It’s that time of year again when people forgo their usual sarcasms and recognize the good things in life. I know there is a lot to be sarcastic about these days and, if you watch entertainment news or The Soup, you know what I’m talking about. But there are many things to be thankful for such as good music. So, here are ten things that I’m thankful for (all music related of course): 

10. Drum Off 09: I’m thankful that there are corporations such as Guitar Center that still the value quality music, hosting events like this featuring the best drummers like Danny Carey from Tool and Brian Dailor from Mastodon.

9. Webcasts: I’m thankful for webcasts that bring festivals like Coachella and KROQ’s Almost Acoustic Christmas to my computer every year when I can’t be there in person.

8. The Beastie Boys, Vandals, and The Aquabats: I’m thankful that there are really talented musicians who resist the urge to take themselves seriously.

7. Natasha Khan from Bat for Lashes: I’m thankful this rising star thinks the Karate Kid and Stevie Nicks are important cultural icons.

6. Insanely unique musicians: I’m thankful for musicians such as Maynard James Keenan, Tori Amos, Bjork and Mike Patton, who all take music to places no one ever imagined or expected.

5. NIN farewell tour: I’m thankful that I finally got to see NIN live before Trent Reznor retired it.

4. Deftones’ resilliance: I’m thankful that Chi Cheng is still holding on and maybe someday we’ll get to see him play again.

3. The Cure still rocks: I’m thankful this band is still touring and making great music. Without The Cure, Deftones and Muse would never sound the way they do.

2. Rage Against the Machine reunion: I’m thankful that I got to see this band reunite at Coachella in 2007 with 80,000 other RATM fans.

1. Bad Religion continues to comment on American society: I’m thankful Greg Graffin is saying all the things that need to be said and is also a UCLA professor, who is actually doing his part to help mold American youth into critically thinking members of society. 

And now a Band of the Week I am very thankful for…Placebo!

I’ve been listening to this band for a while now and I am surprised that they are not as big in the states as they are everywhere else. Since the first time that I heard their cover of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill,” I was hooked. I enthusiastically suggest anything from their 2006 album Meds, but you must hear “Lazarus” and “Drag.” They recently released a new album Battle for the Sun and I am loving “The Never-Ending Why.” I saw them live at Coachella and I highly recommend catching them live. However, this band will be on a World tour until March. Hopefully, these Brits will visit the states soon.

Until next time, protege moi. -K

Today I want to bring you a cover version done by Placebo of the Kate Bush song Running Up That Hill.

Now, Kate Bush was born in England on July 30, 1958. Running Up That Hill is on her album Hounds Of Love, which was released in 1985 (when she was 27). Interestingly enough, the song was supposed to be called A Deal With God, but EMI didn’t want to release it under that name because, according to Wikipedia, “they feared the religious connotations of the title could have prevented radio play”. Wikipedia also quotes Kate Bush saying: “[W]e were told that if we kept this title that it would not be played in any of the religious countries, Italy wouldn’t play it, France wouldn’t play it, and Australia wouldn’t play it! Ireland wouldn’t play it, and that generally we might get it blacked purely because it had God in the title.” I personally find this quite outrageous. It’s like when Sony told Sophie B. Hawkins to get rid of that banjo back then. Come on, it’s art!

At any rate, 21 years later in 2006, when Kate Bush was 48 and Placebo singer Brian Molko was almost 34, Placebo released a cover version of Running Up That Hill on the re-release of their debut album.

Don’t get me wrong, I really like the original by Kate Bush. More than that, I like her song Wuthering Heights. But I find what Placebo did with the song is so much darker and so much more haunting and melancholic that I do prefer it over the original.

Well, judge for yourself:

Kate Bush original with lots of dancing.

(Alternative Link)

The Placebo version. With an upside down video, not sure why.

(Alternative Link)

Kate Bush – Running Up that Hill

It doesn’t hurt me.
You wanna feel how it feels?
You wanna know, know that it doesn’t hurt me?
You wanna hear about the deal I’m making?
You be running up that hill
You and me be running up that hill

And if I only could,
Make a deal with God,
And get him to swap our places,
Be running up that road,
Be running up that hill,
Be running up that building.
If I only could, oh…

You don’t want to hurt me,
But see how deep the bullet lies.
Unaware that I’m tearing you asunder.
There is thunder in our hearts, baby.
So much hate for the ones we love?
Tell me, we both matter, don’t we?

You, be running up that hill
You and me, be running up that hill
You and me won’t be unhappy.

