Tags: Picture of the day
If you don’t know already, Thea Gilmore–who has a voice like an angel–has covered Bob Dylan’s brilliant album, John Wesley Harding, in its entirety. That’s the one with St. Augustine, Dear Landlord, I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight and, yes, Watchtower.
Thea’s voice can occasionally sound like Margo Timmins from The Cowboy Junkies (which is far from a bad thing), but she’s got a sincerity and depth that is unmatched an incomparable. So hearing her take on Bob is a treat. Every song sounds different. Particularly the afore-mentioned Watchtower, which is performed acoustically here as a bouncy blues rock tune. The guitar work–finger picking!–on Dear Landlord is (gasp!) better than the original, and St. Augustine is maybe the most arresting cover I’ve heard this year. Gilmore’s take on Dylan is faithful to the originals, adding only her rich characterization–she is a true vocalist, not just a singer. And by that I mean she lets the song itself come to life, and serves as its voice, rather than hogging the spotlight (like everyone on American Idol and modern Top 40 radio).
If you love music, this is for you: This is a truly musical album.
I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight-Thea Gilmore
<a href=”http://soundowl.com/track/yl9/thea-gilmore-ill-be-your-baby-tonight” _mce_href=”http://soundowl.com/track/yl9/thea-gilmore-ill-be-your-baby-tonight”>Download Thea Gilmore I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight</a>
Thea Gilmore I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight
I Want You-Rock Central (from Paper Bag Records’ terrific FREE covers album, which you can get here)
Tags: Covers On Fridaze
Did any of you read Flashpoint #1 yet? I did, and I pronounce it . . . Decent. 
I’m not a big DC guy, so it’s a little rough for me: I can’t tell whether I’m supposed to know who these alt-versions are, or if they are original creations. But there were enough interesting elements to make me want to read the next one. After that, we’ll see. But anyway, rather than break their universe on the back of Batman or Superman, DC has chosen Flash to be the basis for the reworking of the entire DC Universe. Taking a page from Marvel, which has a new #1 every week, many (or all, depending on what reports you read) DC titles will relaunch with issue #1 in September. They’ll also begin a same-day digital and print release, which may negatively impact the already-shrinking concrete-and-mortar comic book stores.
As for content, the first #1 will be Justice League, which will finally be about a team comprised of DC’s most iconic heroes: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Aquaman and Green Lantern. (What? No Atom?!) JLA hasn’t been a good book in many years—largely because nobody’s heard of half of the members of the team. Topping it off, the book will be created by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee, both high-level DC execs now. Johns and Lee have both, in my view, done their best work at least ten years ago. (To those Geoff fans who scoff and hold up Blackest Night, I point to Teen Titans, a far superior Johns’ work. I also
point to the first six issues of Blackest Night which were leaden exposition without much action.) So, I’m not overly hopeful here.
Overall, the new books will tweak DC continuity (including origin stories) and 50 superheroes will get new uniforms, all designed by Jim Lee—the Janet Van Dyne of the DC set.
Of course, this could all be rumor. Because other outlets are reporting that Cyborg is in the League. And other rumors include Grant Morrison writing about Superman (and not All Star Supey, either), illustrated by George Perez, and introducing a new costume (ugh—didn’t you learn from how bad Wonder Woman’s costume change went?); yet another New Teen Titans lineup (I finally dropped
that book after giving new writer JT Krul four issues to say something worth hearing); a new Deadman title by Ryan Sook; a complete revamp of Wonder Woman, including changing her continuity; Superman and Wonder Woman will do the nasty; a new Hawkman book written by James Robinson and drawn by Philip Tan (see, now that might actually be good); Aquaman by Geoff and Ivan Reis; Grifter (from Wildstorm) will get his own title as part of the main DC Universe; and new OMAC, Batgirl, and Nightwing books.
See, when Marvel did this—with The Ultimates—it did it in an alt-verse. DC is changing its main universe. This is gutsy, sure, but haven’t they promised us stuff like this before (albeit not on this scale) with each “Crisis,” and we’ve seen every major change subsequently get peeled back?
I’m skeptical. But I’m also curious. And that’s a good thing.
Tags: Comic books
Like ice cream? Then you’ll love this. See Green, the stage name for Courtenay Green, have released an EP, Ultramarine, of pure sugar pop hook bliss. In fact, I’ve listened to it twice and all I can remember are the choruses. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Most good pop is based that way, but most of it isn’t as well done as this. The songs aren’t irritatingly monotonous, and they’re not stupid. That’s an important point. Too much pop music sacrifices sophistication for the allure of a cheap hook(er), but See Green’s brand of pop music is much better than that.
You can hear the whole thing at Bandcamp.
Tags: Indie Pop
Raise ‘em up if you remember Basshead’s classic party dronethem, “Do You Wanna Fuck Or What?” If you’ve got both hands up high and wonder whatever happened to that witty, slow flow rapper, then you need to get your hands on Jason Clark’s “The Lone Ranger” as soon as possible. Or, as soon as your slacker ass will get it together to think about doing it.
If you want to know something about Jason Clark, join the club. There’s very little out there about him–he’s an indie producer who composes slow grind, handclap beat, and he’s got a laid back, breezy flow, just like Basshead. Who are all over this mixtape, by the way. It’s summer music, it’s free, and it’s way better than most free music.
Get it all for free here.
Stuck To You (Ft. Basshead, U.E. Daniels)
Party (Ft. Basshead, Prod. Jeremy Greco)
Tags: Free Album!, Hip Hop, Mixtape
