I've Got This Covered: The Beatles: Let it Be

I shall forever be a great defender of cover versions of songs. I just love seeing what artists can do with one-another's work; what they can add, what they can make their own about it. "I've Got This Covered" is making an official comeback after four years of retirement in order to celebrate The Beatles Get Back movie (and the accompanying concert film and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Exhibit and I don't know, there's probably a tie-in with Fruit-by-the-Foot at this point). "I've Got This Covered" is an article series in which I imagine which artists could do great covers of (in most cases) a full album. Today, my choices were influenced by AJ Ward.

1) Two of Us - Tegan and Sara
One of the biggest takeaways from Get Back is realizing how close The Beatles had gotten after years of writing, playing, and generally being around one-another. Not only was Two of Us the name of another Michael Lindsay-Hogg film (Lindsay-Hogg was the director of the original Get Back footage, for those not in the know), it's also the title of a song (obviously) that perfectly sums up John Lennon and Paul McCartney's strained-yet-loving, brotherly creative process. We considered Ben Gibbard for this one, since his voice would suit it well and his acoustic prowess would be a great match. But Tegan and Sara would be able to both harmonize on the track and to bring to the table some of their own relationship as sisters and collaborators. Tegan and Sara have already covered another Beatles song, "Lovely Rita" in collaboration with The Flaming Lips, Stardeath and White Dwarfs.

2) Dig A Pony - Orville Peck

Orville Peck uses equine imagery throughout his work. He has the wide vocal range necessary for this song and his glam-country sound would give it a twist while still fitting with the sound of the original. 

3) Across the Universe - Tame Impala

AJ and I compiled our lists separately, yet we both picked Tame Impala for this one without a second thought. Kevin Parker of Tame Impala would presumably throw on a lot more reverb (more of a post-Beatles Lennon sound). We also imagine him coming in on a funky bassline with the vocals and adding drums just a bit further on. While Parker doesn't consider himself to be a huge Beatles fan, his song "Yes I'm Changing" has been perfectly mashed up with "Imagine" by Sam DeMartino. Parker has also covered John Lennon's "Jealous Guy." 

 

4) I Me Mine - The Raconteurs

This one was tough to decide. We couldn't figure out who could handle the soft, sad and gentle tones of George Harrison in the verse as well as the rough-and-tumble raucousness of the chorus. Luckily, AJ thought of Jack White for the guitarwork on the chorus and we decided that the The Raconteurs would be a perfect fit for this song. Brendan Benson would handle the gentle, melodic verses and Jack White could rock hard on the choruses. Problem solved. (Side note: Jack White, I come to you as a blue hologram of myself. If you're reading this, please make this happen. If there's anyone on this list I trust to get things done, it's you) The Raconteurs have already paid tribute to The Beatles in their own way. Some copies of their 2019 album Help Us Stranger contained a parody of The Beatles' famous "butcher cover" hidden under the real cover.

5) Dig It - Cake

Short but sweet, this track would have probably been nothing more than a studio outtake if the album had yielded more tracks. Since it made it onto the album, we can imagine nothing better than letting Cake have a go at it. John McCrea's unusual vocal stylings would be perfect for the format of the song and the rest of the band could come up with some wild interpretations as well.

6) Let it Be - Regina Spektor

This song was hotly discussed during our planning sessions. Whoever was going to cover it needed to be great at piano and needed to be able to convey a lot of emotion in their voice. Alicia Keys was brought up, Vanessa Carlton, and probably twenty others. No one seemed perfect for it but I was certain that Regina Spektor could handle it and make it interesting. Spektor is incredibly talented at piano and her voice is always rich with emotion. Spektor has previously covered "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "Real Love," and "And Your Bird Can Sing" (For The Beat Bugs). 

7) Maggie Mae - They Might Be Giants

Another short track, "Maggie Mae" is well-suited for the kings of short songs: They Might Be Giants. TMBG would also bring their own humor to the song just as Lennon and McCartney did. TMBG grew up listening to The Beatles. John Flansburgh remembers A Hard Day's Night being the first album he purchased. John Linnell has even referred to them as "the shi**y Beatles." As a result of all of this, many of their songs have parodied or referenced The Beatles. They've even covered Paul McCartney's "Ram On" and The Beatles' "Savoy Truffle."

8) I've Got a Feeling - Jukebox the Ghost

I've discussed previously how technically great Jukebox the Ghost are as musicians; Ben Thornewill could probably have stepped into Billy Preston's shoes with little effort. Jukebox is also a band with two very strong songwriters who are able to harmonize swimmingly and who both act as lead singer at times (and this is no offense to Jesse Kristin, who is a perfect match on drums). Jukebox the Ghost would power "I've Got a Feeling" with the fun of early Beatles and the musical prowess of the later years. Jukebox the Ghost did a medley of songs from Abbey Road on a French radio station nearly ten years ago.

