COVER: Mike's 1000 Cover the Recordings

Last week the 1000 Recordings Podcast guys hooked the ultimate interview: the book's author Tom Moon. Before you read any further, I recommend you go check it out, and at least listen to the opening, where Moon talks about how he compiled the book.

After listening to his criteria (imagining that he is trying to introduce the world of music to a very receptive teenager rather than "The Best" or "The Most Influential") I have had to reevaluate my own "Mike's 1000" choices. I think I would still include the ones I have, but I think Moon's list has become even more subjective than it already was. It's hard to argue against playing any particular entry for someone when you are just trying to expose them to music (although, in some ways this has helped me think of more entries that I feel are missing).

Regardless of where my "Mike's 1000" list will go in the future, the three acts I've picked so far, Sun Kil Moon,  Iron & Wine, and Sublime, have all covered a recording that appears on the list. SKM and I&W, in particular, may be more well known for their covers than they are as originators. All three of these covers are fine tributes, and in the case of Iron & Wine, possibly better than the original. Check out the covers below, and then compare them to the originals at the bottom of the page.

Sublime - "Rivers of Babylon" (The Melodians cover, filed under Jimmy Cliff' in the book)
Sun Kil Moon - "Send in the Clowns" (written by Stephen Sondheim, sung by Glynis Johns in the book)
Iron & Wine - "Waitin' for a Superman" (The Flaming Lips cover)

The originals:

Mike's 1000 Entry #3: "What I Got" by Sublime

It's been awhile since I did a "Mike's 1000" entry, but this morning I was singing Sublime's "What I Got," and I was compelled to write about it. I guess I'm not shocked that this song, and the self-titled album it was on, didn't make Moon's list, but at the same time, I think there are arguments for its inclusion. Tracks like "Wrong Way," Santeria," and "What I Got," ubiquitous on alternative radio in the mid-90s, introduced much of a new generation in suburbia to the sound of West Coast ska-punk (and reggae).

"What I Got (Reprise)" was a song in particular that had an impact on me. A combination of the chorus from  "Loving" by Half Pint and the riff from "Lady Madonna" by the Beatles (that second link takes you to a mashup of the two), the resultant song is pure pick me up. Even though the song consists of two chords and a simple solo (the first I ever learned), its back and forth shuffle works perfectly with the workaday blues referred to in the lyrics. The lyrics themselves are the best part; I remember my favorite station growing up, Cleveland's sadly defunct 107.9 The End, used to play this almost every morning, usually right around 7AM when my alarm went off. "Early in the morning/Rising to the streets/Light me up that cigarette and I'll strap shoes on my feet." So what if I didn't smoke and that I had never seen "the streets." Those lyrics got me out of bed everyday.They became a staple of my wake up routine in college (when I actually had to get up by 5 or 530 some days).

A recent revelation I had is that as a leader I need to show up with energy if I want anyone else to be energized, and that to get that feeling of excitement and energy I need to have positive thoughts. My thoughts this morning were dark. I went to bed too late and got up too early, my wife is sick, my son is going through a very dependent phase, and I was not looking forward to the first task of the day at work. I knew if I showed up with this kind of energy, it was going to be a long day for me and everyone I work with.

I have probably sung "What I Got" in the shower more than all other songs combined. This usually happens spontaneously if the mood hits me. Today I forced myself to start singing, and by the end of the song I was feeling pretty good. Good enough that I wanted to sing it again. So I did. Three times before I left the house this morning, and I was positivity embodied. You'd have thought I drank a pot of coffee (or a 5 Hour Energy for those of you who think coffee is too hard to make).

When I was home at Christmas I convinced my buddy to go play an open mic night with me. It was my first time ever doing that, and we did three songs; this was one of them. This song and I have a history, and as I mentioned before, that's important to me. Check it out below.

