First things first, the excellent electronic music label Kompakt has jumped on the best bandwagon possible – the benefit record for Japan bandwagon. If you like minimal techno and have 10 bucks to spare then you should get it. It’s 34 tracks and almost four hours of music!
Now where was I? Oh yes, Saturday was Record Store Day! I hope you all got a made out with a good haul. Over the next few days I’ll be sharing a good deal of what I scored and I hope you all enjoy as I share my limited edition vinyl happiness with you all.
Tonight’s happy music share time has a little bit of vitriol though. Sorry about that.
Update 4/18/11: Most of these links were removed early for a reason. See the comments section to find out why.
Update 5/12/11: Someone Great is now available on iTunes and Amazon. Buy it.
Toadies
Someone Great (Live) (LCD Soundsystem Cover)
No Deliverance (Live)
The Toadies covering LCD Soundsystem! Crazy huh? Now, if you’re like me, then you think that’s a great idea, and really brave of the Toadies. It’s not easy to take a song that’s entirely in another genre and rework it to fit your musical style. But I think the Toadies pull it off with this cover, which re-imagines the tune as a down-home, lo-fi country jam. It’s really impressive, and the Toadies deserve credit for taking a risk and having it pay off so well.
Some LCD Soundsystem fans seem to disagree, however. Here are some snippets of comments from the Spin article that posted a sneak preview of the Toadies track:
“I just threw up in my mouth….”
“wow way to butcher an amazing song…I hope they go down in a blazing plane crash.”
“Honestly this is a bad cover, I wonder if they are aware what this song is about. I’m sorry Toadies, but you should have been a one hit wonder and stayed in the 90’s. This cover is insulting to LCD and their fans.”
“People actually listen to the toadies??? and go to their shows???? Oh joy for mainstream crap bands doing live covers of actual real musicians. Thankfully their fans are so lame, most didn’t even know it was a cover and just thought it was finally a song with depth.”
Wow. Stay classy hipsters!
I just don’t get the hate. So a band you know almost nothing about covered a song you like? Why go off on a rampage about it?I love me some Pearl Jam, but I didn’t wish Staind die a painful death when they decided to mutilate “Black.” If anything, I was happy that they were exposing a classic PJ track to a younger crowd.
I’m willing to bet that the die-hard Toadies fanbase and the die-hard LCD Soundsystem fanbase doesn’t have a big overlap. Maybe some Toadies fans will be encouraged to check out LCD after hearing this fantastic cover. As a fan, shouldn’t that make you happy? That more people might be interested the band you like? Oh, but are Toadies fans the wrong people? Is the LCD fanbase an exclusive club?
This is not my first exposure to the dickery of LCD Soundsystem fans. When I lambasted This Is Happening for being at best a collection of forgettable drivel and at worst a collection of forgettable drivel that ripped off Lou Reed, I got more than my fair share of insults from self-righteous asshats who were personally insulted that I called an album by their favorite band a pile of shit. But they seemed to be even more insulted that I called LCD Soundsystem fans a bunch of  “self-righteous musical-know-it-alls-by-way-of-Wikipedia.”
They then proceeded to explain to me all the obvious Brian Eno, Bowie and Talking Heads references I “missed” because I didn’t mention them in my review.
Maybe they were just being ironic? Do hipsters still do stuff to be ironic? I’ve been out of that scene for a while, it’s hard to keep up.
Even when I liked LCD Soundsystem (and I still think their first two albums are incredible), I thought that a significant portion of the group’s fanbase represented the absolute worst of hipster culture – mean-spirited pricks who are still stuck in that late-90s “my forgettable bullshit music is better than your forgettable bullshit music because its less popular” mode – and it seems  that I was probably right.
Also, I’m sure that there are thousands of LCD Soundsystem fans who are not complete dicks – unfortunately nice people are usually quieter than assholes.
Anyways, these two tracks are from a Toadies 7″ that was part of Record Store Day. Enjoy.
Franz Ferdinand Covers
Debbie Harry & Franz Ferdinand – Live Alone
Stephen Merritt – Dream Again
LCD Soundsystem – Live Alone
ESG – What She Came For
Peaches – Turn It On
And look an LCD Soundsystem track! Â It’s a great cover too, even though its a little overlong at 7 and a half minutes. It’s better than Stephen Merritt’s take on “Dream Again” though, which is just a little too mellow for my tastes. ESG’s interpretation of “What She Came For” is great though, as is Peaches’ surprisingly low-key turn on “Turn It On.” However, Debbie Harry kicks everyone’s ass with her amazing version on “Live Alone,” and proves that at 65-years-old she still rocks harder than any other motherfucker on Earth.
All these tracks are from the Franz Ferdinand Covers E.P.