People Like Us

I was watching People Like Us on DVD today.

It's still hilarious

One of my favourite lines is from 'The Managing Director' episode:

Woman: "It's a pretty young staff here. I must be one of the longest serving now. I came here straight from school."

Roy: "Did you imagine staying here this long?"

Woman: "No I really have, really."

Gold.

My favourite all time episode was The Airline Pilot, which was on Season 2. Unfortunately, now that presenter Chris Langtham has been charged with child pornography, it seems unlikely that Season 2 will come out on DVD. But he denies all charges and hasn't been found guilty yet, so I guess you just have to assume he is innocent until proven guilty.

Anyway, besides that ugliness, it is a great show. Worthy of writing out all the scripts, if I ever get the chance.

Best Cover Versions Ever

The other day I tried to make a list on my iPod of all the cover versions I had (because that's what I do with my iPod).

It was quite a surprising process - there were lots of songs I discovered were covers that I didn't know about, like; Dazed and Confused (Led Zepplin), Cocaine (Cream) and It's My Life (No Doubt)

I tried to pick out my Top 10 covers - based on how good the song was and also how much the new artist had succeeded in making the song their own.

My Top 10 are:

10. Nothing Compares 2 U, Sinéad O'Connor (Prince)
9. You've Got to Hide Your Love Away, Eddie Vedder (The Beatles)
8. With A Little Help From My Friends, Joe Cocker (The Beatles)
7. I Will Survive, Cake (Gloria Gaynor)
6. Easy, Faith No More (Lionel Richie)
5. Hurt, Johnny Cash (NIN)
4. Respect, Aretha Franklin (Otis Redding)
3. All Along The Watchtower, Jimi Hendrix (Bob Dylan)
2. One, Johnny Cash (U2)

And the best cover of all time is:

1. Hallelujah, Jeff Buckley (Leonard Cohen)

It really is beautiful - and it's much better than the original!

I still haven't heard the John Cale (of the Velvet Underground) version but apparently his version inspired Jeff's version.

Check out another covers list here.

Icky Thump

The new White Stripes album 'Icky Thump' came out last week and as I am a big fan of Jack and Megs sound I bought it straight away.

The single 'Icky Thump' is fantastic - I love the wailing guitar - sometimes I feel like Jack could fell a tree with his guitar sound. In fact the wailing guitar is (as always) quite frequent in the entire album which I love. It seems to actually be overtly ABOUT something, which is a change of pace for this pair.

There are some quirky numbers in there, like Conquest and St. Andrew, which help break the album up and give it that unique White Stripes feel.

My favourite tracks apart from the title track, are 'You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told)' and 'A Martyr For My Love For You'.

Overall it is not as strong as Elephant, and about equal with Get Behind Me Satan - but it is still early days and I'm sure, like all good things, it will get even better over time.

***

Science Of Sleep

Tegan and I went and saw "Science of Sleep" the other day.

It is written and directed by Michel Gondry, who also directed the magnificent "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and many video clips including The White Stripes "The hardest Button to Button" (which was reproduced quite well in a Simpsons episode).

Anyway, this movie is awesome. Gondry loves his low tech special effects which he uses to perfection in this playful, funny and touching masterpiece.

Makes you want to go out and keep living your life to the max ;-)

*****