Human Nature by the King of Pop. May he rest in peace...


CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: Human Nature -Michael Jackson Cover

this: on facebook

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Fire Burning - Sean Kingston Cover






i enjoy how when this song is played on piano, it sounds like I Count To Ten. That would be my (and Elvis Costello's) favorite Dusty Springfield song. I recently have become obsessed with Carole Pope's band Rough Trade who I learned of through my friend Gretchen Phillips. Carole was Dusty's lover. Rough Trade sounds a lot like Grace Jones to me in the best possible way..


CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: Fire Burning - Sean Kingston Cover

this: on facebook

Monday, June 22, 2009

MEDLEY MONDAYS - Knock You Down/Kiss Me Thru The Phone - Keri Hilson/Soulja Boy Tell 'Em Cover






A little preview of a medley that Bridget Everett and Randy Harrison will be performing at the live version of Our Hit Parade at Joe's Pub on Wednesday. They sing it much better than I do, and will probably be dressed in bathing suits...just saying...



CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: Knock You Down/Kiss Me Thru The Phone - Keri Hilson/Soulja Boy Tell 'Em Cover

this: on facebook

Sunday, June 21, 2009

If Today Was Your Last Day - Nickelback Cover






The sound of a band that never really changes. This kind of music is so not what the charts are about today. But perhaps little kids need this kind of music. I guess it is inspirational...Just not for me...

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: If Today Was Your Last Day - Nickelback Cover

this: on facebook

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Alright - Darius Rucker Cover





Once, a hundred years ago, I sold a pair of Doc Martens to Darius Rucker. He wasn't very nice back then and now that he's a country singer (????????????) I can't imagine he is any nicer...


CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: Alright - Darius Rucker Cover

this: on facebook

Friday, June 19, 2009

FLASHBACK FRIDAYS - Rent - Pet Shop Boys Cover





My favorite Pet Shop Boys song. Their best lyrics. To the point!


CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: Rent - Pet Shop Boys Cover

this: on facebook

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Then - Brad Paisley Cover





A pretty, straightforward love song. These country boys sure spit these out like chew...


CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: Then - Brad Paisley Cover

this: on facebook

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Best I Ever - Drake Cover





This song included the perfect line

I'll make your pussy whistle like the Andy Griffith Theme Song...

Who is going to top that?

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: Best I Ever: Drake Cover

this: on facebook

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Big Green Tractor - Jason Aldean Cover





Having never had farmer fantasies I'm not sure what the draw is of being driven around in his big green tractor. maybe it is a metaphor...


CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: Big Green Tractor:Jason Aldean Cover

this: on facebook

Monday, June 15, 2009

MEDLEY MONDAYS - Battlefield/Our God Is An Awesome God - Jordin Sparks/Michael W Smith Cover




My partner Brendan Kennedy was the first person to notice the 'similarity' between Jordin Sparks' new single and Michael W Smith's classic Our God Is An Awesome God. The story was picked up by websites around the country with side by side mashups and videos. I thought it only right to actually do them as a medley...Brendan helped produce...


CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: Battlefield/Our God Is An Awesome God - Jordin Sparks/Michael W Smith Cover

this: on facebook

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Whatever It Is - Zac Brown Band Cover





Another hot track from Zac Brown! Another bad lyric...She's Got Whatever It Is, It Blows Me Away. The tanktop pictured above pretty much says it all!


CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: Whatever It Is - Zac Brown Band Cover

this: on facebook

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Chicken Fried - Zac Brown Cover




A little Zac Brown for the weekend...These country tunes are pretty standard. Chicken-fried steak, cold beer, and a pair of jeans that fit. The rhyming in this song is terrible!

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: Chicken Fried - Zac Brown Band Cover

this: on facebook

Friday, June 12, 2009

FLASHBACK FRIDAYS - Indian Summer - Beat Happening Cover




Beat Happening changed my life. They were a window into a DIY sensibility that led to me following the path that I have followed to this day. I was in love with Calvin Johnston and his skittish dancing. I loved that three chords was pushing it for a Beat Happening song, and I loved that they opened me up to the whole Olympia music scene and so much more. My love of Bikini Kill, Mecca Normal, Lois and so many more can all be traced to my first hearing of this song by Beat Happening

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: Indian Summer - Beat Happening Cover

this: on facebook

Thursday, June 11, 2009

I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas Cover




The Black Eyed Peas have the top 2 iTunes downloads right now. This is number one. It is on a Target commercial. The Black Eyed Peas are in a Target commercial. The world is very strange right now. They obviously listened to Kanye before writing this one. Again, there really is no song here and I find it very odd that these songs are charting so high. There is a 20 second hook which is okay but no development. I guess that is all it takes these days. Premature pop ejaculation...


CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas Cover

this: on facebook

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Kiss Me Through The Phone - Soulja Boy Tell'em Cover





Soulja Boy Tell 'em continues to pump out the jams. Plus I've heard he is a nice down to earth guy. Plus the image of kissing through a phone is just too strange for me to comprehend. I mean, I understand phone sex, but phone kissing? Doesn't work for me...


CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: Kiss Me Through The Phone - Souja Boy Tell'em cover

this: on facebook

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Wild At Heart - Gloriana Cover




Country, country, country...And the female singer in this band won America's Most Talented Kid in 2002! What else do you need to know? That is a fantastic fact to mull over. This is their first single. AND? Well, they are opening for Taylor Swift on her Fearless Tour!!!!! I can't tell you how happy it made me to hear a resort band made up a keyboard player, a drum-machine and a woman vocalist sing Taylor...The other musicians I with thought I was crazy, mostly for admitting to not liking Bob Marley. One of them actually said "I have always heard of these people who don't like Bob Marley, and now I have finally met one!"

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: Wild At Heart - Gloriana Cover


this: on facebook

Monday, June 8, 2009

MEDLEY MONDAYS - Goodbye/Death Of The Autotune - Kristana Debarge and Jay-Z medley (with a little Britney thrown in!)





Today's Medley is a co-production with Brendan Kennedy. Since this medley uses as its base the old ditty Goodbye, by the fictitious band Steam, we could have continued adding songs in such as Wall-E's song with Lady Gaga and numerous more. Perhaps at some point I will do an hour-long show with this as the backing track but extend it to an hour, and just sing all of the songs that have sampled it...And tell stories of regret and leaving...

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: Goodbye/Death of Autotune - Kristina Debarge/Jay-Z Cover with Brendan Kennedy

this: on facebook

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Take Me On The Floor - The Veronicas Cover




Another song from The Veronicas. Not half as catchy as Untouched. Now that was a catchy song. This one seems lazy. Really? Another song about hooking up on a dancefloor? They need to get together with Taylor Swift or Katey Perry or Kara DioGuarda and dig a little deeper next time.

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: Take Me On The Floor - The Veronicas Cover

this: on facebook

Friday, June 5, 2009

FLASHBACK FRIDAYS - Margaritaville - Jimmy Buffett Cover




So, apologies are in order to any one who reads this blog on a regular basis. I had a gig in Montauk this weekend and no internet service, so I am catching up on the posts today. Montauk is beautiful but such a strange confluence of Townies and the ultra-rich. Our gig was at the Montauk Yacht Club which is now just a hotel. It was a book party for Jay Mcinerney. Claire Daines and Hugh Dancey read from his story collection. Rich people were drunk. And during the day, at the Yacht Club bar a bar band played Taylor Swift's Love Story before lauching into the perennial favorite of all bar bands everywhere: Margaritaville...

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD : Margaritaville - Jimmy Buffett Cover

this: on facebook

Thursday, June 4, 2009

It Happens- Sugarland Cover





A song that curiously, when stripped down, sounds almost exactly like 9 to 5. Without Dolly and without the chorus...Strange.
The singer in Sugarland has such a strange husky tone to her voice. I can't decide if I like it, or if it like Tom Hanks on Bosum Buddies doing country music.


CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: It Happens - Sugarland Cover

this: on facebook

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Daylight - Matt and Kim Cover





There is something about this song that reminds me of Naive Melody by the Talking Heads. That says a lot, 'cause that Talking Heads song is one of my favorites of all time. About the time that David Byrne sings the line:

Sing into my mouth

I am jelly. It blew my mind when, in an interview, David Byrne said that line was suggested by an Inuit tradition of actually singing songs into the mouths of others. Blew my mind. I was young..


CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: Daylight- Matt and Kim Cover

this: on facebook

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Out Last Night - Kenny Chesney Cover





These is something vaguely Rent the Musical about this song. The melody of the chorus is curiously like Out Tonight. I'm sure Kenny Chesney never saw Rent. I saw in 7 times, mostly by accident. One of the producers is a friend and for years it seemed like everytime I was performing in a foreign city, Rent was also opening during the time we were there. It always made me well up, even as I didn't want to do so.


CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: Out Last Night - Kenny Chesney Cover

this: on facebook

Monday, June 1, 2009

MEDLEY MONDAYS - One In Every Crowd.Hey Ya, Crimson and Clover - Gentry Montgomery, OutKast and Joan Jett Cover





Here 'tis! medley mondays! A triple header today. One In Every Crowd actually starts with the riff from Crimson and Clover much like Jarvis Cocker did on his last album with the song Black Magic. I think, and I am prejudiced, that Jarvis does more with the riff than Gentry Montgomery. Add in a little Hey Ya, which their chorus also suspiciously sounds like, though they sing "Hey Y'all" and you have a country hit. Who knew?

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: One in Every Crowd. Hey Ya, Crimson and Clover - Gentry Montgomery, OutKast and Joan Jett Cover

this: on facebook