Buy the song on Amazon

Mike's 1000: Entry #2

Wow, I cruised through those last 25 entries pretty quick. I guess it's time to start listening to a few more 2010 albums, or maybe revisit some of the classics I already own. But it's just so easy to listen to classical and (some) jazz when you are trying to get an infant to fall asleep-- plus my work schedule is so light that I don't spend that much time at work where I like listening to new music. Anyways, here's another one Tom missed the boat on.
Artist: Sun Kil Moon
Album: Ghosts of the Great Highway


A lot of the recordings in this book are pretty obvious, at least to the people who care about a particular genre. No big surprise to see Radiohead's "OK Computer" or The Beatles' 6 albums. Tom goes a little obscure at times, but it's always because the pure joy of listening to the band is worth the detour off the beaten path (see Baby Huey and the Babysitters for an example of one of these suggestions that caused me to buy the album the same day I heard it). In my opinion, Sun Kil Moon's debut, the solo project of Mark Kozelek of The Red House Painters, is one of those "Oh My God" listening moments. It might not hit you the first time-- I think I probably liked it just fine the first listen, but after having it in my car for a couple months I found myself going back to it over and over again, whether early morning driving, nighttime sleepy time, rainy day. There was never a bad time to hear the amazing layers of guitar, fuzzed out crunchy chords or softly fingerpicked, driving behind Mark's otherwordly voice. It's hard for me to say what the standout feature of the album is: the vocals, the intricate guitar, the stellar songwriting or the "rend your heart" lyrics. Take the album opener, "Glenn Tipton," for example; Mark's open tuned strum sets the tone immediately for his pleading voice singing a song about the way things used to be. Kozelek has a "Midas Touch" ability to turn any phrase into melancholic gold, and the shrouds of reverb he surrounds himself with give his voice the sound of a memory itself. From the 6 minute plus "Carry Me Ohio," which on paper should fail with its midtempo beat and one guitar lick, but somehow ends up as a masterpiece, to the fact that "Salvadore Sanchez" and "Pancho Villa" are the same song in different packaging (you would never have noticed if I didn't say something), this album is just a wonderful listen. Feeling blue never felt so good.

Catalog Choices: April, Tiny Cities, The Red House Painters Songs for a Blue Guitar
Next Stop: Nick Drake Five Leaves Left

Buy this work of art at amazon, or better yet, go see him live

Mike's 1000: Entry #1

For the most part, I think the "1000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die" got it right. I can't say much about the classical, opera, R&B, gospel, but as far as rock and blues, which I know a bit about, I think Tom Moon made some great picks. I do have a couple of nitpicky problems with the list, though (6 Beatles albums? Godsmack?) and I've decided that every 25 entries I am going to do an entry about a recording I think should have made the cut (plus I am working my way through my first box set, so the next post may be awhile).



Artist: Iron & Wine
Album: The Creek Drank the Cradle
I'm really surprised this one didn't make it on the list. Tom included indie darlings The Decemberists, Sufjan Stevens, Neko Case, Bright Eyes, Belle & Sebastian, and the Arcade Fire, but he missed Sam Beam's project that really gave weight to self-produced "bedroom" folk. Beam, otherwise known as "Iron & Wine," was working as a college professor when he was discovered playing live by an exec from Sub Pop who requested a demo. As the story goes Beam sent 2 full CDs worth of hushed guitar and banjo folk he recorded in his home studio, and the label plucked their favorites and released them "as is" (the B-sides can be found on the excellent 2 disc collection "Around the Well").
Beam's voice barely whispers his haunting, religious-imagery-filled lyrics over supremely played fingerpicked and slide guitar and the occasional banjo. Besides this instrumentation and Beam's own backing vocals there are no other additions. Songs like "Lion's Mane," with its brooding lyrics on the meaning of love over a sublime guitar part and the southern folk inspired "The Rooster Moans" which has a steady, railroad train rhythm perfectly highlight how Beam can take a simple concept and turn it into a masterpiece.
There isn't a weak track on this album, and its release foreshadowed the direction folk music was heading (see acts like Bon Iver, Department of Eagles, and Fleet Foxes as examples of bands building on Beam's steam) in the early 2000's. Beam followed up with "Our Endless Numbered Days," on which he added drums and backing vocals from his sister, and his third outing, "The Shepherd's Dog," (which charted at #24) filled out the rest of his sound with electric guitars and horns. But this original recording by Iron & Wine, in its simple, understated form, is worth taking a look at, and listening closely to. As minimalist as it seems at first, repeated listenings reveal powerful, deep lyrics and perfectly matched music.

Buy The Creek Drank the Cradle at Amazon