cool covers

This is apparently the week in which my new faves cover my old faves.

I was pleasantly surprised last week to learn that a favorite artist of mine, Fever Ray (half of the Swedish duo The Knife), decided to record a version of "Mercy Street," the classic track from one of my all-time favorites, Peter Gabriel. As haunting as the original but with a distinctly newer electro flavor, the cover earned an instant five-star rating on my iTunes collection. (That's Fever Ray in the image above, by the way...not sure why she's dressed like a monkey for this one, but that's the shot for the new single. In general I find it simpler to just nod and smile when it comes to her outfits!)

Then today I found out that another one of my faves, Robyn (who you can listen to me gush about here), recently covered the incomparable Björk at a ceremony honoring the Icelandic chanteuse for her winning of the 2010 Polar Music Prize. To make things more perfect, it's my very favorite Björk song, "Hyperballad," which I must have listened to a thousand times my freshman year in college.

Without further ado, here are the new takes on two stellar musical creations. ∞

Mercy Street by Fever Ray

konichiwa, robyn

Carnegie Hall, 1998. I’m backstage, ready to hit the big time after all those ‘practices’ we were told would get us here. It’s the finals of the National Collegiate Championships of A Cappella, and my gals and I are about to sing four songs in a bid to be named best collegiate a cappella group in the country.

I’ll cut to the chase: we don’t win. (Though, being the only all-female group in the finals, we’re happy to call ourselves the best all-female group in America for that year.) I’m thrilled to have sung the lead on "Mysterious Ways," which I guess I nailed in each of the previous two rounds to help get us here! But, most importantly for this post, it’s the first time a tune by the Swedish sensation Robyn has been sung within the hallowed walls of Carnegie Hall. “Show Me Love” never sounded sweeter, if I do say so myself! And now, let's fast-forward.

Twelve crazy years later, my knees and back are #killingme. I’ve been standing among sweaty boys for the past four hours, waiting for Robyn to make her grand entrance at Webster Hall. It has got to be 104 degrees in here—so hot that Robyn’s co-headliner Kelis decided in the previous set to do away with her 70s-style wig of flowing glittery locks and just finish the show in her natural cropped coif. In the dozen years between Midtown West and East Village, Robyn has gone from wannabe R&B pop diva to veritable synthpop darling, with her two most recent albums, 2007’s self-titled Robyn and this year’s Body Talk Pt. 1—one of three albums she’s releasing in 2010—garnering serious props from music critics major and minor.

And now, I cannot wait to dance.

Robyn is a bit of an enigma. She’s Swedish, which might suggest bulky blonde. She is in fact quite petite, but she does pack a punch, both in her vocals and her stage presence. She clearly loves the interplay of technology and music; in the past few years she’s released tunes with titles like “The Girl and the Robot,” “Fembot,” and “Robotboy.” And these songs do tend to incorporate the beeps and drones of robot-sounding machines. But Robyn’s the kind of artist who’s just as happy to whip out a rap or reggae track, like the playful “Konichiwa Bitches” or the trippy “Dancehall Queen,” or a sweet ballad such as the acoustic version of “Be Mine.” She’ll even throw in a Swedish folk song now and again! But the heart of her repertoire is electronically-infused dance music. Lest you think that sounds like any old pop star’s lineup, think of Robyn’s as a wall of ear candy, with a spray of lush minor chords and unique arrangements coming at you from all directions, with the Swede’s strong yet quirky voice carrying whatever melody or rhythm she lays on top of it all.

So, back to the night in question... Finally Robyn hits the stage, and it is awesome. Singing and dancing ensue, and the audience and I don’t stop until after her two encores, which come about an hour after she first appears. She performs a slew of oldies, most of the tracks from Body Talk Pt. 1, and even unveils the first-ever performance (“in the history of the world!” she says) of “Hang With Me,” the lead single off of Body Talk Pt. 2, due out next month. She dances so hard, she has to take most of an entire song out to breathe. Other standout numbers include “Dancing On My Own,” “Dream On,” and the mesmerizing “With Every Heartbeat.” The audience is left begging for more, but it’s been a dreamy, if sweaty, night.

