Covers

I fully appreciate that the Arctic Monkeys are probably very talented in their own right, but their cover of Girls Aloud's Love Machine is far superior to anything they've done independently, in my opinion. Firstly, it's a great pop song anyway and the twist the Arctic Monkeys give it make it even more infectious than it ever was. So I guess I'm saying, although a great song by Girls Aloud, the Arctic Monkeys perform it better.

In my opinion, this is the case with a number of song covers - as great as a song they may be, the covering of it by another artist produces a much better version. And there are so many examples... Here are my personal favourites, in no particular order.

1. Nirvana - "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" - originally by Leadbelly
2. Jeff Buckley - "Hallelujah" - originally by Leonard Cohen
3. Pixies - "Head On" - originally by Jesus and Mary Chain
4. Johnny Cash - "Hurt" - originally by Nine Inch Nails
5. Cat Power - "Sea of Love" - originally by Phil Philips

There was no real point to this post, I was just thinking and wanted to be doing something slightly more productive than watching Facebook for movement and waiting for my washing to dry. Quite an interesting post though, for me at least. I love covers of songs. I'm like a Chan Marshall that can't sing...

The Pixies

Talking fairly recently about the Pixies with 2 fellow Pixies fans, dear Matt and Gilly (currently in the process of moving house), I started thinking about how much I could remember of when I saw the Pixies in 2004 at T In The Park, because to me it was a pretty significant event, as I was watching one of my all time favourite bands, that I had wanted to see since I had first experienced the Pixies, which, granted was only 3 years prior to actually getting the chance to see them. However, 4 years on from that and my love for them has never waned. In fact it may have grown after seeing Frank Black and now seeing the Breeders in 2 weeks time. So, back to the point. It appears I wrote an account of seeing the Pixies in my dear old and neglected Livejournal, and so I thought I'd post a brief note from it...

Then Kings of Leon appeared and they were better than they were last time I saw them. I also have a new found respect for them as they kept talking about the Pixies and played the opening of Gigantic to the cheers of about 30 people (ME!)....then.......the PIXIES!! *squeals* I spent 10 minutes of their set in tears. I couldn't believe I was standing there looking up at my all time favourite band whom I'd never imagined I'd witness at a live performance in the SECOND FUCKING ROW! They came on stage, all in black trousers and white shirts, and launched straight into Planet Of Sound. For the next hour they played one long song, stopping twice for Kim to say "Thanks, thanks a lot!" The songs they played in their set were:

Bone Machine, Broken Face, Something Againt You, Debaser, Tame, Caribou, In Heaven, Monkey Gone To Heaven, Gigantic, HEY, Dead, Number 13 Baby, Wave of Mutilation, Here Comes You Man, Velouria, Isla De Encanta, U-Mass, Nimrod's Son and Vamos

They closed with Vamos in a highly amusing fashion, with Joey leaving his guitar on the stand, just playing with the effects pedal. And at the end they all stood on the stage together and waved and I cried again. It was amazing. The nice Irish lady next to me kept telling me about when she'd last seen them 12 years ago, or so. Wow.....

Bless. Isn't that sweet? How excited I was. It's sad to think I rarely get that excited about anything that much these days. Years of mind numbing academia and growing up into a fairly stressed busy adult has ensured that... However, that's about to change. It is seemingly obvious that although I am coping exceptionally well with everything that's going on in my life, particularly my Dad's death, I'm not really looking after myself. I overly worry about things I can't control and should let be. I put increased importance on unnecessary issues. So, with that all in mind, I'm going to undertake some things which will make my life better. This includes...

• doing more creative stuff with my spare time,
  
• making sure I spend quality time with friends and family,
  
• getting a medical check up,
• exercise and eat sensibly.

This has all become quite involved for a Friday afternoon, but following on from this positive post I've made, here is a positive photo to complete it. I look happy and relaxed and I want to look like that more.

My Blog looks like Philippe's!

Hello! And welcome to my blog. I got very excited that I could choose a layout that looks like Philippe's from Achewood! Look! http://philippesblog.blogspot.com/

So I decided maybe having my own blog would be fun. I'm not too fussed whether people comment, but I guess it's a lazy way of letting people know what I'm up to as I become ever so increasingly busy with this MA doodah and the assignments associated with it, work experience, full time employment, learning to drive, holidays, making new friends, keeping in touch with old(er) friends, the restaurant... What else? My burgeoning desire to knit, draw, craft in anyway possible but currently can't, and my desire to cook inventive, exciting food, and along the way become an exclusive cocktail obsessive/borderline alcoholic. I'm sure Matt's interest can help me along the way with that one...

Now, my very exciting evening entails preparing a draft abstract for my dissertation, knitting a pencil case(!), eating some stew and mayhaps a burst of the Pixies on the stereo and standard hilarious dancing when nobody's watching. I demand for every one of you reading this to add it to your favourite websites and read it regular-like, because I guarantee it will stay updated... At least for the first 2 weeks...

Say whaaaaaat?!