Yeah, if you say it fast, it sounds like “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the 1975 Queen record that proved that openly gay men could sell records, be flamboyant, and rock harder than Mick, Rod, Duane, or any of the other dudes around at the time.  But this ain’t rock.  It’s rap.  Specifically, it’s a free EP by Jake Lefco, Illspokin, Ryan-O’Neil, Kats & Domer, from the freeicecream.net hip hop site, featuring samples from, you guessed it, Queen.

Who are these dudes and why should you care?  Because freeicecream, like Beatgarden, consistently releases true hip hop—skilled lyricists over innovative music, all wrapped in creative projects.  On this joint, you’ve got the founders, Kats (Brooklyn underground emcee with three albums under his belt) and Domer (an electro beatmaker and Brooklyn MC), along with Jake Lefco (born in Philly, living in NYC); Ryan-O’Neil (new on the scene); and iLLspoKinN (leader of the live hip hop band, The Spokinn Movement (Rawkus Records)).

Chances are you haven’t heard of any of these people, but trust me, this is a high quality release—one of the best EPs I’ve heard this year.

Taste it: Leave You All Behind (mediafire)

Free EP Download!

BONUS FLAMING LIPS!

Bohemian Rhapsody-Flaming Lips (mediafire)

Hall and Oates.  The gayest duo ever to not be gay.  I was going to post this review/tribute under the category “guilty pleasure,” and yet . . . I don’t feel guilty.  The Bird and The Bee are releasing an entire album of covers, and it’s all over the internets (actually, they did this on purpose–very cool marketing strategy).  The actual record comes out March 23 (order here). How is it?  It’s a lot of fun, but I’m not sure it can live beyond the novelty.  It makes me want to hear the originals.  But there’s no denying that I listened to it straight through, twice, and loved doing it.  That doesn’t happen often.

In listening to it, I realized (or “re-realized”) what pure pop R&B genius lay at the heart of just about every single Hall and Oates single.  Whether it’s the hot percussion-and-synth that introduces “Say It Isn’t So;” the veiled reference to homosexual sex in “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do);” or the delicious harmonies in the too-silly-for-words “Rich Girl,” the band never lets you down.  I”m going to say it loud and proud: I love these guys!

Sara Smile-Bird and the Bee

Rich Girl-Nina Simone

Private Eyes-Towa Tei (of DeeLite)

I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)-Orson

The NO BITCHING ABOUT EXPIRED LINKS zipfile!

Finally, Ekko! That’s what you’re saying, right? It’s about time you combined the two things you dig most in life! Here goes a superpost . . . I limited the inclusion of “themes” because, frankly, that’s just too damn easy.

And this post is just too damn big to be contained in one single day . . . So this is just part one.  You’ll find some of the songs here, but you’ll have to wait for part 2 for the zipfile.

A is for Adam Selzer’s nerd ballad, “Stop Talking About Comic Books or I’ll Kill You.”

A is also for Art Brut-D.C. Comics and Chocolate Milk Shakes. “Some things will always be great! Even though I’m 28!” I’ve never been a big AB fan, or a big DC fan for that matter, but this song is hilarious.

B is for Backyard Tire Fire and Batcapes . . . Walking Up Wearing a Batcape.

C is for comic books.  “Basement bw Comics” by MC Esoteric is pretty much my life story.  See also E.

C is also for Casper the Friendly Ghost-Mike Doughty. Not a super-hero per se, but I couldn’t resist including it.  And what’s the deal with this picture of Casper, anyway.  Just what kind of pictures are they taking?

D is for Tenacious!  Spider-Man-Tenacious D (direct link).

D is also for Superman-Drive-By Truckers (direct link) You know, researching this post taught me that there are a boatload of songs about Superman that have nothing to do with Superman.  This is one of them.  I only posted it because it’s the Drive-By Truckers, and Patterson is like a God . . .

E is for Esoteric.  MC Esoteric is a lot like MF DOOM in that he uses sueprhero themes with frequency.  He’s also a deft producer and skilled rapper.  It was hard to pick just one song of his to throw up here, so I picked two.  The first is under “C” and the other one is “Selling Spidey.”  Fantastic stuff.

F is for the Foo Fighters-My Hero.  See, I’d do Flaming Lips’ own version of Waiting for Superman here (covered under “I”) but I don’t have a bootleg of it and, sadly and surprisingly, the band is part of the RIAA mafia.

