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Song of the Day

From the Archives: Smashing Pumpkins

Yesterday we featured another track from the Smashing Pumpkins forthcoming album Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, the 44 songs of which are being released individually over the next year or so and for free. Eventually there will be a special box set of the entire album. In 1996, the Pumpkins issued a limited edition box set The Aeroplane Flies High, which included the 5 singles from Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and 28 B-sides, plus a booklet of photos, lyrics and writings by Billy Corgan. From my library, here is a photo of the box set signed by Billy and D’Arcy. Included here from the box set is the Smashing Pumpkins’ cover of The Cars classic “You’re All I’ve Got Tonight”.

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“You’re All I’ve Got Tonight” by Smashing Pumpkins

Smashing Pumpkins (Free Download)

The new Smashing Pumpkins album is entitled Teargarden by Kaleidyscope and all of the songs from the album are being released periodically for free from the Pumpkins’ website. There will be 44 songs in all. Each time 4 songs have been made available, they will be packaged and sold over the net and in physical form as an EP. Eventually all 11 discs will be available as one box set. In February on this site we featured “Widow Wake My Mind” from the first EP. “Freak” is the first song from the 2nd volume available now as a free download and is the Song of the Day.

Passion Pit

Of late there has been a slew of cover songs. And there are more to come. We’ve featured a few here in the past and will continue to present the best. A song takes on new import when reinterpreted rather than merely duplicated. Passion Pit does just that with Smashing Pumpkins’ “Tonight, Tonight” as it becomes the Song of the Day.

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“Tonight, Tonight” by Passion Pit

Richard Ashcroft

Richard Ashcroft’s new band is RPA & the United Nations of Sound. (The “P” is for Paul.) We’ve admired him for his solo work and for his original band The Verve. “Bitter Sweet Symphony” is one of the greatest songs ever. (Ironically the royalties for that song belong to the Rolling Stones’ record company, ABKCO, as a sample in the song was taken from “The Last Time” by the Stones.) Richard has continued to write majestic music and “Born Again” is no exception and is the Song of the Day.

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“Born Again” by Richard Ashcroft

Mates of State

The married duo Mates of State (Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel) from Lawrence, Kansas, have released Crushes (The Covers Mixtape), songs of an eclectic group of artists including Belle & Sebastian, Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Fleetwood Mac and The Mars Volta among others. On their website Mates of State are offering a free download of “Laura” by Girls. We feature it here along with the original as the Song of the Day.

Mates of State-“Laura”

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Girls-“Laura”

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Dr. Dog

Dr. Dog is a 5 member band hailing from Philadelphia and the city is embedded in their music. As guitarist/singer/songwriter Scott McMicken writes on their website:

“This one apartment I was living in, I felt like I was stuck in the insane heart of West Philly. It’s a weird, insular little community, and there’s a lot going on and a lot of crazy, flamboyant characters and a lot of porch life and coffee shops. But for me, it was kind of overwhelming, and I had overextended myself into the lives of a lot of wacky people, because those are the type of people that I gravitate towards the most. But sometimes I bite off more than I can chew and get taken advantage of. I was exhausted with my neighborhood and I let it into me a little too much. That night, I wrote “Shadow People,” which is a full-on West Philly diary. Philly has been such a big part of our lives, and I feel like on this record it finally took over and made its way into our music. There’s a line that says, ‘I stole a bike from the Second Mile and saw a band play in the basement.’ The Second Mile is this thrift around the corner from my house, and there’s so many basement shows in West Philly, like noisy, artsy bands. I wanted to write something about the people and places around me.”

From the album Shame, Shame “Shadow People” is the Song of the Day.

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“Shadow People” by Dr. Dog

K’naan

It just arrived in the mail today. “Wavin’ Flag” by K’naan from his Troubadour album was chosen by Coca-Cola as the theme song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Numerous bilingual versions of this politically-charged wildly infectious joyous song have been released. This international remix version features Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am and French producer David Guetta. K’naan was born in Somalia and resides in Canada. “Wavin’ Flag” is the Song of the Day.

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“Wavin’ Flag” by K’naan

M.I.A.

Multi-talented artist, Sri Lankan provocateur, and singer/songwriter/rapper, M.I. A., released perhaps the best punk song of the year with “Born Free” with accompanying controversial video (posted on this site previously). It will be included on her new album Maya. In completely different vein we feature another track, “XXXO”, as the Song of the Day. Hear two versions, the one from the album and the remix with Jay-Z.

“XXXO”
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“XXXO” remix featuring Jay-Z
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Thom Yorke predicts the imminent demise of the corporate music industry

In a rare interview, Thom Yorke of Radiohead warns young musicians not to tie themselves to the “sinking ship” of the music industry, suggesting it will soon collapse.
According to the BBC, Thom said: “When the corporate industry dies it will be no great loss to the world. So, I guess I would say, don’t tie yourself to the sinking ship because, believe me, it’s sinking.”
The songwriter made his comments in the Rax Active Citizenship Toolkit, to be published next month by New Internationalist magazine for students of GCSE Citizenship Studies (“Aimed at 14- to 16-year-olds, this resource is designed to accompany students through the key processes of the Citizenship Studies curriculum: critical thinking and enquiry, advocacy and representation and taking informed and responsible action.” Basically it’s to help young people to become more politically literate).
In the interview, carried out in February, Yorke said the fate of new artists was “an obsession” of bandmate Ed O’Brien, who is a leading member of lobby group the Featured Artists’ Coalition.
Yorke said: “When we discuss it, he says it’s simply a matter of time – months rather than years – before the music business establishment completely folds.
“He is involved in trying to build a world where artists would finally get paid. But we are up against the self-protecting interests of that industry.”

From In Rainbows, Radiohead‘s self-released, pay-what-you-want album, “All I Need” is the Song of the Day.

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“All I Need” by Radiohead

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti

Ariel Pink is a Los Angeles musician known for his homemade lo-fi recordings. Over the past ten years he has primarily recorded and performed as a solo artist but a couple of years ago he formed the band Haunted Graffiti, and they just released a professionally recorded album entitled Before Today. “Round and Round” from Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti is the Song of the Day.

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“Round and Round” by Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti

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