listen closer

kind of like covers.

kind of like spitting "outside of a small circle of friends [phil ochs cover]"
on one of his acoustic tours, ben barnett (along with help from, i believe david j from novi split) decided to do a bunch of phil ochs covers at his shows. this is my favorite of those. worth it for his intro, worth it for the lyrics, majorly worth it because although i love ochs songs, i can never really get into his recordings. ben's versions off these tour bootlegs are absolutely killer though. this is a sarcastic cultural protest song. smart, catchy, and it should be more widely heard. seek out this whole bootleg, it's incredible i promise.
--from live bootleg 2002.07.17 at the fireside bowl, chicago, illinois (recorded by mike from the great cloak and dagger media) // other kols cds can be found at barsuk or hush (i highly recommend them!) // lyrics

kind of like spitting "la familia [mirah cover]"
kind of like spitting is one of my favorite bands, maybe my favorite. i love his voice, i love his songs, i love his covers. maybe it's that i can listen to his music and without reservation think "wow, that dude is just like me." he unabashedly covers songs he likes all the time, and here's another. again slightly eclipsing the original in my esteem. mirah's beautiful lyrics put to ben's croaking voice and a quiet acoustic. the fact that i haven't seen ben play live acoustic yet is a huge thorn in my side. "so tell me if we sleep together will you be my friend forever?"
-- from live bootleg 2002, philidelphia, pa // not on cd but you could buy nothing makes sense without it, which is my favorite kols album, SUPER recommended // lyrics

elsewhere: fluxblog has a killer cover of "uptown top ranking" by scout niblett.

mr. gramophone over at my favorite mp3blog has a joyful crazy bluegrass radiohead medley. makes me smile.