9) One After 909 - The Nude Party

Sometimes, The Nude Party go in a more psychedelic direction, but not always. Songs like "Chevrolet Van" show us what this North Carolinian band can do in terms of a 50s/early 60s sound, which is exactly what "One After 909" calls for. 

10) The Long and Winding Road - Adele

I'm still not over Adele's voice. Although we threw around the names of other female singers (that seemed to be the constant for some reason), Adele was the only one we thought would be able to carry the depth and breadth of the song. 

11) For You Blue - Ben Gibbard

Long-time readers should know that I love Ben Gibbard's voice almost as much as I love George Harrison's songwriting. This song is strange and sweet. The parts are odd. But we felt that there was no better person to bring it together than Ben Gibbard. His range is fairly similar to Harrison's, and since he knows his way around an acoustic guitar, it's like it was meant to be. Gibbard did a full livestream of Beatles covers during the 2020 lockdown (unfortunately, it didn't include "For You Blue").

12) Get Back - Ben Folds Five

Whoever we picked for "Get Back" needed to be able to rock out. We wanted the piano too. Since Ben Folds is the guitarist and pianist for The Ben Folds Five, we think he can make it work. Folds covered "Golden Slumbers" for the I Am Sam soundtrack.

That's how (AJ and) I think it should go down. Questions? Better ideas? Drop me a comment. Or if you're one of the artists listed above, feel free to make this happen. 

Countdown to 30: My Favorite Album From 2012

 2012

I gave my retrospective on the albums of 2012 a lot of thought and I think my choices stand up, so I'm going to go in the same order for this year. I guess don't read that article if you don't want this reveal spoiled for you.

The Ben Folds Five reunited in 2011 after being broken up for three years. In 2012, they released The Sound of the Life of the Mind, their first original album since 1999. The band as a whole was unsigned, so they launched a PledgeMusic crowdfunding campaign to get the money to release the album. That goal was met twice over within the campaign's first week. 

Ben Folds had collaborated with author Nick Hornby on 2010's Lonely Avenue and Hornby returned to write lyrics for the title track, "The Sound of the Life of the Mind." There is a ballad entitled "Sky High" composed by drummer Darren Jessee. All other songs are written by Ben Folds. 

"Erase Me" kicks off the album with chunky, fuzz guitar mixing with aggressive keys. "Draw a Crowd" is an upbeat, comical song. "Hold That Thought" isn't quite a ballad, but "Thank You For Breaking My Heart" definitely is. The latter is absolutely heartbreaking. But at least you'll know that it's in there. "Do It Anyway," the album's lead single, is a terrific mantra over Folds' signature piano style. Folds has stated that the inspiration was a combination of quotes on cards his mother used to give him for birthdays and a concert-goer who yelled "do it anyway!" after folds explained that his upcoming ballad wasn't going to be the kind he could "stand on the piano and, you know, shake my a** to." The video features the Fraggles of Fraggle Rock and some human celebrities of course. These explanations seem a little disjointed, but the songs on the album are not.

Two members of the recently disbanded Tally Hall released albums in 2012. 

Andrew Horowitz was first with sketches by what he officially called edu. At the time, the album was only released on a cassette with handwritten liner notes, but within the last few years, he finally refined and reissued it digitally and on vinyl as Sketches 3D. If there was ever an album that worked perfectly on cassette, this was it. Sketches is what a friend might record for you on their cassette recorder- if they're a very skilled songwriter and musician friend, that is. Horowitz always had the most heartfelt lyrics in Tally Hall, and the warm tunes on this album are a perfect display of that. Every song is cute and sweet and his cover of "Rainbow Connection" is the most genuine one I expect to hear. "Daisy Fingers," "Miss Melody," and "HEY YOU!" are my favorite tracks, but it's hard not to love all of them.

The next member of Tally Hall to release a solo work was Joe Hawley, who also decided to use a pseudonym, but in keeping with the bizarre nature of most things Hawley has a hand in, his pseudonym was ミラクルミュージカル (which translates to Miracle Musical). He released Hawaii: Part II, a simultaneously strange and masterful album. Hawley dances between vaudevillian sounds, sweeping orchestral music, and use of vocoder. A few earlier Tally Hall demos found themselves polished up for this album, most notably "The Mind Electric." Hawley has explained the album by telling a local access show called Band "When our family went to Hawaii in the summer of 1997, I heard this music in my mind and I knew I had to make it at some point." I'm glad he, Ross Federman, and Bora Karaca managed to bring it to life. 

For me, one of the most anticipated albums of 2012 was Some Nights by fun. Their first album was so good that I couldn't wait for what lay in store. 

