Yesterday, Belkis and I headed out to CD101's Summerfest. CD101 is probably the best station we have locally in Columbus, and this year, they got a bunch of great bands to play for their annual Summerfest. It was 5 bucks, so we couldn't exactly say no. There were a lot of bands there, but I'll just highlight the ones I enjoyed. Others that played were Mike Snow, the Living Things, Company of Thieves, and stellastarr*, but Belkis and I agreed that those groups were a bit lacking. For example, the singer for Company of Thieves had a lovely voice, almost like Regina Spektor, but unfortunately, the songs were boring and did not do her voice justice.
Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears. We were pretty tired by the time Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears took the stage, but they were still awesome. A little bit of funk, a little bit of blues, and a lot of fun. And Joe Lewis also had a crazy shriek that got the audience going every time. Did I mention that the guitarist kind of looks like Jake Gyllenhaal? Hot. Also check out their great video for "Sugarfoot."
Matt & Kim. This group was obviously the audience favourite. Kim was the sweetest, and kept an infectious smile on her face during their entire set. Probably most known for their songs "Daylight" and "Yea Yeah," they were cheerful and genuine--and Matt wasn't at all obnoxious like he appears in their videos. They were also immensely fun, although their music is not particularly my taste.
Band of Skulls. I was actually blown away by how good Band of Skulls was. I had only heard "I Know What I Am" before Summerfest, which apparently just doesn't do them justice. Their awesomely gritty and sexy rock was tempered by unexpectedly beautiful songs with great harmonic vocals, like in "Honest."
Envelope. Columbus local rapper, he won his spot at the CD101 Summerfest. At this year's Comfest (Community Festival), he was cut short for being too loud, and his loyal fans rectified this by voting him into the coveted space at Summerfest. If you've never heard "Day Dream Nation," go listen to it now! I was silent after I first heard it on CD101, fathoming how amazing it was. Also great: "Stay Gold," as in "Stay gold, Pony Boy." The Outsiders much? Ah, junior high. He also released doves at the end of his set. Epic.
My friend Jack from Boulder introduced me to this beautiful, surreal debut video from San Francisco's band Girls. It reminds me of going to house shows in Boulder--drinking straight gin and listening to joke metal or Velvet Davenport.
I love this video for Bat for Lashes's single "What's a Girl to Do?" It is creepy and dreamlike, and just about screams "Donnie Darko" from the hoodie-wearing, mask-clad human-creatures that appear out of nowhere to synchronize bike behind Natasha Khan. I love the eerie, deserted road and the Day of the Dead-inspired figures lurking just outside of the woods. Fantastic.
I have been wanting to start a covers version of my blog for a little while now, so I thought I'd start it off with the song "Jimmy," or "Jimmy Adja/Aaja," which seems to mean "Jimmy, come here" in Hindi. I really consider a cover to be successful when it has taken an original song and made it new in the style of the artist covering it, and here is a great cover of a song from a 1982 Bollywood movie called "Disco Dancer." It was remade with new English lyrics (minus the chorus, of course!) by the amazingly talented M.I.A. M.I.A.'s version was later covered by my favourite band at this time, Of Montreal, who slowed it down into a less hyper little groove.
So, to start with, I have an unnatural obsession with Indian culture. I'm not sure where I picked this up (perhaps my favourite childhood movie, the 1995 remake of "A Little Princess?" This was also probably the origin of my attic fascination, love of Victorian fashion, and strange obsession with mopping...?!), but my ultimate dream country has got to be India. I guess I have a longing for an incredible vibrancy in life--I'm attracted strongly to kirtans, which is a mimicking song (or can also refer to a group of people gathered to sing devotional songs) like in bhakti (devotional) singing, or India's devotional songs, called rajas. I actively practice yoga and am interested in the religions, languages, foods, ideologies, and everything else about India. I also have a quirky penchant for the overly-dramatic aspect of Indian culture.
When I lived near downtown Boulder, I loved going to Gypsy Jewel. It was honestly the absolute greatest store that Boulder had to offer. True antiques from all parts of Asia, it had things you didn't know existed (at least outside of movies!). Didn't know you could really and truly purchase. It was fantastic. The owner of the shop was beautifully eccentric and absolutely glowed. I loved talking with her about her adventures to India, and I always left desperately yearning to travel. One of my favourite aspects of her shop--excluding the altars where you could leave a few pennies to a Buddhist or Hindu effigy--were her Bollywood movie posters. Epically and hilariously dramatic, they depicted Indian women with tears streaming down their faces or evil-looking men strangling other men with ties. Seriously. Epic.
So, in light of that, you have to understand now my weird obsession with Bollywood. And so begins our look at the song "Jimmy," originally from "Disco Dancer." Check out this freakin' pristine video. Though please excuse the poor quality. Eh, YouTube. Ya'know.
Fast forward. Over 20 years later: M.I.A.'s cover. M.I.A. is a British-born artist of Sri Lankan descent. You likely know her from the song "Paper Planes." She is probably, in my opinion, one of the most innovative artists still creating music. In her cover, M.I.A. keeps up with the Bollywood version in terms of hyperactivity and general style. For example, her video just screams "Bollywood!" However, M.I.A. has made the song her own by writing new English lyrics to the verse and incorporating her own loud (and awesome!) fashion sense into the video. M.I.A. rewrote the song after a journalist exploring Rwanda offered to take her on a "genocide tour," though she declined and wrote the song instead. M.I.A. is just cool.
Lastly, I cannot even imagine anything more amazingly perfect than my favourite artist currently (whom I fell in love with all over again after downloading their album "Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?"), Of Montreal, to combine so many of my favourite elements. Of Montreal transform this song into a pretty chill and kinda funky beat. I just love that about them. Those of you familiar with Of Montreal will hear that this cover is a little more groove-worthy than dance-worthy like much of their other work, but it still carries a lot of Of Montreal's elements, which is why it's completely awesome. I think they would have made a fantastic music video for this song, but alas, that has not yet happened. Instead, enjoy the mp3!
I guess I'm pretty predictable. I like long afternoons, warm greenery, getting lost on purpose, railroad tracks, the combination of cheese/basil/tomato/bread, and going to the park. I am incurably nostalgic but ridiculously analytic. I enjoy good design and observing people.
