The Signal Music Weblog

Anyone who's listened to a few Signal mixes knows of my fondness for cross-genre covers. A friend of ours, Ace, shares our fondness for a familiar tune, warped in some way as it's forced out of its natural habitat.

After a recent exchange of songs of that nature (and yes, somewhat fueled by alcohol), the sharing of music turned into a duel and the gauntlet was thrown down to see who was the King of Cross Genre Covers.

So you, the unwitting (actually, more-or-less non-existent) readers of the Station, will be called upon to help decide-- and reap the benefit by listening to some odd music.

Things will be kept vague, to avoid becoming Google-bait. But id3 tags will clarify all.

Okay!

[UPDATED 10.27.08]
[UPDATED 10.28.08]
[UPDATED 10.31.08]
[UPDATED 11.01.08]
[UPDATED 11.03.08]

Follow up:

SONG 1: From Ace, the thrown gauntlet: An actress and an indie pop guy take a Beatles song and make it Hawaiian.

SONG 2: From me, a golden throat crooner smooths out a classic 80s rock anthem-- and no, it's not Richard Cheese. That would be cheating.

SONG 3: After the bell, I took a cheap shot, throwing an illegal additional song at Ace: A Japanese rock band covering a Scottish folk song and adding elements of surf and Hawaiian guitar.

SONG 4: Ace strikes back with a live country version of a notorious pop-industrial song about how the imitation of animals in matters marital can be a religious experience.

And that's where we at right now. The battle will continue, but who's up next? What other strange gems from the depths of mp3 collections will be unearthed? Do you dare to face the mind-bending horrors that may await us all in the future? Because the future, my friends, is where we'll all spend the rest of our lives.

UPDATE 10.27

Ace brings the one two combo:

SONG 5: A Swedish pop cover of a mellow rock staple and, in case that wasn't enough of a genre difference...

SONG 6: A soul singer covering a hippie-era rock standard.

Reaching into my bag of tricks to respond we have:

SONG 7: Tuuvan-style throat singing, by request, and Siberian folk musicians covering a classic spy theme

SONG 8: An 80s synth-pop hit, reimagined as a German cabaret piece from the decadent 1920s.

--

And we're back! The ref had to call a technical foul, as Ace tried to use an mp3 that I had sent him just a few weeks ago, but then it was back to dancing around the ring.

Ace has packed his gloves with danger in the form of:

SONG 9: A bluegrass cover of a classic rock tale of madness and paranoia

and

SONG 10: An Australian cover, complete with didgeridoo, of the classic rock ballad that's the bane of all guitar store employees.

And in return, matching shot for shot, every blow met with its opposite number:

SONG 11: The reggae cover we were waiting for, of the exact same tune as Song 9.

and SONG 12: A cover of a song from the same band as Song 10, but performed by kazoo-wielding maniacs.

--

From Ace, two covers of the same 80s song about primates and electricity and the advocacy of their meeting. SONG 13 is Hawaiian, and SONG 14 is sincere.

From me, two covers of the same 70s song about metal and an alienated man who either associates with that metal or is composed of it. SONG 15 is abstract jazzy, and SONG 16 is sincere.

--

11.01 UPDATE

From Ace, SONG 17 is a pop song from a post-Disney Millennial idol made into an acoustic guitar jam and SONG 18 is an organ-heavy 60s rock song about a house in New Orleans that's been transformed from melancholy to hard rock.

From me, SONG 19 is a hard techno cover of a song written by the lady who was the previous generation's version of Song 17's artist (if you can follow that logic) and SONG 20 is an accordion version of the same song as Song 18 which I ripped from vinyl myself.

--

11.03 update

Ace's turn!

Song 21 - a smokin' bluegrass cover of a simple rap song extolling the virtues of alcohol and fruit juice. There are several!

Song 22 - the same song! Alcohol! Juice! But this time it's alt-rocky!

Okay, now me!

Song 23 - a rap song made angry and hard rocky!

Song 24 - a different rap song, same original artist, but this time... the vocalist is a chick! From ENGLAND!