Leading up to the release of the album, fun. released "We Are Young," the fun. song that finally rocked the world. "We Are Young" featured the great Janelle Monáe in the shoes Rachel Antonoff used to fill, as the occasional female vocalist. The song itself was doing fairly well on the charts, but then it was used on Glee, which was a bump that used to be great for indie bands in terms of commercial success. Sure, it meant that the concerts were now riddled with tweens who knew them for one song, but the band being successful has to be the main goal. Then the song was featured in a Superbowl commercial for the Chevy Sonic (which I remember seeing as it originally aired, through the glass door of a house I was delivering pizza to) and at that point if you hadn't heard the song before, even you knew it. This song went to #1 in the U.S. and the U.K., partly swept up in the trend of indie/alternative artists making it big on mainstream radio (see: Gotye, American Authors, Vance Joy) and partly based on the quality of the song itself. You see, after Aim and Ignite, fun. decided that they wanted something that would actually be commercially successful. They enlisted Jeff Bhasker as the producer. That wasn't an easy task, as Bhasker was the producer for Beyoncé. He worked with Alicia Keys, Jay Z and Kanye West and would go on to work with Bruno Mars, Lana Del Rey, and would work with Mark Ronson on one of the upcoming albums of the year. "We are Young" was the song that sold him on fun. Nate Ruess sang it for him (acapella I think?) and he suddenly became interested in working with the band. 

With Bhasker's help, Some Nights hit #3 on the U.S. Billboard hot 200, reaching #1 on the rock, alternative, and vinyl charts. fun. won best new artist at the Grammy's (I don't know how that award works, but I can't understand how they counted as "new") and "We Are Young" walked away with song of the year. They had three hit singles from the album, with the best one, "Carry On," unfortunately not seeing as much success on the charts, presumably because everyone was sick of being overexposed to their work by then. The titular "Some Nights" is tied with "You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morrisette as being most likely to be accidentally played on the radio unedited because no one expects an f-bomb from such a huge hit song.

Before I go on too long, I'll just wrap this one up by saying that, while this album was disappointing for me compared to Aim and Ignite, it's still very good. Bhasker is a good commercial producer, but of course his polish was far different from the indie glow Redd Cross's Steven Shane McDonald put on their first album. I absolutely adore, "Carry On." It's on my list of cry-worthy songs (I have probably cried to it myself). My review mostly holds up, other than the fact that I praised Bhasker's production but said the album was "experimental" and held up my hopes for their third album that has not come to be so far.

It's probably clear to you that I'm a big fan of Death Cab for Cutie and Benjamin Gibbard. Gibbard's Former Lives came out in 2012 and brought something a little bit different to the table. Officially, Former Lives is Gibbard's first solo album, although his work as ¡All-Time Quarterback! was definitely at least as much solo work, if not more. Former Lives is a great deal more polished and mature. Several tracks were recorded on Garageband, which makes that fact all the more impressive. Much of the album is light and acoustic, but with a full, rich sound. 

Former Lives features guest vocals from Aimee Mann and Zooey Deschanel, and appearances from other musicians in addition to Gibbard. Deschanel lends her dreamy vocals to "Something's Rattling" and Latin American group Trio Ellas provide accompaniment. Aimee Mann is featured on the duet "Bigger Than Love," her voice blending with Gibbard's perfectly. 

"Lily" shows off Gibbard's voice and his talent for writing metaphorical, romantic lyrics. My favorite piece of poetry though, is "Oh, Woe," a song about trying to pull yourself out of depression. It's upbeat, but the lyrics make it clear that the narrator is struggling. A standout line for me is "you're nothing like the way you looked//in all those famous songs and books" as the narrator has clearly romanticized sadness, but realized it's a great deal more crushing than he had imagined. Second favorite line is "it's been a basement of a year//and all I want's for you to disappear." 2012 was a basement of a year for me.

Finally, my favorite album of 2012 comes from a band whose albums have consistently been in my top albums of the year, but who got pushed just slightly to the front of the fray in 2012, partly thanks to the confusing energy someone with OCPD gets when they are in a new relationship. 

Mia Pharaoh by Miniature Tigers is my favorite album from 2012. Mia Pharaoh shows the band trying on a new sound, but it's in no way a turn-off. Ahead of the album, the single "Boomerang" was made available to fans. It acted as a sonic bridge between the earlier albums and Mia Pharaoh. 

Synthesizers and late '70s/early '80s influence drive the sound for the album. Frontman Charlie Brand also moved past the “Like or Like Like” phrase of his songwriting and on to songs like “Sex on the Regular” and “Female Doctor.” Between poppy, upbeat songs are slower, dreamier tracks like "Cleopatra" and "Ugly Needs." There is an ethereal dreampop quality to the songs that aren't as up-tempo.