G is for David Gillis’ acoustic guitar take on the Spidey theme.  Love this song.

G is also for Superman-Grateful Dead (direct link)

G is for a third thing, too!  Super Hero Brother-G Love and Special Sauce.

H is for the hip hop superhero gang-bang of Super Heroes-Planet Asia. A great name-dropping rap.

H is also for Heroes (David Bowie cover)-The Magnetic Fields.  No, not superheroes.  But I couldn’t resist posting some MFs.  Other than MF DOOM, of course.  Or not:

H is for ho!  Space Ho’s-Danger DOOM. I could probably fill this page with MF Doom songs . . . I love this song, and the whole “DangerDOOM” album.

I is for Iron and Wine!  (Betcha thought I’d post Iron Man, didn’t you?)  Waiting for Superman-Iron and Wine. A Flaming Lips cover.  Not happy with that.  OK, fine . . .

I is for Iron Man.  Turns out I did post it.  But this is the Four Tet song.  Cool electronic instrumental.

I is for, alright, already!  The classic Iron Man theme song! 

J is for Jimmy Swift Band’s romantic-then-jazzy take on the Spider-Man theme.  A seven-minute exploration(!)

J is also for Spiderman-Jill Sobule. A song about those dudes on Hollywood and Vine who dress up like heroes. There’s a great documentary about these folks called “Confessions of a Super Hero.” Highly recommend it.

K is for Kiss the Girl-Undercover Superman.

K is also for Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, a band that posed the question: Hulk or Thing?  (Clearly it was Hulk.  Any comic nerd who read that great Fantastic Four two-part story knows that.)

L is for Lost in the Sauce by Foul Mouth Jerk, featuring Breeze Evahflowin.  “Streetlight Music” is a fantastic record.  This is the only song about Batman on it.

L is also for Los Lobos-Superman (live version).

M is for . . . More in part two!  But here’s today’s ZIP FILE!  (If any of the above-listed songs are missing, it might be because I accidentally put them in the part two file.  Catch that post, unzip it, and see if it’s there before you complain.  Not that complaining will get you much of anything.)

Hey Ya-Razorlight . . .

Nah, screw that.  Everyone covers Hey Ya . . .

Roses-Twilight Singers

Bombs Over Bagdad-Rage Against the Machine

So Fresh, So Clean-The Vines

Get all 4 covers plus a bonus mash up of Outkast (maybe the best rap duo ever) versus Will Smith (clearly not one of the best rappers ever) here.

Backyard Tire Fire are semi-major, but they get a review from me because I dig ‘em and because they have a track approved for download. “Good to Be,” their newest album, is on their own imprint, Kelsey Street Records, which is being distributed through Sony-RED.  I’ve followed them from the beginning, helping to break them before Sony got interested, and I’m happy to say that something unusual has happened with this band: They got majorish, which meant they got smoother and more pop, but, in the case of BYTF, they actually got better.  Their albums have become progressively better crafted and more complete.

Good to Be has a definite mainstream feel, and it’s more indie rock/pop than Americana, but there’s still strong Tom Petty influences that are obvious and welcome (especially on “Estelle”).  The band’s sound is a lot like Petty, actually, but not like any one particular Tom Petty.  By which I mean, there’s pieces of Damn the Torpedoes style rock and grit, Southern Accent flavor folky Americana, and Free Fallin’ pop.  Makes for a sweet collection, and a really great listen.

You can stream some studio versions of tracks from the new record on their site. Or, you can hear some terrific live versions, followed by some covers . . .

THE DREAM BACKYARD TIRE FIRE SHOW . . .

Roadsong#39*
Powderfinger (Neil Young cover)
When the Whip Comes Down (Rolling Stones cover)–As awesome a version as I’ve ever heard . . . Check out the band doing the entire “Some Girls” album here.
Lawyers Guns and Money (Zevon cover)
Dead End Street (Kinks)
Brady*
Food For Thought*
Fuck the FCC (Steve Earle)
Tom Petty
Good to Be*
Cinnamon Girl (Neil Young)
A Thousand Gigs Ago*

*=From the new album, “Good to Be.”

I’ve loved Mark Everett since he was The Man Called E.  His sad, ironic break-ups are to relationship singer-songwriter folk what Bob Dylan’s anthems are to protest rock: Great because they are unflinching and raw, and honest.  End Times, Eels‘ eight studio record, is all about losing a marriage while the world loses its soul.  As his primary relationship ends, the artist tells of a heartless world on which “people will spit [and] give you shit just for looking at them and walking too slow.”  It’s dark and bitter, but it’s also not without love and humor, as is the case with most of E’s albums.

