3 Degrees of Separation: Bobby Pickett to Of Montreal

Happy Halloween, kids! Hope you're all dressing up like demented monsters at some point today.

Now, since I've already done a Halloween playlist (in June, because I'm strange like that), I thought I'd bring you the 4th installment of 3 Degrees!

3 Degrees (noun): A series of posts in which I link three bands by cover versions. Sounds easy, but when you throw in a Halloween theme, things get a little trickier...

1. BOBBY 'BORIS' PICKETT AND THE CRYPTKICKERSThe Monster Mash (Click for MP3)- I'm sorry, but there's no way you can mention Halloween and not slip in a Monster Mash reference. Even Elvis slated the song, calling it 'the dumbest thing I've ever heard'. But for many, this is Halloween. Well, this or 'Thriller', but aren't we all a little Jackson-ed out of late?
Also: Bobby Pickett died in 2007. Did you know this? I didn't- I'm actually quite upset now. Moving on...

2. MISFITS The Monster Mash- Not sick of the Monster Mash yet? Then you should check out this cover by Misfits. The Misfits are quite easily my favorite horror-rock band of all time (a pretty lucrative market, but there you go)- and although this isn't exactly their best work, it's still damn fun.

Where Eagles Dare- FUN FACT TIME! The Misfit's primary source of inspiration are movies- 'Where Eagles Dare', for instance, is based upon a 1968 film of the same title, starring Clint Eastwood. I'm just a fountain of knowledge, me.

3. OF MONTREALWhere Eagles Dare- Of Montreal have taken a thrashing punk song, screaming of rebellion, and turned it into a tiny slice of electronic, catchy joy. Also, if you like what you hear, this blog has 80+ Of Montreal covers, and is generally a top-notch read.

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3 Degrees of Separation: The Who to Lightspeed Champion

Three Degrees of Separation: (noun):

1. A series of posts in which I link three bands together by cover versions- the best way to fully explain this is just to launch into it- I'm sure you'll get the idea.

Artist 1: The WhoI usually start with a little band bio for each artist, but if you don't know who The Who are, frankly, I'm appalled. They're one of the most successful and influential bands of all time, and are widely considered to be one of the best bands to live ever, and are responsible for such classics as 'Who Are You?' 'Baba O' Reilley' and- of course- 'My Generation'. My Generation was listed at number 11 in Rolling Stone's list of "500 Greatest Songs Ever", and has been featured in everything from The Young Ones to The Simpsons to Austin Powers. As they are considered one of the great live bands, you can listen to a live recording of My Generation below:


Artist 2: Green Day
Green Day recently covered The Who 's "A Quick One While He's Away," Social Distortion 's "Another State of Mind," Elvis' "That's Alright Mama" and Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" in conjunction with the online release of their new album, 21st Century Breakdown, on I-Tunes. With that in mind, here's a completely different Who cover they did: My Generation- it's not a patch on the original (obviously), but not too shabby nonetheless.


Green Day are also considered a bit of big deal. I feel a little stupid writing a band bio about them as well, so I'll just say they've recorded 8 albums, and sold over 22 million records in the US alone. 'Dookie' (widely considered their greatest album) sold over 15 million copies worldwide- their three following albums, Insomniac, Nimrod and Warning, all achieved gold status (the one above double-platinum). For your aural pleasure, here's Scattering:


Artist 3: Lightspeed Champion with Florence and the MachineThree reasons to love Lightspeed Champion:
1. He makes good music (always good for a musician to do that sort of thing, really)- and his song, Midnight Surprise, feature backing from Tilly and the Wall (who, you can tell from this post, are some pretty cool cats).
2. His blog is awesome- it's filled with things such as word-play based movie reviews; I wish I was smart enough to come up with something like that.
3. He has very nice hair.
I have very little to say of Florence these days. After I awarded her with the prestigious accolade of 'One of the Sexiest Gingers in Music Today', she goes and lets me down with 'Lungs'. It's really not that bad at all, but it's just distinctly unremarkable. However, her cover of 'Scattered' by Green Day with Dev Hynes is pretty catchy, so maybe I'll let her off.