In my first apartment, 2012.

"Afternoons With David Hockney" is one of my favorite tracks on the album, and acts as a strange ode to English artist David Hockney, who seems to be source of inspiration for Charlie Brand (who also provides album art for Miniature Tigers albums).

Mia Pharaoh dips and dives through sounds and tempos, flowing smoothly. The lyrics are as strange as they typically are for Miniature Tigers, but the sound is very slightly more polished and commercial. Their contemporaries were moving toward '80s sounds, which they would do eventually on Cruel Runnings. 

I loved blasting this album. We had an early summer in 2012, and I remember riding around in my truck with my windows down, playing this album and lying to myself that life was good. I got to see the guys support this album a few times, including once as openers for fun. It was a good era for the band. I love "Boomerang," ever the most catchy track on the album, but many of the songs are earworms. There was something nostalgic about this album even when it first came out, but at this point, looking back nine years later, it definitely is nostalgic.

Anyway, leaderboard!

Join me tomorrow for my favorite album from 2013!

Countdown to 30: My Favorite Album From 2003

 2003

Well yesterday was a little heavy. Hopefully today is a little less serious. 2003 was the year of Ben Gibbard. And this is coming from someone for whom the majority of the coming years were about Gibbard. But you'll see what I mean in a second.

My runner-up album is Transatlanticism by Death Cab For Cutie. 

Transatlanticism was the first album by Death Cab to feature Jason McGerr on drums, and it was also a drastic sound difference from their previous albums. Earlier albums had a harder sound not even close to the ballads on Transatlanticism. The sound the band developed on the album ended up following them for at least the next three albums.

Ben Gibbard wrote the bulk of the songs, with some songs cowritten with Chris Walla and some with work from the whole band. Transatlanticism explores long distance relationships, as the title alludes to. The songs on this album are all very poetic, catchy tracks. I play "The New Year" almost every year on January 1st. It would have been my album of 2003 for sure, had that year not also been the year of...

Give Up by the Postal Service was their debut album, as well as being their only full-length album to date. During a hiatus from Death Cab For Cutie, Ben Gibbard started working with Jimmy Tamborello (Dntel) after Gibbard contributed vocals to a Dntel song. Tamborello and Gibbard worked on songs by sending CD-Rs of the tracks back and forth through the mail. That's how they decided on their name. The USPS sent them a cease and desist letter about using their name. The outcome of the legal battle is pretty hilarious, with the USPS agreeing in the end to let them use the name, and even at one point selling copies of the album on their official website.

Gibbard and Tamborello didn't know each other very well and came from very different musical backgrounds, meaning they got to know one another as they were nervously exchanging ideas via the mail. 

Jen Wood and Jenny Lewis provided backing vocals. Death Cab For Cutie guitarist and producer, Chris Walla also contributed to the album, primarily through use of Hall of Justice studios. He also played piano on "Nothing Better."  

Give Up created something of its own genre, a blend of sad indie pop and electronic music. When Owl City first came out, people pointed out similarities. There was mostly silence from those involved with The Postal Service, except for a Tweet from Chris Walla, during a thread about a lawsuit case involving Men at Work. "Related: Owl City should really consider buying Ben a pony" (Sidenote: If there's one thing I miss in this world, it's Chris Walla's Twitter. I think about it often).

The album is filled with fantastic songs. Both Gibbard's lyrics and Tamborello's beats and electronic instrumentals are effective in communicating a great deal. Several songs are strange story songs, such as "Sleeping In" and "Clark Gable." Others gave a romantic and uplifting message ("Such Great Heights").

I'm pretty sure this is 2003 but I'm honestly 
not sure.

My friend Zack introduced me to The Postal Service and I'm ashamed of how long it took me to realize Gibbard was the lead singer in both this project and Death Cab For Cutie. "Such Great Heights" was the first song I heard and it's also probably the best known on the album.

"We Will Become Silhouettes" is Gibbard's apocalyptic piece and also one of the songs my sister and I thought was a lot of fun because of the blasé attitude of the whole thing.

In film school, you have to come up with a lot of ideas, pitches, and short stories. I would always mine songs for ideas and considered "Clark Gable" before moving on to a fun. song. One of my classmates did attempt to pitch a "Clark Gable" idea though, which I noticed almost immediately and admired him for.

I could listen to any song on this album again and again, and in fact have in most cases. There are quite a few EPs out there too, all worth a listen. After their 2013 tour, Gibbard announced that they would not be releasing a second album. This one, however, speaks loudly enough.

Leaderboard engage:

Join me tomorrow for my favorite album of 2004.

