Thursday 28 April 2011

Event Preview: TRM @ The Lovely Job II



Superstitious? Well let us prove it all to be a load of old codswallop as on Friday 13th May the next instalment of The Lovely Job hits The Zanzibar in Liverpool bringing a predictably strong line up to the table yet again. Headlining the event are arguably 2011’s biggest buzz band on the Liverpool scene Seville, formed by two ex members of The Black Velvets they have an abundance of live experience and will undoubtedly deliver a performance worthy of their headline slot. They are joined by Strait Laces, a band who will be travelling over the Irish Sea to perform for the Lovely Job faithful – with a SXSW appearance to their name these are certainly a band worth sticking around for.

Seville - Ours Only


In addition to Seville and Strait Laces support comes from the able groups of Oxygen Thieves and Man Get Out who will both be providing a rock fuelled influence to the evening. We also have a folk and blues element to the evening with The Donja Vines and Dusty and the Termites, two exciting bands who both encompass a variety of sounds into their live performances expect the unexpected.

Man Get Out - Doppler (from the PS3 Game Hustle Kings)


Providing the backing soundtrack to the evening will be this blog, after a successful debut back in March The Real Mikaél once again takes over the reins behind the decks. Past features from the blog will give an insight as to what to expect. For those who do not wish to trawl past features expect an eclectic array of contemporary music from acts such as Jamie Woon, Warpaint, The XX, The Naked & Famous and Everything Everything blended into a portion of well known hits from the likes of Paul Weller, Blur, Pulp, Bob Marley and The Clash with a side order of classic hip hop and a bit of soul thrown in for good measure.

The Real Mikaél Presents: Indie French Filter Pop Nu Disco Action


Doors for the night will open at 8pm with myself, playing a nice array of music to ease you into the night, with the first act due on stage around 8.45pm. Door charge for the evening is £5. I hope to see you there, if you are coming why not let us know on the official Facebook event.

Monday 18 April 2011

TRM Loves: 10 of the Best Cover Versions

It has been a little while since my last blog, for this edition I have compiled a Youtube Playlist of 10 of my favourite cover versions after trawling the internet to find some contemporary takes on classic tracks in preperation for May's The Lovely Job where this blog will again be providing the backing soundtrack to the night. Once again becoming the Supremes to The Lovely Job's Diana Ross. More info to come in the next week or so.

I will get to the good stuff now, the music. I initially tried to devise an order to play these tracks but it was difficult to rank on merit (apart from the fact Nirvana would be number one every time) so I am afraid I sat on the fence for this one and opted for alphabetical order - via song title. If its good enough for the Premier League then its good enough for TRM! Below the embedded playlist is a list of the tracks with a little sentence or two to explain their inclusion.



Warpaint - Ashes to Ashes (David Bowie)
These girls can do no wrong in my eyes at the moment, really enjoy the female vocals on their take of this classic.

Siouxsie and the Banshees - Dear Prudence (The Beatles)
Thanks to The Weeknd using Happy House in his excellent 2011 mix tape I have rediscovered Siouxsie and the Banshees, they give a darker and in my opinion more polished take on this White Album track.

Jose Gonzalez - Heartbeats (The Knife)
You know its a good cover version when the track becomes more syonymus with the coverer than the original artist and that has certainly happened in this instance. I cannot wait to see this performed on a Sunday afternoon at Melt! Festival.

Method Man & Mary J Blige - I'll Be There For You/You're All I Need To Get By (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell)
There aren't really that many covers about in the hip hop world and I thought the genre needed to be represented as it has had a big infuence over me. This is a high quality version of one of my favourite Marvin Gaye tunes.

Nouvelle Vague - Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division)
I stumbled accross this very performance while channel hoping during Glastonbury coverage a few years ago. Simple, refined, angelic, stunning.

James Blake - Limit To Your Love (Feist)
I will be honest here, for the first 3 months of blasting this I was unaware that it was a cover. It is such a brilliant effort staying true to the original while giving it the post dubstep twist, no wonder James Blake is one of my men of the moment.

Nirvana - The Man Who Sold the World (David Bowie)
There are no superlatives to describe the brilliance of this version. In my opinion this is the seminal cover version of all time!

Otis Redding - Satisfaction (The Rolling Stones)
The soul boy in me just adores this. A fantastic danceable fun cover.

Soft Cell - Tainted Love (Gloria Jones)
Not many people know that this is a cover, well it is. Such a brilliant take on a Northern Soul track. Quite possibly the defining track of the 80s.

Paul Weller - Thinking of You (Sister Sledge)
This could perhaps be the most disputed inclusion in my list, the covers album from which it is taken did not recieve high praise. However I really like this version, really liked the covers album and I really like Paul Weller.