And if I only could,
Make a deal with God,
And get him to swap our places,
Be running up that road,
Be running up that hill,
Be running up that building,
If I only could, oh…

C’mon, baby, c’mon, c’mon, darling,
Let me steal this moment from you now.
C’mon, angel, c’mon, c’mon, darling,
Let’s exchange the experience, oh…

And if I only could,
Make a deal with God,
And get him to swap our places,
Be running up that road,
Be running up that hill,
With no problems

If I only could, be running up that hill

(Lyrics from azlyrics.com.)

For completeness’ sake, there’s also a version of the song by Within Temptation, but it doesn’t do much for me one way or the other.

Comments?

A qualidade tá ruim, né?
Caguei.
GRITA, TORIIIII!

This is a response to Spencer Radcliffe’s entry titled: Betraying One’s Culture… Or Not?

http://ghosttraindigest.wordpress.com/2009/09/15/betraying-ones-culture-or-not/

I agree that some pop culture seems to arise from subculture. But I think that some of those movie trailers are a result of an effort to reach out to subculture and tap into a different market. Movies like Juno seem to be targeted at a limited audience, but arise to a popular culture status. I’m interested in the phenomenon of sub or counter-culture becoming a part of widely accepted popular culture.

I will use the example that first popped into my head: Vampires. There is a very extensive and complex vampire culture that has been growing stronger as the years go by. Most apparent in large cities, this seemingly gothic roleplaying culture includes individuals who live what they would consider a vampire lifestyle. And of course, there are even people who think they are actual vampires.

Needless to say, vampires have become a part of popular culture. And while vampires have been depicted in mass media before this subculture came about, the two seem to draw on each others influences. Movies like Blade and Queen of the Damned depict an underground society of individuals who visit night clubs and seduce “victims” and take part in various other vampire activities. What’s interesting here, is that these films are portraying the vampire culture rather than the vampire culture emulating what they see or at least to an extent.

 Here is an example of a vampire movie coming out in the near future: Daybreakers.

To come full circle, I will point out that this trailer features the song “Running Up That Hill” covered by Placebo. A song that can by no stretch be called an indie song covered by an indie band, being featured in a major motion picture trailer.

As you read this, I will be on a plane somewhere over the middle portion of the country. So here for your listening enjoyment this lovely Friday morning, is Placebo covering Kate Bush.

And here’s another version of the same song, by Within Temptation:

I had not heard anything about the movie Daybreakers until I saw the preview for the movie before Gamer. It started off a bit slow for me, but then Placebo’s version of “Running Up That Hill” kicked in. All of sudden, I am counting down the days until the movie comes out (January 8, 2010). I probably would have seen it anyway. After all, apocalyptic vampire movies are dead center on my popcorn movie list. But now, I really want to see it.

The line they use in the clip is perfect: “If I only could make a deal with God and get him to swap our places.” All redemption and rebirth – vampire saves the humans that he had literally been living off of. Perfect.

Update: the song is also used in the series premiere of The Vampire Diaries. There must be something about the line and vampires. Looks like I’ll be watching the series too.

But back to the movie…Sure, the song is probably not going to be featured in the movie. But it doesn’t have to be. It has done it’s job. Now I cannot miss it. Whoever cut the trailer deserves a cut of my ticket. It’s like Marilyn Manson’s “If I Was Your Vampire” in the trailer for Max Payne. I think the trailer was actually better than the movie itself – and all because of the song.

The original Kate Bush version of “Running Up That Hill” was first used in the 80s movie Chocolate War. A good flick, made better by Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush. I hope the same can be said for Daybreakers.

В сeкцията за музика вече можете да слушате и изтеглите, освен песните от промо клиповете, и три песни от първия епизод на Vampire Diaries. Освен това в страничния панел можете да чуете част от песите,

Огромни благодарности на vampire-diaries.net, че са открили песните

Update:  Вече има и страница за епизодите, за сега само за първи, но очаквайте и за втори скоро. Там може да намерите кратко описание на епизода, снимки, видео, песните използвани в епизода и др

I’ve always loved Placebo ever since I heard Nancy Boy , maybe 13 years ago. Running up that Hill is being used for an advert for something on TV at the moment – could be Sky, I saw it in the outside world..

There’s something so haunting but so beautiful about this cover of the Kate Bush song..

Check out www.placeboworld.co.uk

Emi Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdK9OlOzayE

Here’s an official fan video:

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KEEXyRL0qE

…nessy out!

With Kate Bush

Idag har jag bland annat gjort en blandskiva till en vän som jag inte träffat på länge. Det är en av de bästa människorna jag vet. Oerhört vis med fötterna på jorden samtidigt som huvudet är uppe i det blå emellanåt. En mycket inspirerande vän.

Dessvärre förstod inte min dator att bränna de billiga skitskivorna jag hittade i en låda så brevet får vänta till imorgon vardag. På skivan finns bland annat en av mitt livs finaste bitar – i en helt ny tappning.

