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Two things.

One, Scarlett Johansson’s upcoming Anywhere I Lay My Head album is available for streaming on Imeem (though, apparently, you have to be a member and live in the US). Two, the trailer for Woody Allen’s new movie Vicky Cristina Barcelona with Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz and Scarlett Johansson has been posted on the Internet.

So, you can listen to Scarlett do Tom Waits or you can watch Scarlett do Penélope Cruz.

Choices, choices, choices…

Anywhere I Lay My Head on Imeem Vs. Vicky Cristina Barcelona on Youtube

Official site: www.thecrash.com

Attention USA, UK, Canada and Ireland. The Crash are releasing their album Pony Ride on May 20th through Rykodisc. Here’s the title track from the album and if you don’t like it you must also hate puppies and sunshine.

And how could you not like a band that makes videos such as these two below. First one, the song Still Alive from the Melodrama (2004) album with its 80’s Van Halen synths. Can you say Hill Street Blues?

Second song, Sugared from the album Comfort Deluxe (2000). Sugary and sweet and completely pop. The video? Preppy and completely gay (no, I mean literally - not that there’s anything wrong with that):

With My Bloody Valentines’ Loveless re-release almost at hand here’s a small song-by-song list with links to music of select artists who have recorded their own versions of the Loveless tracks.

[Previously: Remastering MBV's Loveless]

The list after the jump.

(more…)

The last time I heard of Kevin Shields was when he contributed tracks to Sophia Coppola’s Lost in Translation. Skip ahead to summer of 2008 and Shields and My Bloody Valentine are back for real. First there was the announcement of a reunion tour. Now Pitchfork is reporting that Loveless and Isn’t Anything are being released in remastered versions in June.

Having bought both albums years ago I now have to ask myself do I really need the remastered versions as well. Especially since Wired’s Listening Post speculates there might actually be three different versions of Loveless in the works:

One possibility, as amazing as it might seem, is that Sony/BMG will re-release three versions of each album: the original mix, a new Shields mix and a new Sony mix. Movie studios do this all the time (director’s cut, unrated version) but the approach tends not to be used much with music.

I’m not too big on buying the same movies over and over again and the same goes for music. On the other hand, Loveless is a modern classic and deserves to be remastered. Just do it properly and don’t just make it louder (”These go to 11“) and I might actually succumb.

Also, while we’re on the subject of rereleases, I’m still waiting for the mono version of Sgt. Pepper.

Stereolab’s first video from the upcoming LP is out on Pitchfork.tv. Frankly, I prefer the song to the video.

All right. Compare these 30 second samples from Scarlett Johansson’s upcoming Anywhere I Lay My Head album. First track is Scarlett singing the rest are Tom Waits:

Now, it’s hard to belittle Tom Waits but he was not, as Leonard Cohen once sang, born with the gift of the golden voice. I have every respect in the world for Tom Waits but I applaud any efforts to have as many of his songs performed by others as possible. Not that Scarlett Johansson is a world class singer, mind you. She kind of sounds like my sister. But still, a step in the right direction is a step in the right direction.

And one must hand it to Scarlett. If she has aspirations of becoming one of those singing actresses then choosing to record an album of Tom Waits’ songs is both gutsy and classy.

Next step: the Bob Dylan catalogue. She already did the video.

While Flight of the Conchords are great Kristen Schaal is equally great. Ever since viewing this clip on Dead-Frog.com I haven’t been able to get this ditty out of my head. Annoying.

After winning a Grammy for The Distant Future EP Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, aka Flight of the Conchords, have finally a full-length LP out on the Sub Pop label. Sales wise they’re not doing too shabby. So far they’ve outsold at least Ashlee Simpson so maybe there is some justice in the world after all. But let’s talk about the album.

Everyone who watched Flight of the Conchords on TV knows what this record is all about. It is, as it says on the album sleeve, “soundtrack of the HBO series Flight of the Conchords.” If you liked the show then you probably liked the songs that came with it. And let’s face it, what’s not to like. Fourteen songs from the series (and one new one) poke fun and pay loving tribute to The Greats of popular music from David Bowie through Marvin Gaye to Barry White and others. In fact, listening to The Conchords is a little like watching one of those BBC documentaries about the history of rock; except you’re doing it with a big smile on your face.

The opening track, Foux du Fafa, represents the whole album perfectly. It is a pastiche of nonsensical French words, names and phrases thrown together to resemble a lyric. That alone is funny but the real punch line comes later when the whole construction comes crumbling down in the most ridiculous fashion by the simple question: “Parlez-Vous Français?” The answer to that question pretty much sums up the whole album. We might as well ask The Conchords do you speak Marvin Gaye, David Bowie, Radiohead? In their heads the characters would like to say “Yes” but we laugh because we know better.

It is a fine line that The Conchords are treading. What makes the album so enjoyable is that the songs are actually very good - though not original. What the songs all have in common is that, up to a certain point, we could imagine many of them being performed by the artists they borrow from. But then, they all somehow go horribly off the rails. Ladies of the World starts out as a celebration of women and turns into an ode to “sexy ladyman ladies.” The Marvin Gaye number Think About It turns into a lament about the high cost of sneakers even though they are made by little slave kids. That’s not what Marvin Gaye we know would have sung. Again, that disconnect helps to explain partly why The Conchords are so funny - especially if you happen to be a music nerd.

Verdict: Excellent

Free Download: Ladies of the World and Business Time from Sub Pop [mp3s]