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The Roots

In my first Podcast “Dear God 2.0” by Monsters of Folk was included as one of the best of 2010 thus far. (Monsters of Folk is a modern-day supergroup consisting of Jim James from My Morning Jacket, Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes and M. Ward.) The Roots, one of the great American hip hop bands (and currently the house band for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon) brilliantly use the song as a basis for their own commentary on the current crisis of contemporary life. From The Roots new album How I Got Over, “Dear God 2.0” is the Song of the Day.

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“Dear God 2.0 (featuring Monsters of Folk)” by The Roots

Amanda Palmer

Amanda Palmer has always been one of my favorite artists. You never know quite what she will do next, from the Dresden Dolls to her solo projects, from the conjoined twins of Evelyn Evelyn to her various theatre performances. She’s profound and facetious, dramatic and silly. Always exotically charming and entertaining, she’s unique until herself and today we enter Amanda World once again with the release of Amanda Palmer Performs the Popular Hits of Radiohead on Her Magical Ukulele. She’s offering this 7-song EP for a minimum of a mere 84 cents. (54 cents must go to Radiohead for the rights and the other 30 cents to PayPal.) You can hear it here, download it here and support Amanda with some extra ducats. From the EP, “Idioteque” is the Song of the Day.

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Wolf Parade

The primary duo (Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner) of the band Wolf Parade out of Montreal also front their own bands and are involved in numerous side projects. Yet they have found time to release their 3rd album, Expo 86, with one of the catchiest songs of the summer. “Ghost Pressure” is the Song of the Day.

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“Ghost Pressure” by Wolf Parade

The Shins

The web has not only made it possible for artists to present their music quickly and efficiently without the necessity of middle men (record labels, physical distribution channels, etc.) but also to share their interpretations of some of their favorite songs by other artists that they admire. There have been so many wonderful cover songs of late that we may have to have a separate category for cover song of the week. Passion Pit, Mates of State, Smashing Pumpkins and The Pixies have covers elsewhere on this site. “Goodbye Girl” originally appeared on Cool for Cats, the album from Squeeze in 1978. We present this delicious version by The Shins as the Song of the Day.

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“Goodbye Girl” by The Shins

MGMT

“It’s Working” is the current featured track off of Congratulations the 2nd album from MGMT. (Both “Flash Delirium” and “Siberian Breaks” from the same album can be heard on earlier posts.) The song has also been completely remixed by the French band Air. Both versions are here as the Song of the Day.

“It’s Working”
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“It’s Working (Air Remix)”
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The Drums

A charming summer song incongruously from this Brooklyn band. It’s doubtful that The Drums do much surfing, but this song is perfect for this time of year (and with a whistle no less!). From their self-titled debut album, “Let’s Go Surfing” is the Song of the Day.

(And if you want to see the band running down the beach to their song, click on the YouTube button in the upper right.)

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“Let’s Go Surfing” by The Drums

Anberlin and Dylan Thomas

The alternative rock band Anberlin, hailing from the center of Florida, has just released a new song from their forthcoming Dark is the Way, Light is a Place produced by Brendan O’Brien. The title of the album comes from a poem by Dylan Thomas (October 27, 1914 – November 9, 1953). Bob Dylan took his name from this great Welsh poet, and if you have never heard Dylan Thomas’ voice you are in for a treat. “Impossible” by Anberlin is the Song of the Day and from the archives, Dylan Thomas reading my favorite poem of his, “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”.

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Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas

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

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