Kate Bush – Running up that hill (Datasette remix)

This post is really two posts. The first section preoccupies itself with why album covers matter culturally, so as to set up a discussion of a particularly interesting album cover, in this case Kate Bush’s 1982 release, The Dreaming, which I focus on in the second section. I intend to discuss more album covers throughout the duration of this blog’s livelihood. If you would like to throw out suggestions or contribute a piece, feel free. Contact me at feministmusicgeek@gmail.com.

One thing that I fear is leaving our popular consciousness in the digital age is the album cover. I don’t consider myself a technophobe and hardly think music videos (once on TV, now on the Web) contributed to the downfall of album packaging (I actually think that’s the fault of record labels who keep raising their retail prices). Yet I do worry what we’ll lose if we stop caring about album covers. Growing up, Madonna had some of the most interesting album covers ever. So imagine how bummed I was when I saw her slapped-together, clumsily Photoshopped cover for Hard Candy. Sigh.

Cover for Hard Candy; released in 2008 on Warners Bros.

Now I know that avering my love for album covers may cast me as a bit of a commodity fetishist (which I kinda am, despite how problematic it is). And I get why album covers don’t take priority. For one, market imperative — covers cost money and the more elaborate they are, the more expensive they can become (just ask the folks at Factory Records; for every sold copy of New Order’s “Blue Monday” — lavishly designed by Peter Saville to look like a floppy disc — the label lost money, though was more concerned in releasing a well-made, lovingly-crafted piece of popular art than in turning a profit). Also, the reliance of plastic for packaging can be less than environmentally friendly (though kudos to many musical acts, artists, and record labels for realizing this and phasing it out with more paper printing).

Cover for An Invitation by Inara George; released in 2008 on Everloving with paper cover

But album covers reveal so much — who the artist is, what the music is going to sound like, what the theme or concept behind the album might be, who made the cover art, the evolution of print technology, the history of album packaging, indeed how valuable packaging may have been to the people and companies responsible for release. And obviously, in terms of representational politics, album covers can tell stories, share folklore, provide commentary, project alternate realities, or rebel. Bottom line: they’re texts and we shouldn’t overlook them or what they may reveal about the artists, the markets, and the fan bases. If interested, I highly recommend Steve Jones and Martin Sorger’s essay “Covering Music: A Brief History and Analysis of Album Cover Design.”

Treatise endeth. New treatise begineth.

One such album cover I’d like to look at is Kate Bush’s The Dreaming. Now, I’m a bit new to her, but not exactly. I have kind of a greatest hits awareness of her. As a girl, I made up dance routines in my room to “Rubberband Girl” and “Running Up That Hill” when they (rarely) got played on the radio. I know she was discovered by Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour at an early age and recorded her first album, The Kick Inside, as a teenager. I know that she produces her own material. I know that she’s a trained interpretive dancer and worked with Lindsay Kemp, David Bowie’s choreographer. I know that she directed and starred in a short film called The Line, the Cross, & the Curve co-starring Miranda Richardson based on songs from her 1993 album The Red Shoes. I know she’s done some bugged-out music videos. For example:

And then I know what other people think of her. I know a lot of negative things. Characters in books like Bret Easton Ellis’s The Rules of Attraction and Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity hate on her music. Likewise, people like to throw around rumors that, due to her perfectionism in the studio and her penchance for writing songs about female suffering and neuroses, mythological women, and the paranormal, she is crazy. It’s all crazy sexist. On that tip, I was friends with a girl who said of Bush, “Ugh, Lilith Fair.”

And then the positives. I know that a lot of people mention her when they talk about Tori Amos (and now, St. Vincent and Bat for Lashes). I’ve read some academic work (specifically Debi Withers’s piece on queer subjectivity in her second album, 1978’s Lionheart, and Holly Kruse’s “In Praise of Kate Bush,” which considers Bush’s authorial status, from the anthology On Record: Rock, Pop, and the Written Word). I know that Ann Powers, a rock journalist I idolized growing up, is writing a 33 1/3 book on The Dreaming (expect a future post upon its release next year — I’m way stoked).

And then I know male artists who have sited her as an influence. There’s L.A. outsider art rocker Ariel Pink, who borrows her treble-heavy, lo-fi, avant pop production sensibilities and clearly positions himself as a fan.

But lest we think that Bush’s weird music is only stuff white people like, OutKast’s Big Boi grew up on her music and R&B singer Maxwell covered “This Woman’s Work.”