I've Got This Covered: 12 Times My Favorite Artists Covered One Another and How I Wish the Original Group Would Return the Favor

One of the greatest joys in life for me is when two artists I like are fans or collaborators of one another. I even went so far as to schedule a vacation around a show featuring two of my favorite artists from different bands. This Saturday is Record Store Day, and there are two exciting crossovers of artists I enjoy. A release by Elvis Costello will feature a cover of "Someone Else's Heart" (Squeeze) and a record in support of same-sex marriages will feature Ben Gibbard covering The Beatles "And I Love [Him]." So I have decided to compile a list of some of my favorite crossovers, along with some crossovers I wish would/could happen.

1) Oh Boy! - She and Him/Buddy Holly

It's not my favorite cover of all Time, but I do think it's really cool that this duo covered the great Buddy Holly. It was included on a compilation that also featured some of my other favorites including Florence and the Machine and Julian Casablancas. 

In return, I wish Holly could posthumously record a cover of "I've Got Your Number, Son."

 

2) Mr. Blue Sky - Lily Allen/ELO

Ms Allen has a new album coming out in June, but in the meantime, let's look back at a much earlier piece produced by Greg Kurstin. I actually enjoy this cover, I think it brings something different to the table, even though I love the original piece.

I would like to hear ELO's take on "Back to the Start."

If not a cover by Jeff Lynne's ELO, I would at least love to hear what Jeff Lynne would have done with the production in some of Allen's songs, particularly from the It's Not Me, It's You era.

3) Friends of Mine - of Montreal/The Zombies

One of the most underrated Zombies tunes was covered by of Montreal in their earlier days. It's a fairly literal translation, but somehow Kevin Barnes' voice alone changes the song immensely.

An of Montreal cover by The Zombies is more complicated, since the former have always been a fairly avant garde group, but I think something from the early albums or Lousy With Sylvianbriar would work out. I guess I would most like to hear The Zombies perform the Zombie-esque "Old Familiar Way."

4) This Charming Man - Death Cab For Cutie/The Smiths

The Smiths passed the baton of somber lyrics with a catchy tune to Death Cab For Cutie, and I think it's only fair that the latter did an upbeat cover of The Smiths classic. It was a b-side to "The Sound of Settling," but I think Morrissey could put an interesting twist on "Title and Registration."

5) All Day and All of the Night - Kate Nash/The Kinks

Adding a little dash more punk rock to this classic Kinks track, it can't be said that Nash didn't do anything interesting to this song.

I would like to see The Kinks do a cover of "Birds" somehow. 

The song would become a voyerish story song, which Ray Davies happens to be an expert at.

6) Life's What You Make It - Weezer/Talk Talk

While it beats the "It's My Life" cover by Gwen Stefani, I can't exactly give this cover my seal of approval. I still appreciate the love of Talk Talk that had to have led Weezer to cover one of my favorite tracks by the former band.

Figuring out how to reverse this cover process is probably the most difficult on the list. Even at their poppiest, there is no other band like Talk Talk, and as they progressed, they became even further from the mainstream. And Weezer's sound is so loud and guitar-driven that it's hard to imagine Talk Talk covering them. So I suppose the best thing I can think of would be that in this imaginary world, Talk Talk would cover "Keep Fishin,'" but much more slowly.

7) 2000 Miles - KT Tunstall/The Pretenders

One of my favorite Pretenders songs is also one of my favorite Christmas songs. While the Tunstall version isn't that different, it's still gorgeous, and earns an equal place in my Christmas playlist.

I think Chrissie Hynde could make several Tunstall pieces work for her, but I would most like to see her perform the slide-guitar-heavy "Hold On."

8) Helter Skelter - Rooney & Everybody Else/The Beatles

Know of a song you don't fully appreciate until you see it live? While I never actually saw this performance live, I didn't fully appreciate this Beatles song until I saw two of my favorite bands perform it together live (on a Youtube video). 

It's a tough return cover since two bands I love are featured here, but I would really love to see John Lennon front a Beatles cover of "Faker" by Everybody Else.

9) Think About Your Troubles - Jellyfish/Harry Nilsson

Jellyfish wore their influences on their sleeve while still being unique. Their heartfelt cover of this track from The Point has everything you can hope for in a Nilsson cover.

Nilsson would have been able to do a great version of "Now She Knows She's Wrong."

10) Joanne - Benjamin Gibbard/Michael Nesmith

Hey look, it's the aforementioned cover I traveled to California to witness. Technically this isn't a cover so much as a co-cover and technically, Nesmith has already covered a Gibbard song with The Monkees, but Gibbard has a storied history of covering Monkees songs also, so I would just love to hear Nesmith perform another Gibbard piece, namely "Oh, Woe."