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3 Degrees of Separation: Nirvana to Dappled Cities

I know I only posted the first '3 Degrees of Separation' yesterday, but this one's a corker, and it seemed like a crime to keep it from you. So, here it is: the 2nd ever 3 Degrees of Separation!
Basically, I link three bands together by cover versions- the best way to fully explain this is just to launch into it- I'm sure you'll get the idea.

Band 1- Nirvana
A band that need no introduction, and that had both more success and more raw talent than many bands could ever hope to have. As well as anthems for a generation, such as 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', some of their more low-key songs seem equally resonant with their fans- songs such as Polly. Polly tells the chilling true story of a young girl from Washington who was abducted, raped and tortured with razors, ropes and a blowtorch. Cobain's only narrative flourish is that the victim manages to escape by flirting with her captor, convincing him to trust her. This allows her to escape while he stops for gas. Although the message of the song may be shocking, the song is as beautiful to the ears as it is disturbing.



Band 2- Animal CollectiveLoose experimental musical collaborative, Animal Collective, have crafted a cover version of Polly, that despite the eloquently-played instruments, to me sounds even more chilling than the original. Whether or not this is a minor triumph or just plain creepy is in the ears of the beholder. I'll let you decide- you can listen to it below:



I have previously written about Animal Collective's most popular song au moment, 'My Girls', here- including a hilarious song description that last.fm have failed to see the funny side of and have consequently deleted. The last.fm page does now point out, however, 'It also annoys the hell out of Animal Collective fans when people listen to this song in seclusion and do not experience the entire album—which was, in fact, the artist’s intent.' In support of this, please now enjoy 'My Girls' in seclusion below- sorry, Animal Collective fans, but it is what the band would've wanted, afterall.

Band 3- Dappled Cities
Dappled Cities' version of 'My Girls' strips back the multitudinous layers of sounds, focusing more on the vocals and a simple beat, almost indistinguishable from the original. Dappled Cities themselves are a lesser known indie-pop band hailing from Australia, who formed in 1997 and have through thick and thin (and losing a band member so he could pursue a career in bio-mechanical engineering, seriously) remained until the present day. The fact they formed in 1997 makes them sound rather old- they're not, they were all 15 when the band began. Oh, to be 15 again- when I was 15, I wore a khaki blazer and Converse all the time, and listened only to mildly angry bands with female vocalists. Good times.
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3 Degrees of Separation: Yes to Ruby Weapon

And now, time for a new feature which I concocted whilst on my break (see, aren't I always thinking of you?) I gladly present to you: 3 Degrees of Separation!
Basically, I link three bands together by cover versions- the best way to fully explain this is just to launch into it- I'm sure you'll get the idea.

Band 1- Yes
I'll start with everybody's favorite 70's/80's British prog-rockers- oh yes, it's Yes. These guys went through more line-up changes than they did costume changes, but they produced some awesome music in their time. Case in point? 'Owner of a Lonely Heart'- for me, it's a song that everyone knows vaguely, but often gets overlooked. So, sit back and savour- here it is:



Band 2- Grizzly Bear
Now, for the clever part- what ties Yes to the indie-folk-experimentalists, Grizzly Bear, you ask? Grizzly Bear did a cover version of 'Owner of a Lonely Heart'. Do you see where I'm going with this? Their cover is much less exuberant than the original, with an almost haunting vocal- check it out:



It's safe to say that most music lovers have become acquainted with Grizzly Bear within the past year, if not sooner- their magnificently-composed, psychedelic album 'Veckatimest' has definitely been a musical highlight of the year as far as I'm concerned. The pinnacle of Grizzly Bear's mastery is 'Two Weeks'- a song that they say was conceived 'On a weekend trip to Cape Cod to play around with some song ideas and that one just came out of nowhere with Chris starting the piano line and myself quickly following with a vocal melody and lyrics'. Listen to it below:



Band 3: Ruby Weapon
I'm sure you've got the idea by now- below is Ruby Weapon's cover version of 'Two Weeks'- a much more stripped back and acoustic rendering of the song. Ruby Weapon are relatively unknown and unsigned, but they say of themselves: 'We were born out of dinosaur eggs and gradually made our way upon land until we evolved canines and ate meats and learned how to play midi instruments.' And, really, I think that's all you need to know.

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