from cover to cover

hurrah again! a friend on LJ told me about this thing called blogchalking, hence the ponytailed icon at top telling u a little extra about me. but that in itself isn't the exciting bit - i worked out how to get it into my template with all that html crap. i can do really basic tagging cos of all the posting i do on BoS (powered by vBulletin...) but my brother is fluent. he keeps threatening to teach me.

spent so much money in syd yesterday. bought chrissie presents for ppl:

de-lovely soundtrack for nanna
robbie williams - sing when you're winning
for mum
franz ferdinand (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) for becky (older sis)
prisoner of azkaban dvd for lucy (younger sis)
the beatles - revolver
for dad (doesn't do my ipod any harm either)
bjork - medulla for ally (cuz)

and (INTERRUPTION: lucy just came in with chocolate and i refused! what is wrong wth me? damned medication keeps me up and my appetite down.) bought the joshua tree for myself, and a skirt, and a bracelet, and loads of cookies, and a juice...etc etc.

and the OC soundtrack, mix 2. forget the pure sudsiness of my favourite soaper (how i do miss seth already, with his nerd-wit and jewfro. love the curls.), the music is fantastic. here be the tracklisting for the second volume of the soundtrack (special faves are starred):

1. Saturday Morning - The Eels
2. Hello Sunshine - Super Furry Animals
3. Smile Like You Mean It - The Killers*
4. A Lack of Color - Death Cab
For Cutie*
5. The Specialist - Interpol
6. Something Pretty - Patrick
Park*
7. You Got Me All Wrong - Dios Malos
8. If You Leave - Nada Surf
9. Big Sur - The Thrills
10. Little House of Savages (live) - The
Walkmen
11. Trouble Sleeping - The Perishers*
12. So Sweet - Johnathan
Rice
13. Popular Mechanics for Lovers - Beulah
14. Walnut Tree - Keane
15. Maybe I'm Amazed - Jem*
16. Eastern Glow - The Album Leaf
17.
It's Too Late - Evermore (Australian bonus track)

there isn't a single track I wouldn't recommend. the two covers - jem and nada surf - are awesome.

i am a very strong advocate of the well-executed cover. ryan adam's version of wonderwall (oasis) is amazing - ethereal, wistful, building achingly towards something that never quite eventuates, leaving you hanging threadbare onto the final note feeling restless but not unfulfilled, and reaching for the repeat button to try and delve deeper into the delicately woven sounds. the original is a classic - i had a magic moment belting it out in the pub with my friends along with the jukebox last night - but the occasionally heavy-handed approach the gallaghers take to performing a truly beautiful song is highlighted all the more by adams' softly, softly approach.
on the other foot, take A perfect circle's recent cover of Imagine, one of the most simple and moving songs ever to grace a speaker. john lennon's original is simplistic but rich, idealistic and ultimately uplifting. the cover sounds like a dirge. note to the APC boys (and girl): i usually like your work, but transposing a song into a minor key and groaning rather than singing it doesn't hold that much artistic merit, and what's more you've probably made a lot of enemies out there in musical fandom. shame.
death cab are masters of the respectful cover - all is full of love (bjork) and this charming man (the smiths) work beautifully - and of the disrespectful also. (i recently got my grubby little hands on a bootleg of ben gibbard doing a live acoustic version on the backstreet boys' 1999 hit "i want it that way", and clearly taking the absolute piss out of it, much to the delight of the audience.)
other faves:
songbird - eva cassidy
wild world - beth orton
with or without you - hamish cowan
creep - damien rice
when doves cry/babe i'm gonna leave you - damien rice
the drugs don't work - ben harper

and the ultimate:
hallelujah - jeff buckley. no words for it.

and that's my rolling-stone rant for tonight.

current music: eastern glow - the album leaf