"Oh, Woe" is one of my favorite Gibbard compositions, but I also think Nesmith could bring some of his own melancholy to it, for a beautiful performance.

11) 1000 Umbrellas - The Format/XTC

I got into both of these bands around the same time, so this was pretty cool. Of note: The Format also covered Jellyfish, The Kinks, and Harry Nilsson.

I imagine that XTC could have done something cool with "She Doesn't Get It."

12) Up the Junction - They Might Be Giants/Squeeze

Possibly one of my favorite crossovers simply because of how unexpected it was for me to find it, this is a loving and not altogether innovative cover that nonetheless captures what I love about both of these bands.

I think that Squeeze should cover "Pet Name" as a thank you gift. It already fits their style.

Agree? Disagree? What's your favorite artist collaboration? Let me know! And don't forget to support your local record store Saturday!

Separated at Birth: 2 Songs with Bird Metaphors

If you haven't already heard the news, then I am very excited to announce that Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and Andy Partridge of XTC have each written songs for The Monkees' forthcoming album Good Times. It's no huge surprise though, as both songwriters have long proven themselves to be big fans of the 60s group. I doubt that most would compare XTC and Death Cab, however, but that is what I intend to do.

In 1992, XTC released Nonsuch, which included a few compositions by Colin Moulding, along with the majority composed by Partridge. Among the Moulding compositions was "My Bird Performs."

Prior to presenting the track to the band, Moulding recorded a very simple home demo, which was later released publicly.

The track features a metaphor comparing a girl to a bird and expressing contentment with their situation. 

In 2008, Death Cab for Cutie released Narrow Stairs, which included the more morose song "Talking Bird."

"Talking Bird" also had a simple demo, recorded by Gibbard, and released publicly after the album came out.

Obviously, the fact that both songs had demos isn't much fodder for comparison, but the phrasing, even the reference to an "open cage," is very similar in both songs. The Death Cab piece almost plays as a later part of the same relationship, as though the songwriter got tired of the birdlike antics that were once more charming in 1992, but still loves the "feathered" protagonist.

Total coincidence, but I find it interesting when two fairly different songs share common themes. Stay tuned for more.

Concert Review: The Postal Service in Columbus, Ohio

Anyone who became a fan of The Postal Service in the last 9 years pretty much had to accept the fact that they were never going to see them live. Ben Gibbard was busy with Death Cab For Cutie and his solo work, and Jimmy Tamborello was busy with Dntel, not to even mention sometimes-member Jenny Lewis's schedule. Interviews with Gibbard tended to squash any ideas of a reunion too. But this year, fans finally got what they wanted, and it seemed like the band didn't hate themselves too much for it.

The opener for Columbus was Advance Base, the work of Owen Ashworth from Chicago, Illinois. Advance base does not make bad music, it's just not particularly noteworthy. He managed to make almost everything sound fairly similar, including a Kris Kristofferson cover, and the only time I (and most of the crowd) got truly excited was when he began to play the intro to "Stairway to Heaven," which turned out to be only a tease, and the end of his set. The crowd was respectful at least, and Ashworth seemed able to communicate with them well.

Advance Base

The Postal Service took the stage at just after 9, opening with "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight" and moving on to "We Will Become Silhouettes" and "Sleeping In," which featured Tamborello on vocals for the chorus. All three songs were performed amazingly with high energy.

They moved on to the weaker of the two songs released on the tenth anniversary edition of Give Up, "Turn Around." Despite the song being one of my least favorite Postal Service tracks, the live performance was incredibly well put-together. Jenny Lewis, whose presence and vocals had already been demanding a great deal of attention onstage, came forward to sing the Jen Wood vocal parts on "Nothing Better." The presence of Lewis onstage was incredible throughout the show. She has one of the most electrifying and (if I may say so) sexual stage presences I have ever seen.

Jenny Lewis

Next up was "Recycled Air" followed by two of my favorite Postal Service tracks, "Be Still My Heart" and "Clark Gable," both done impeccably.

They then did a cover of Beat Happening's "Our Secret," which blended well with their material. "This Place is a Prison" was slightly lower-energy than the rest of the set, simply because it's such a slow, sad song, but it worked out. A b-side, "There's Never Enough Time," came next, and then the incredible "A Tattered Line of String," another release from the reissue of Give Up. The crowd seemed pleasantly familiar with the newer song.

Jimmy Tamborello

Ben Gibbard. Photos by Erin Howard

The set closed with "Such Great Heights" and a very excellent live version of "Natural Anthem."

For the encore, the band played "(This is) The Dream of Evan and Chan," a Dntel song that Gibbard sang on, which began the collaboration between Tamborello and Gibbard, and "Brand New Colony."

