Things I Love: cover songs

I'm resurrecting the "Things I Love" series that I started a while back so I can discuss in depth something I mentioned in the comments section of one of my Idol posts. I love cover songs. If you considered cover songs to be their own genre, I'd choose them over any other. It might have something to do with familiarity- that perhaps it's easier to like a song you already kinda know over something brand new. It might be the "They're fans just like us!" feeling you get when you hear one of your favorite bands playing the songs of another. It might be the appreciation you feel whenever someone presents something to you in a way you hadn't previously considered possible.

But I believe the thing I like most about cover songs is that deep down, it's what we all really want to do. Every time you sing a song- whether it's along with the radio, in the shower, or just in your head- you're covering it yourself. Every one of us with some musical talent has picked up a guitar or sat down at a piano to play a song we like. Some of us learned to play those instruments just for that purpose. When we hear cover songs, it justifies that feeling we all have when we hear a good song- that the best way to express our affection for the song is to belt it out and make it our own. Every cover song is a tribute to the original, and every one we hear encourages us to keep doing what we do- paying tribute in our own way. (Just without the royalties).

Up next: What makes a great cover song? Stay tuned. (pun intended)

How to build a running playlist

Just redid my running playlist tonight- long overdue, as I've been listening to a playlist I made for the last FinkBowl and not a true running playlist. While I won't share the entire 157 songs that made the cut, I will share what I feel makes a good playlist specifically for running, with some examples of songs on my current list.

1) Length- Thanks to digital technology, gone are the days of 12-18 song mixes you burned onto a disc, or *gasp* recorded onto a cassette (that you'd have to flip half-way thru a decent run). A good list needs to not be your whole catalog but should have enough songs for variety. This way, you can familiarize yourself with the tunes without getting sick of them. I think anywhere from 100-300 would work.

2) Song tempo- Obviously a big factor. Songs that are too fast will throw off your pace, and too slow will just bore you. Sometimes you've got to pick alternate songs from your favorite artists to fit the tempo criteria ("Cracklin' Rosie" over "Sweet Caroline", Neil Diamond, "The Way You Move" over "Hey Ya", Outkast)

3) Song length- Pick shorter over longer- you want to keep moving, not get bogged down by a long guitar solo or a bunch of "wiki-wiki-wiki-wikis". ("White Lines" by Grandmaster Flash over "Jam On It", Newcleus)

4) No Radiohead- A great band, but I've yet to find a Radiohead song that's acceptable to run to.

5) Good starts- Songs that get going quickly work great. I consider them either 'take-off songs', that start a little slow and rev up, like "Portions for Foxes", Rilo Kiley, or "Paint it Black", Rolling Stones, or 'blast-off songs' that come hard right out of the box, like "Panama", Van Halen or "Monkey Wrench", Foo Fighters.

6) Slow but steady starts- Some songs start slow, but because they have at their base a driving beat, they build and become motivating. Pick these over similar songs that start slow and build but don't really have that driving beat. ("Where The Streets Have No Name" over "Bad", U2)

7) Good memories- As long as the tempo and length are adequate, some songs that may not exactly rock can work if they generate some emotion or memories. I've always liked "Rain on the Scarecrow", John Mellencamp and "Around the Way Girl", LL Cool J, so when they come on I get lost in 3:40 worth of memories, which gets me that much closer to the finish.

8) Bang your head- Nothing helps you bust through "the wall" better than some loud metal or hard rock. Nine Inch Nails, Metallica, Kiss, or Jane's Addiction would all be acceptable choices. Might I suggest "Jesus Christ Pose", Soundgarden? Or if you're a little more daring, try "Unsung", Helmet.

9) Classic songs- There are some songs, like Talking Heads "Once In A Lifetime"and Springsteen's "Born to Run" that belong on any running playlist by virtue of their pedigree alone.

10) New blood- Classics are fine, but find a few new songs that fit criteria #2 and 3 to keep your playlist from developing that not-so-fresh scent. Perhaps "Percussion Gun", White Rabbits, "Around the Bend", The Asteroids Galaxy Tour (which you might know as the "iPod Touch commercial song"), or "The Good Old Days", The Lodger.