The next day, Robyn has a brief in-store performance uptown, just a few short blocks from Carnegie Hall. And of course I’m there, front row! But no dancing this morning. Admittedly a bit hung over from the previous night, Robyn performs lovely acoustic versions of three songs, including the first one I ever heard her sing, “Show Me Love.” And then, wonder of wonders, I get to meet her. I tell her about her Carnegie Hall debut, and she laughs and remarks how cool that is as she signs my album. And that, ladies and germs, is a keeper. ∞

Top two photos by Kolored via BrooklynVegan. Bottom photo by 20tauri.

summer sounds

Well, it's officially summer again, and that means it's time for me to start thinking about making a summer mix! While I ponder the particulars, I thought I'd share a few of the songs I've been obsessing over for the past couple of months. &infin

My Delirium (Ladyhawke): To my mind, Kiwi lass Pip Brown, who goes by the name Ladyhawke, comes off as a hipster, techie version of Stevie Nicks (her voice isn't nearly as witchy, but she does pull off the husky alto rather well). There was a span of two or three days where I think I listened to this song oh, maybe 30 times. And the video is fun...a cross between "Take On Me" and Thelma and Louise.



The Girl and the Robot (Röyksopp feat. Robyn): Maybe it's because I work for a company whose mascot is a robot, but I love the idea of Robyn falling for a real automaton in this collaboration with fellow Scandinavians Röyksopp. The song is addictive, and the video (which happens to share the woman-waiting-in-bedroom theme from "My Delirium") is fantastic.



Gimme Sympathy (Metric): I recently saw Metric in concert, and they were off-the-wall fun. This particular video is rather pedestrian (empty stage, band playing, colorful lights, yadda yadda), but the song is fresh, and I love it. I dare you to blast it into your earbuds or car stero and not start bopping your head.



Graveyard Girl (M83): I've written of my adoration of M83 on these pages before, but it definitely bears repeating! This song is a holdover from last year, but it simply does not get old. It's the perfect addition to any summer mix.

the year so far

Back in December, I posted a list of the top 10 things I was looking forward to in 2008. Now that the year's half over, I thought I'd do a follow-up to update you all on those events!

Smart fortwo: I've seen a handful of these little buggars cruising around the city, and they do look cute. But the Americanized version of the fortwo got some pretty unflattering reviews.

Phoenix Spacecraft: The probe landed perfectly on Martian ground at the end of May. Way to go! Phoenix used its robotic arm to scoop up some soil, plant it into a "wet chemistry lab," and do some tests. So far, we now know that the soil has a relatively basic pH and contains both water and carbon dioxide molecules.

Mets' new season: It's been up and down the entire way, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. The Metsies fired their manager and gave bench coach Jerry Manuel the interim job. Injuries have plagued both the pitching staff and regulars. The good news is, they're still in contention with two months to go.

Hawaiian State Quarter: Hawaii doesn't come out til later this year, but a few of the new ones for 2008 have made their appearance—namely Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona.

New music: First, the winners: M83's newest offering is a classic, and Ladytron's new one was solid (both groups were great live, too). I still haven't heard Goldfrapp's offering, but it got mixed reviews. Peter Gabriel is the king of letting his fans down...looks like there is no new album but only a few songs for the WALL-E soundtrack . And the Postal Service decided they had better things to do, so no new music from them "before the end of the decade." Other nice surprises, though, included The Long Blondes and an old favorite, Robyn.

ISS modules: The Columbus and Kibo modules were both successfully installed on the International Space Station...hooray! Let the science begin.

Large Hadron Collider: I'm not even gonna say nothin. Just watch this:



Ikea: The blue-and-yellow is in effect, finally, in Brooklyn. I paid a visit, and I must say it's pretty nice, as Ikeas go. It's one of the few Ikeas that has windows, and the views of the harbor are actually quite serene. So far so good with traffic; there are definitely more cars along the main drag in Red Hook, but it's really not that bad.

Shea Goodbye: Shea is still standing; I'm not sure when demolition day is, but I'll definitely be there if they make the date known. The new stadium looms large, however, and it looks really nice. There have even been a couple of scary falling incidents at Shea this season, which puts me a little more at peace with relegating it to the trash heap. Plus, the rumors have been confirmed: Shake Shack at Citi Field! Rejoice!

Regime change: The date is set. Barack Obama v. John McCain. I'm excited, and cautiously optimistic that the Dems will take the White House back come November. It's about time for a change—I can only hope the rest of the country feels the same. ∞