Hmmm. Guess I knew more than I thought. Yet, I’d never actually listened to an entire Kate Bush album. So, I thought I’d start with The Dreaming, which is really great. It’s kinda crazy how influential and varied and timeless this music is — I haven’t had a listening experience with so many “aha” and “so this is where ______ came from” moments since I first heard The Velvet Underground’s debut album the summer before college. But that was all happy accident. I picked it because a) it’s widely regarded by music critics as a masterpiece, b) indeed, Powers is writing about it, c) it marks a transition for Bush as producer as well as singer and instrumentalist, and d) the cover.

Cover for The Dreaming; released on EMI in 1982

This cover (made by Kindlight) knocks me out. I’ve stared at so much in the past few weeks — after several years of looking at it in various record stores — and only recently figured out that it’s supposed to be Houdini and his wife (indeed, there is a song called “Houdini” on the album, told from his wife’s perspective). The shackles around him are to be broken using the key, which Bush (as Bess Houdini) has in her mouth. But I always thought she had a wedding ring in her mouth and was internally debating whether or not to put it on (and perhaps be shackled) or swallow it and flee.

I suppose it could work either way. It’s also possible that Bush and Bess Houdini have suddenly become self-conscious about the inherent performativeness of their careers (musicians, like magicians, trade in trickery). There’s also the possibility that the key takes on some sort of sexual, Freudian design as a symbol and that the juxtaposition of the key, the shackles, her tongue, and her lusty proximity to Houdini may be at odds with her Victorian dress, coinciding at once with Houdini’s era, Bush’s origins as a Brit, and Bush’s lyrical preoccupations. All readings are valid, as they peak curiosity and dialogue with the music. Indeed, they are part of the music. Part of this woman’s work.

MPHO is feisty AND talented. She’s my kinda girl.

[Original]

Aber warum hat der Schlagzeuger einen Rucksack auf?

Daybreakers

Başrollerini Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe ve Sam Neill‘ın paylaştığı aksiyon/gerilim türündeki Daybreakers, seyirciye vampir soslu distopik bir gelecek sunuyor. 2019 yılında yaşanan bir veba salgını dünyadaki insanların çok büyük bir bölümünü vampire dönüştürmüştür. Artık kimse yaşlanmamaktadır. Fakat ortada büyük bir sorun vardır; sayıları iyice azalan insanlar artık vampir ırkına yeterli miktarda kan sağlayamamaktadır. Bu sırada insanlardan oluşan bir direniş gücü de vampirleri tekrar insana dönüştürmek için bir tedavi aramaktadır. Direnişçiler bunun için üst düzey bir vampir olan hematolog Edward Dalton’ı (Ethan Hawke) kaçırırlar. Bu arada belirtelim; fragmanda kullanılan müzik İngiliz sanatçı Kate Bush’un 1985 tarihli Hounds of Love albümünde bulunan Running Up That Hill adlı parçasının Placebo yorumu.

Filmin altyazılı fragmanını aşağıdan izleyebilirsiniz.

Robert Pattinson New Moon Running Up That Hill. A music video with pictures of the Twilight New Moon cast.

It’s a lovely, romantic song, makes you sleepy when you listen to it.

Is another story. Is a cover ever a viable piece of brilliance in itself? If it is, I’d vote for Placebo for Running Up That Hill. It’s not that I don’t love Kate Bush’s version, there’s just something about the vocals on Placebo’s that makes it that extra bit gritty. Case in point:

I wish somebody would make me a comic book of my life. It wouldn’t be that exciting, I guess, but it’d be cool.

Two of my favourite cover versions ever!

He`s not going to give up.

Hello,
thanks for the mail,
we were praying for chardonnay today and we know she is going to be ok.
please this is a hint it might help, when you get to the western union site, select send money online from Germany, Don’t choose spain.
when you choose send money online from germany, fill all information but let the billing address be the address you had when acquiring the card, when you do that it’s going to be ok.
just try that way,
thanks
lerine

I`m starting to wonder if actually he does know what`s going on, and he`s just playing along with it.

Hello Lerine,

It still doesn`t work. My credit card is from Germany but I already changed the address to Spain. I tried with my old German address but that didn`t work either. Maybe I need to call the card company about this. It will be quicker than waiting for my wife to get back from Portugal.

Chardonnay`s condition is getting worse. I feel so sorry for her. If I only could, I`d make a deal with God, and get him to swap our places.

But we should look on the bright side. If she dies I can buy a million puppies with the insurance money.

Ray.

Baby Bush:

Please note accessories:

It’s nice when you can see the kid in the adult, and vice versa, but this is almost ludicrous, yes?  I mean, having seen the above, the following is not a surprising outcome:

Anyhow, best song IN THE WORLD?

Or is it this one?

clair_voyant via The Little Banana.