Nick Lowe vs. Stavros Mihalakakos - Cruel To Be Kind (Vres To Nasi)

Yesterday I came home from the wonderful Greek island of Kos, where I spent some nice days working. When visiting Kos Town one evening I heard a very familiar song, Nick Lowe's 1979 classic "Cruel To Be Kind". However, the almost identical recording was sung in Greek. Pretty much tone for tone, the arrangement was similar to the original, and now I have identified it for anyone's pleasure. It is called "Vres To Nisi" which means "Find The Island", and is performed by a Greek-Cypriot pop singer called Stavros Mihalakakos, who won the second season of the Greek X Factor, and it sounds great, if a little peculiar. Here are both versions, hope you like them both really. My money is of course on Lowe's original, but that's because it's one of my all-time favourite songs.

Nick Lowe - "Cruel To Be Kind"

Stavros Mihalakakos - "Vres To Nisi"

 

Bruce Springsteen - I'm On Fire

What a great album Bruce Springsteen's biggest success, Born In The U.S.A. (1984) is! There is not a bad moment among the 12 songs on it, and "I'm On Fire" is just one of its many singles, the fourth out of seven actually. I love this song!

Watch and listen

 

Tracey Thorn - Hormones

Not too many songwriters would choose hormones for a subject matter, but that is just what Tracey Thorn did for the song "Hormones" that appeared on her third solo album Love And Its Opposite (2010). And a great pop song it is too.

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Rosanne Cash delivering great show in Norwegian church

Rosanne Cash w/John Leventhal
Kulturkirken Jakob, Oslo, Norway
May 3, 2013

Rosanne Cash (57), celebrated singer/songwriter and daughter of Johnny Cash and Vivian Liberto Cash Distin, played a wonderful set in Oslo last night, in the atmospheric confines of an old stone church, Kulturkirken Jakob. Performing as a duo with husband, producer, co-writer and guitarist John Leventhal she delivered a set consisting of both her own compositions (including a couple of new ones, "Eddie's Song" and "Modern Blue") and several covers, many of which was lifted from her recent covers album The List (2009).

This was not an evening for the big surprises nor your average Friday night party people. The audience was a well-behaved crowd around 50 years of age, and Rosanne Cash even jokingly complained that they were too quiet and polite, expressing the belief everyone were all "serious Norwegian music fans". That might be so, but at times she and Leventhal - of the very good guitar work-  managed to excite and rouse people to a certain extent. There were no dancing on chairs, but some well meant rounds of applause and a little yelling were forthcoming. This in a church too, remember.

Playing for an hour and a half there were lots of songs that I would have wanted to hear, but we did get the early gem "Seven Year Ache" (written when she was 23) and songs like "Radio Operator" and "Burn Down This Town" from her 2006 Black Cadillac album. But it was with her well-chosen covers that she and Leventhal shined the most. A fantastic run through "Sea Of Heartbreak" was an early highlight, the old folk ballad "Motherless Children" (see video below) was a treat, and "Heartaches By The Number" almost raised the roof. Probably best of all was a chilly version of Bobbie Gentry's "Ode To Billie Joe", and her father and Bob Dylan's classic "Girl From The North Country", dedicated tonight of course to the Norwegian ladies in the audience.

There were also as mentioned earlier two new songs performed, a ballad called "Etta's Song" and the up-tempo "Modern Blue", both to be included on her next album, due for a January 2014 release.

Disappointingly there was only one encore, but at least it was a good one, a solid version of the George Jones classic "She Thinks I Still Care" in honour of the country music icon who died last week, retitled "He Thinks I Still Care" of course. All in all, a fabulous, if a little short, evening. I'm truly glad I was there.

Watch the performance of "Motherless Children"

New digital Fleetwood Mac EP out now

A few weeks ago Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham announced the upcoming release of a new, digital EP. This week it finally arrived, exclusively on iTunes, under the unattractive title Extended Play. It contains four songs, fronted by "Sad Angel". The other three are called "Without You" (which must not be confused with the old Fleetwood Mac song of the same name, but is in fact a song that harks back to the old Buckingham Nicks days before the two joined the band), "It Takes Time" and "Miss Fantasy". It has to be said that none of these songs are very exciting, although they're clearly not bad. But if this is the best they could come up with after waiting ten years from their latest album, Say You Will (2003), maybe they shouldn't bother with an entire new album. I'm of course hoping they have some better stuff up their sleeves, but I'll try not to expect too much. Anyway, if you are a fan, you should of course buy the EP. It's not exactly expensive.

Read a Mick Fleetwood interview and stream the EP here on NPR.

Fleetwood Mac in 2013: John McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks.

Robbie Robertson - What About Now

Robbie Robertson's second solo album, 1991's Storyville, is generally regarded as inferior to his self-titled solo debut from 1987 with its stellar guest list and groundbreaking Daniel Lanois co-production. But whereas that album was indeed very good, Storyville is more consistent, a record with a stronger sense both of place and purpose. Inspired by what could very well be called the most musical of cities, New Orleans, and specifically the old Storyville red light district, it's a magical-sounding record full of atmosphere and great songs. "What About Now" is a co-write with Ivan Neville, and is accompanied by a wonderful video shot on location in New Orleans.

Watch and listen

Massive Attack feat. Tracey Thorn - Protection

"Protection" is the title track off Massive Attack's second album, released in 1994, a collaboration with Everything But The Girl singer Tracey Thorn who co-wrote it with the British trip hop trio. The song also contains a sample off the James Brown classic "The Payback", and the whole thing is eerie-sounding urban music for late lonely nights. A masterpiece, nothing less, and the Michel Gondry-directed music video is pretty good as well.

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Tom Robinson Band - Up Against The Wall

Tom Robinson Band - TRB for short - was a seventies pub rock band with punk attitude and an inclination for riotous lyrics. Their most famous songs are of course "2-4-6-8 Motorway" and "Glad To Be Gay", but spread over two excellent albums and one EP were loads of great songs, many of them true punk/new wave classics in my book. "Up Against The Wall" was the opening track on the band's 1978 debut album Power In The Darkness, and its vivid imagery of rioting and urban decay is still spooky.

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Janelle Monáe feat. Erykah Badu - Q.U.E.E.N. (now with video)

Finally the video for the new Janelle Monáe single is ready. A great-looking video it is too, with Miss Monáe looking as cool as always, if not cooler. The song is a funky, strutting thing, sounding like a cross between En Vogue and James Brown, and the muted trumpet and quiet groove towards the end is pure genius. If there are more songs as good as this on the upcoming album The Electric Lady, I guess we're in for a treat.

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Sade - Paradise

I'm always returning to Sade somehow. She's (or "they" rather as Sade is the name of the band and the singer is Sade Adu) one of my favourite artists, and spread among six albums are songs of such beauty, distinction and eloquence that it's hard to fathom. "Paradise" was the second single off her third album, 1988's Stronger Than Pride, and is in every way perfect, with its hypnotic groove, smooth guitar licks and Sade's wonderful voice.

Watch and listen