Musically, the record isn’t as challenging as Souljacker, and thematically it isn’t as inventive as Blinking Lights, but it doesn’t have to be—it’s a simpler album, clearer and more focused.  If songs like “Little Bird” and “In My Younger Days” don’t make you stop what you’re doing and just listen, you probably have no soul.  And if “Things the Grandchildren Should Know” and “I Need a Mother” don’t resonate with you, you probably have no heart.  Or at least no family that’s ever had problems.  Maybe you’re Beaver Cleaver.

I expected to like this album, as I do all Eels records, but I didn’t expect to love it.  What a great surprise.  End Times is a great addition to an already impressive catalog.

Little Bird

BONUS!  EELS DOING COVERS!

Sweet Home Alabama (ysi)

If I Was Your Girlfriend (ysi)

Keep Your Powder Dry is the new EP from New York’s country-rockers The Izzys.  The EP is structured a little methodically: upbeat-downbeat-upbeat-downbeat-big closer, and the downbeat numbers are good—but not good enough.  The second song, “Under the Sun,” sounds vaguely like the Beatles—but it’s a little too slow, and definitely the weakest track here.  But it’s still eminently listenable.  Best of all, it’s followed by the ass-kicking Neil Young-like guitar crunch of “You Are Free,” an instant country rock classic that’s well worth the price of the entire EP.  But the structure speaks volumes: The band has made a studio EP, and one gets the sense listening that they really want to spread their wings.  What makes “You Are Free” and the band’s cover of The Grateful Dead’s “Deal” so good are the extended jams and the more experimental vocals.  This is the rare example of a band that needs less song structure, not more.

And don’t let the “country rock” moniker fool you.  Yes, they’ve got the honky tonk swing and twang, but enough rock and roll to keep fans of old Stones and Skynyrd coming back for more.  I can’t help but think that they must be great live.

Tear ‘Em On Down

BONUS GRATEFUL DEAD COVERS!

In honor of the great cover of “Deal” on the above-reviewed Izzys’ EP . . .

Cold Rain & Snow-Oenida

New Speedway Boogie-Catherine Russell

Franklin’s Tower-Ryan Adams

Scarlet Begonias/Ring The Alarm (Grateful Dead/Fushnickers)-Sublime

ZIP FILE WITH ALL THESE GREAT TUNES!

1.  Cover Me’s tribute to covers of Lady Gaga!  Go here and check out the tunage.

2.  GHOSTFACE RnB Fish.  Mixtape by DJ Lord Finesse.  Cop it here.

3.  Win the new Rogue Wave album here.

4.  A bunch of covers of You Keep Me Hangin’ On are at Versions Galore.

5.  B.O.B.’s album release date has been pushed back. So he leaked a track.  Cop it.

6.  The Mixtape by the Kanye West endorsed CyHi Da Prynce.  Here.

7.  RAS KASS-Endangered Lyricist mixtape.  Cop it here.  Ras is one of the vastly underrated underground rappers.

Eye of the Tiger Freestyle-Fabolous

Eye of the Tiger-The Rural Alberta Advantage

E of the T-Josh Joplin

zip of all three

Eye of the Tiger-Animal LIberation Orchestra (direct link)

EoftheT-Rev Tor Band (direct link)

Eye of the Tiger-Barefoot Manner (direct link)

Singer-songwriter and pianist Lucy Schwartz, L.A. born and based, has a little of the ToriAmosReginaSpectorKateNash quirk, but she’s more focused.  Her songs are tightly knit, with sad content and bouncy music.  It’s highly enjoyable, even if it doesn’t have a lot of gravitas, and catchy.  She’s getting play on a bunch of movie soundtracks by Sony these days, so she probably won’t stay indie for long.  In fact, this kind of accessible, high-quality songwriting is exactly the kind of thing that the major snatch up . . . And then squash the life out of.  Here’s hoping Lucy can hold on to herself.  The most fun part is at the end–her cover of Otis Redding’s “Respect,” which turns Aretha’s big, booming demand into a coquettish, sexy plea.

Respect (Otis Redding cover)

BONUS OTIS REDDING COVER!

Sitting on the Top of the Bay-Drive By Truckers