The Postal Service put on an amazing show, one of the best live shows I've seen in a while. Their live sound was far more solid than I had expected from an electronic band, and they performed each song almost flawlessly, the vocals harmonizing perfectly, particularly at the close of "Brand New Colony." As contagious as the energy was, so was the happiness that seemed to radiate from the band members onstage.

If you get a chance to check them out during the remainder of this tour, I highly recommend it.

Top 10: Albums of 2012

People have tried to sum 2012 up musically in many ways. It's been described as a year of self-pity and of fiscal awareness, but it's entirely possible that 2012 did not have single theme. 2012 saw a further blurring of the line between independent and mainstream music, and once again saw a redefinition of what it takes to make a song popular (spoiler alert: Glee helps a lot). 2012 was the year Taylor Swift went pop, the year a young girl with the stage name Kitty Pryde made a career for herself the new-fashioned way, the year a Korean man (PSY) had a big American hit.

Once again, I've compiled a list of my favorite albums of 2012. I don't think this was the best year for music, but it certainly wasn't a bad one.

10. The Haunted Man by Bat For Lashes
Natasha Khan falls just the Kate Bush side of Florence and the Machine's Ceremonials in The Haunted Man, with a tiny dash of The Xx. While there are no big hits like "Daniel" contained within The Haunted Man, it's a pretty cool album that lives up to the quality of her previous works.

Key Tracks:

"Lilies"

"All Your Gold"

"Winter Fields"

9. Roses by The Cranberries

Having reviewed Roses way back in March of last year, I'm incredibly impressed by how much the lyrics and melodies come back to me. It's a much better album even than I remembered. The songs toward the end of the album are a little weaker than those that start it, but it definitely stands up, and I feel as though Roses should have received more attention this year.

Key Tracks:

"Conduct"

"Tomorrow"

"Schizophrenic Playboys"

8. 151a by Kishi Bashi

I was going to rank this album lower, until I gave it another listen, and then I began to wonder if it should be higher. The musicality is ace, and the songs are still catchy. The vocals and instrumentals are everywhere, whilst still seeming meticulously placed. If you haven't listened to it already, I recommend.

Key Tracks:

"Bright Whites"

"Chester's Burst Over The Hamptons"

"I Am The Antichrist To You"

7. Moving Up Living Down by Eric Hutchinson

I reviewed Moving Up Living Down when it came out. It's a little different from Sounds Like This, but not necessarily in a bad way. There's a greater variety of styles, and a new kind of power to the production. The lead single "Watching You Watch Him" is strong and there are plenty of album tracks to back it up. 

Key Tracks:
"Best Days"
"Watching You Watch Him"
"Not There Yet"

6. The Sound of the Life of the Mind by Ben Folds Five

A somewhat morose album, The Sound of the Life of the Mind features more collaboration between Ben Folds and Nick Hornby. The album is beautiful, moving, and very occasionally uplifting. The lead single even featured a video that starred Fraggle Rock's Fraggles.

Key Tracks:

"Erase Me"

"Do It Anyway"

"Hold That Thought"

5. sketches by edu

Andrew Horowitz released his first solo work exclusively on cassette this year. The nine song work was pure beauty. Each track feels hand-crafted and adorable. sketches closes with the only song not written by Horowitz, a cover of "Rainbow Connection" that does the song as much justice as Kermit's original.

Key Tracks:
"miss melody"
"HEY YOU!"
"at the end"

4. Hawaii: Part II by ミラクルミュージカル

Hawaii: Part II was released about a month ago on bandcamp (my review). Something of a concept album, the tracks from Hawaii: Part II still stand well one by one. Joe Hawley's side-project is quite the masterpiece. 

Key Tracks:

"Isle Unto Thyself"

"Murders"

"Dream Sweet in Sea Major"

3. Some Nights by fun.

After listening to Aim and Ignite many times over the past few years, Some Nights came as something of a disappointment. The radio did not agree with me, making "Some Nights" one of the most overplayed songs of 2012. Don't get me wrong, it's still an amazing album, but I was a little underwhelmed. I think radio listeners should also understand that the rest of the album is as good as the two lead singles.

Key Tracks:

"Carry On"

"All Alone"

"Out On The Town"

2. Former Lives by Benjamin Gibbard

While I realize certain albums on my list are odd and off the beaten path, I'm surprised I haven't seen Former Lives on more 2012 best of lists. Ben Gibbard created a great album that certainly stuck with me. There's not a single song on the album that I would skip, and almost every one has a very special place on the album and in my life.