There you go. Now go open up your iTunes, pick a bunch of songs that fit this list, go to the iTunes store and buy 10-20 new songs, then sync your iPod, strap on your shoes and hit the road. No more excuses.

please enjoy the music while your party is reached

in the beginning there was muxtape, and it was good. then the gods of the internet said "let there be a way for individuals to search for songs already on the internet, then map them to a playlist that they would create. let the html code for this playlist be made available to them, so the user may post this playlist on their own website." so the gods of the internet created playlist.com, and it was good.

you'll see the new feature on the right- the new home for the soundtrack of finkipedia. hope you're enjoying the holiday tunes- i was able to find only 3 of my top 5 christmas songs, as posted last year, so i filled in two other worthy stand-ins. this station will be all christmas music all the time until after new year's day, when we'll switch over to a whole new format.

too good to be true

looks like muxtape is down for a bit. seems the RIAA has a problem with the way the site is set up- even though clicking on each track would give you the option of buying it on amazon, there was no limit to how much you could listen to anything. hopefully they'll work things out, because i just was informed of a way (thanks teej) of converting all my music files to shareable mp3's. dj phyngck was about to start mad spinning.

bachelor summer ends tomorrow! the fam is en route to ohio, last stop before they make the final leg of the journey tomorrow. ETA is sometime in the late evening. got about 30 hours to fill the fridge, clean the kitchen, and get things tidied up. can't wait for the stories.

the best kind of music

...is free music. (similar, of course, to the best kind of beer) happened to be at my local public library a few months ago and was trolling through the cd case while the kids were book hunting. pleasantly surprised to find a few discs that i've always wanted but never actually purchased- some u2, white stripes. also found a few soundtracks with individual songs that caught my eye.

since then, i've made a few trips back and picked up different CDs, mostly soundtracks, and have been importing tracks to my itunes catalog. i'm a big fan of cover songs (a top 5 post someday on that one), and soundtracks are a gold mine for completely random cover songs. the great thing about the library gig is that these CDs usually only have one or two worthwile songs, so it saves buying the whole disc.

i'm also a big fan of christmas music, and i've also been scooping up the library's collection of christmas discs and ripping them too. figure i'll beat the december rush this way.

the stars are out

thanks to all who've checked in so far and left comments (ha ha, HA HA HA, ha ha). i've really enjoyed some of the e-mail conversations/debates we've had over the years, and think that the comments section here could serve that very purpose. i figured a site merely about what's going on in our daily lives might not keep everyone's interest, so i hope that many of my posts turn into discussions and debates on the comments page.

picked up the newest release this weekend from a band called stars, album is titled "in our bedroom after the war". stars' last disc, "set yourself on fire" won them fair acclaim in the indy world (for good reason), and this one should do the same. a bit different, but solid album. listening to their disc reinforced to me how many great songs and bands are out there that deserve more radio airplay. there's no reason why several songs on this disc shouldn't be on pop/rock stations everywhere, but i guarantee you'll never hear them. i don't claim to be any kind of music expert, but it seems to me that there are more and more songs that have great critical acclaim and are "radio-friendly" by anyone's standards, but have never or will never be heard anywhere other than maybe college radio and a few satellite channels.

here's a brief list of songs just from the past year or two that i think should have gotten major radio airplay, but never did. check them out on itunes or elsewhere, and burn yourself a disc of them. great summer listening. (thanks to puddin, googs, d-train and others who steered me towards some of these)

stars, "my favourite book", "ageless beauty"
fountains of wayne, "someone to love", "new routine"
rock kills kid, "paralyzed"
brandston, "earthquakes and sharks"
camera obscura, "lloyd, i'm ready to be heartbroken"
golden smog, "corvette"
hard-fi, "cash machine"
nada surf, "always love"
youth group, "shadowland"
death cab for cutie, "crooked teeth"

don't judge a book by its cover, or a song by its title and artist. 30 second sound bites should be enough to convince you these are radio-worthy. you may add to the list, but not subtract. fire away.