Tag Archives: alternative

Karaoke Tuesday: “The Hand That Feeds”

With Teeth
With Teeth

“The Hand That Feeds”
by Nine Inch Nails
from the album With Teeth
2005
Buy the album on Amazon

I have weird tastes in albums, particularly from established artists.  Masterpieces that everyone else fawns over, I end up feeling meh about.  My go-to example is Pinkerton.  Sometimes it has to do with which album was my first with that artist.  The Blue Album ruined me for all future entries in their discography.  The same thing happened with The Downward Spiral, while it’s harder and more raw that Pretty Hate Machine (these are good things), I’ll never love it as much.  But sometimes certain albums just speak to you.  With Teeth was the album I needed exactly when I needed it.  And consequently, it’s my favorite Nine Inch Nails album.  That’s heresy for most NIN fans, but these lyrics, the raw sound of the production (after the super-indulgent Fragile) and the big-ass beats courtesy of the heaviest right foot in rock, Dave Grohl, delivered exactly what I wanted.

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Cover Friday: “Thunderstruck”

Thunderstruck
Thunderstruck

“Thunderstruck”
by Ministry, 2Cellos, Steve’n’Seagulls,  (originally by AC/DC)
from all over the goddamned place
Buy the original album on Amazon

I was thinking about picking an AC/DC tune for a #karaoketuesday post, but I’m sober enough right now to realize I could never pull off an AC/DC tune unless it was a swing number or something.  Which got me thinking about covers that are done in a different genre than the original version.  So, ladies and gentlemen, I present “Thunderstruck” as performed by three, radically different groups.  But first, let’s take a listen to the original and still bad-ass AC/DC original.

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Karaoke Tuesday: “Teen Angst”

Cracker
Cracker

“Teen Angst (What The World Needs Now)”
by Cracker
from the album Cracker
1992
Buy the album on Amazon

Lately I’ve been posting a lot about songs that I desperately want to perform at karaoke but couldn’t because the man didn’t deem them worthy of inclusion.  However, this entry falls more in line with the thought, “Wow, this would be a great song to sing at karaoke.”

I remember generally dismissing Cracker for years based on the video for this song, which has the guys in a field prancing around like dandy rednecks, with dirt bikes and half-collapsed barns littering the background.   When you’re trying to escape your shitty hometown you don’t want to be reminded of the situation everytime you turn on MTV.

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Karaoke Tuesday: “Everything Zen”

Sixteen Stone
Sixteen Stone

“Everything Zen”
by Bush
from the album Sixteen Stone
1994
Buy the album on Amazon

I posted another Bush karaoke song (“Glycerine“) almost 3 months ago to the day from today. How the hell have we been doing this blog for 3+ months? I won’t rehash my thoughts on Bush, other than to say that if I remember right this was their first single, and what got me into them.

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Cover Friday: “I Want U 2 Want Me”

How to Clean Everything
How to Clean Everything

“I Want U 2 Want Me”
by Propagandhi (originally by Cheap Trick)
from the album How to Clean Everything
1993
Buy the album on Amazon

I grew up not really knowing about Cheap Trick at all. Maybe in a peripheral way, but that’s it. Some time in the past 5 years I picked up their Greatest Hits album, but it was a combination of the That 70’s Show opening + hearing some people sing their songs at karaoke + seeing a guy from a company we used to work with (hello Hothead!) sing this song at a live karaoke night for our former coworker Jen that drove me to it.

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Karaoke Tuesday: “Father of Mine”

So Much for the Afterglow
So Much for the Afterglow

“Father of Mine”
by Everclear
from the album So Much for the Afterglow
1997
Buy the album on Amazon

Finally making a jump back to the 90’s this week. Admittedly, I’ve never actually done this song, but it’s on my list to try next time. I was just a casual fan of Everclear when they were getting big (except my still unwavering love for Summerland and Santa Monica, which should pop up here on Lance’s list one of these days), and have a couple of their albums, but this song never really caught my ear.

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Karaoke Tuesday: “Don’t You (Forget About Me)”

The Breakfast Club
The Breakfast Club

“Don’t You (Forget About Me)”
by Simple Minds
from The Breakfast Club: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
1985
Buy the album on Amazon

Whenever I submit  #116365, I always think it’s going to be a big crowd pleaser.  When I get to the “Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!” part, I expect the whole bar to enthusiastically shout along, but it never happens.  It’s usually just me on stage doing my own thing.  I’m still having fun, but I want us to be having fun too.

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Cover Friday: “Theme From NARC”

Complete 'B' Sides
Complete ‘B’ Sides

“Theme From NARC”
by the Pixies (originally by NARC)
from the album Complete ‘B’ Sides
2001
Buy the album on Amazon

Every time this track shuffles up, I’m instantly transported back to high school.  My buddy Houston and I would spend a good portion of Friday afternoons playing video games at the local convenience store or Wal-Mart (our  pseudo arcades).  Between bags of Chili Cheese Fritos and cans of Cherry Coke we’d play whatever they had in stock that month.  Wal-Mart usually offered up far such as Double Dragon, Super Off-Road and our favorite co-op, Silkworm.  Minit Mart kept Bad Dudes, GI Joe, Bubble Bobble and NARC in the corner between the beef jerky and the fountain drinks for what seemed like years.  Which was just fine with us.  Particularly when the machines of the late 80s/early 90s put out such good theme songs:

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Cover Friday: “Against All Odds”

Give Up (Deluxe 10th Anniversary Edition)
Give Up (Deluxe 10th Anniversary Edition)

“Against All Odds”
by The Postal Service (originally by Phil Collins)
from the album Give Up (Deluxe 10th Anniversary Edition)
2004
Buy the album on Amazon

Keeping it simple this week and doing a karaoke/cover pair. Karaover? Coveroke? I’m a fan of the Postal Service and of course of this song. This is a much “colder” (in feeling) version and less heartfelt than the original. Wikipedia tells me that this cover was named by the NY Post as one of the best covers of all time. I wouldn’t go that far, but it is enjoyable.

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Karaoke Tuesday: “Cigarette Dangles”

Downward Road
The Downward Road

“Cigarette Dangles”
by The Pursuit of Happiness
from the album The Downward Road
1993
Buy the album on Amazon

I’m picking a song that I’ve never performed for my Karaoke Tuesday post… which is straight-up cheating.  It doesn’t even fall into the category of I always look for this song, but they never have it. But upon stumbling across the music video recently, I think this song might actually be the prototype karaoke song for me back in college, before I had the balls to sing in public, or more accurately, the ability to pound Jack and Cokes until I didn’t care that I was singing in public.

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