Key Tracks:

"Lily"

"Oh, Woe"

"A Hard One to Know"

1. Mia Pharaoh by Miniature Tigers

Falling only slightly short of the picture perfect Tell It To The Volcano, Mia Pharaoh took an adventurous leap into the 70s- but with synths. Lead single "Boomerang" was a great preview of the album's feel. Miniature Tigers manage to find the space between cute and sexy, between retro and modern, having a sound that no one can emulate, and that is exclusively theirs (their album of covers could have easily made it into my top ten, but technically it's an E.P.). I'm sure I listened to this album more than any other this year, and for good reason. The songs are well-sculpted, catchy, sensual, and strangely cute. If you haven't listened to Mia Pharaoh yet, get on it.

Key Tracks:

"Sex On The Regular"

"Afternoons With David Hockney"

"Boomerang"

Album Review: Former Lives by Benjamin Gibbard

Benjamin Gibbard is one of those rare modern songwriters who manages to be both prolific and wonderful. Just since the inception of Death Cab For Cutie in 1997 (prior to which, Gibbard fronted a punk rock band called Pinwheel), Gibbard has had at least two major side projects (namely ¡All-Time Quarterback! and The Postal Service), not to mention his collaboration with Andrew Kenny on Home, Volume V, and work on the soundtracks for One Fast Move or I'm Gone (with Jay Farrar) and the recent remake of Arthur, amongst other things.

But Former Lives is his first full-length solo album. It's clear from the fore that this album is not like the work of his bands. Former Lives kicks off with "Shepherd's Bush Lullaby," an a capella tune apparently recorded on an iPhone. At fifty seconds long, "Shepherd's Bush Lullaby" serves more as an intro to the album than a song by itself. "Dream Song," on the other hand, is a splendidly catchy song, with much more Gibbard-esque lyrics. "Dream Song" gives way to "Teardrop Windows," the first song from this album that was made available. "Teardrop Windows" tells an interesting story, but is ultimately dwarfed by the rest of the album.

One of my favorite tracks on the album is "Bigger Than Love," which features Aimee Mann. Mann's voice compliments Gibbard's so perfectly that, at the start of the song, I almost thought Gibbard was using some vocal effects on his own voice. "Bigger Than Love" contains the gorgeous lyric, "...our house got crowded and I'd never felt so all alone," a sentiment many have tried to express, but which is nonetheless poignant in this instance.

"Bigger Than Love" is followed up by another beautiful piece, "Lily." "Lily" contains strong and elegant imagery, along with a folky melody that has touches of early country to it. Gibbard's voice is truly highlighted in this number as well, with minimal instrumentation. "Something's Rattling (Cowpoke)" is a mildly western-style piece, featuring Trio Ellas and vocals by Zooey Deschanel. Trio Ellas play a modern form of mariachi, which gives the piece its feel. Gibbard and Deschanel sing a "chorus" that's somewhere between a humming lullaby and howling, but in a smooth and graceful manner, which makes the voices into truly irreplaceable instruments.

Amongst the weaker tracks on the album is, "Duncan, Where Have You Gone?," a slow whine that could have been rejected from a Death Cab album. The tempo of the album picks back up with "Oh, Woe." Despite the positive feel, "Oh, Woe" is much in the vein of "Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse" by Of Montreal (rather than a song like George Harrison's "Blow Away"), calling for irrational depression to leave. The lyricism of "Oh, Woe" is terrific. Gibbard personifies the emotion, and points out the way depression touches people. He even mentions the romanticized sadness that can draw people in, by speaking of woe like a lover, "...oh, woe you caught my eye//And I thought that I'd give you a try//But you're nothing like the way you looked//in all those famous songs and books."

Another of my favorite tracks is "A Hard One to Know," a rock-ey number with smart lyrics. The chorus is catchier and stronger than that of any other song on the album. "Lady Adelaide" is a slower and softer song than "A Hard One to Know." "Lady Adelaide" tells the sad story of a woman who has become cold due to a broken heart. It features another of my favorite lines from the album, "Now she's a bird with a broken wing//She likes the ideas of things//More than what they are bound to bring." Gibbard delves deepest into country on "Broken Yolk in Western Sky," which features a pedal steel guitar played by Mark Spencer. 

The album closes on "I'm Building a Fire." "I'm Building a Fire," much like "Shepherd's Bush Lullaby," is quiet and gentle, and it features only vocals and guitar. Gibbard recorded "I'm Building a Fire" using Garageband. "Shepherd's Bush Lullaby" and "I'm Building a Fire" create lovely bookends for an already brilliant album.

Benjamin Gibbard's songwriting rarely disappoints me, so it's no surprise that Former Lives is already one of my favorite albums of the year. His melodies and lyrics are just as sharp (and, at times, cute) as ever. While I would be inconsolable if Death Cab For Cutie never put another album out, I think Former Lives and future Gibbard solo works could help treat the woulds.

 Benjamin Gibbard is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Former Lives is his debut solo album.

Former Lives can be purchased here.