NFT's Got You Covered! With Titus Andronicus!

Here it is.

Boy oh boy am I pumped for this one. This baby is fresh! What I've got for this week's covered material is a "mixtape" that is actually straight out of this week! It's Titus Andronicus's LLC Mixtape Vol. 1! Titus Andronicus dropped this archive tape of goodies from the very beginning of their career together as a group up until now just a few days back (monday 3/19 to be exact) and it fits the NFT's Got You Covered! criteria perfectly. Not only a there demos, rarities, and split material; there are also a great deal of covers (hence the criteria part and that it is the cover album of the week)! The covers are mostly from live performances but are definitely the highlights of this 20 plus freebie! Not that there is anything wrong with live performances. Not when it is Titus Andronicus, of course.

Titus Andronicus - Titus Andronicus LLC Mixtape Vol. 1 (2012)

The best finds are the finds you aren't even looking for. This sweet find is proof of that very statement as I wasn't even looking for cover material... I was just minding my own business on the dark and scary parts of the internet (internet forums, dun dun dun!) and happened to not only find a righteous release but fucking Titus Andronicus covering Thin Lizzy! Nearly forgetting it was full of awesomeness like that and by that, I mean amazing covers, I almost dropped this off at the monday post just to gloat over my new indulgence. I even spent all yesterday trying to write it all down but had to keep changing my pants in the process. You know, from all the excitement. 

Well to begin, I guess I could go over my reactions to the things I found (in chronological order). After opening up the link and seeing the Thin Lizzy "The Boys Are Back In Town" cover, which is also very new/recorded only about two or so weeks the Stone Pony in New Jersey, I instantly downloaded the damn thing. I know have a new impulse where, if I see a Thin Lizzy cover, I will either DL it immediately not matter what or immediately post it on this blog (see: The Tallest Man on Earth part 2)! For any of you in a band who may be reading this, if you make/have a Thin Lizzy cover(s), take note: I WILL INSTANTLY DL IT! Moving on... After seeing and doing that, I quickly scrolled down to find another cover. this time it was "Anxiety Block" by Television Personalities. I don't know a lot about Television Personalities but I figured there would be more cool stuff ahead. There was, but this time in the form of The Monitor outtake, "First Inaugural Address, take two", a Abe Lincoln Speech speeched by Okey Canfield Chenworth III, that "somebody" who played Abe Lincoln in Titus Andronicus's Civil War themed second album. Along with the outtake was a demo version of A Perfect Union without Abe, another version of Titus Andronicus Forever, a demo from The Monitor, a violin demo and even a remix of a demo and then once again, we get to another cover. This cover (track 14) comes in the form of "El Scorcho" by Weezer, a song I ironically started to listen to and study a lot lately!  Just one track later, after another funny live "interlude", we get treated with a second Weezer cover! I think we even get to hear in the interlude before the second cover of Weezer that Patrick Stickles calls Weezer the greatest band of all time or maybe I just made that up, who knows? "Undone [The Sweater Song]" is the second Weezer cover and sets up a string of covers right after, including "I Fought The Law" by Booby Fueller (live rehearsal), "Riot Squad" by Cock Sparrer (live), the Hot Pockets TV theme (I guess you could call it a cover... ), and a 11-lineup/10 minute rendition of Velvet Underground's "Herion" (with a very surprising and horrifying ending) before getting to another interlude and then "Waking Up Drunk" by Spider Bags (featuring the lead-singer of Spider Bags himself, Dan McGee on vox to his own song) and last but not least, "Treatment Bound" by The Replacements (home recording); thus ending the tape and leaving me absolutely not speechless. Get it, because I won't shut up about it? 

I'm sorry

Here's an easier to read list of what is being covered, you know, since I made a mess of myself up above:

Track 2. "The Boys Are Back (Thin Lizzy)" (live at the Stone Pony in New Jersey)

Track 7. "Anxiety Block (Television Personalities)" 

Track 14. "El Scorcho (Weezer)" 

Track 16. "Undone [The Sweater Song] (Weezer)" (live at the Vice Halloween Party 2009)

Track 17. "I Fought The Law (Bobby Fueller)" (live rehearsal for OWS Benefit at Shea Stadium 2011)

Track 18. "Riot Squad (Cock Sparrer)" (live)

Track 19. "Hot Pockets Theme (TV)"

Track 20. "Herion (The Velvet Underground)" (11-piece live 2005)

Track 22. "Waking Up Drunk (Spider Bags)" (live w/ Dan McGee of Spider Bags)

Track 23. "Treatment Bound (Replacements)" (home recording)

With all those goodies I've listed above, you can tell this is a definite must have for any Titus Andronicus fan. I'm not even that big of a TA fan and I love it! Maybe it's all the fun and personal interludes that cut the tape up and make you feel as if you are at your favorite band's show and they end playing their favorite songs rather than their own. I can imagine that is what a Radiohead show must be like... Except not fun.

The only thing that I don't like about this Titus Andronicus LLC Mixtape Vol.1, is that it features zero Bruce Springsteen covers! I thought there would be at least one Thunder Road cover but nay. Oh well. There's always Vol. 2, right? 

There is always next week... stayed tuned. ;)

Official site

Last.fm

[Editor's note: official link is dead! :( ] [FIXED!]

R.I.P. Martin Smith

Earlier this week I learned that the world was missing a really great character. Martin Smith was not just a close friend but also a major influence in my life. His ability and goal to be completely different than everybody else will always stick in my mind as one of the greatest features he (and anyone) could ever have. There will never be another guy like Martin and it is a shame everyone did not know him. He was something of mythes.

In honor of my lost friend, I would like to post some music that he either showed me, liked, or that we both had in common. I'll also post some extra stuffz and some stuff that reminds me of Martin as time goes by. 

Ratatat - 9 Beats

I remember one summer riding around with Martin in his beat up silver Volvo be got from is grandmother. He was one of my first friends I ever knew who could drive and that alone blew me away. At this point he loved to drive around to Ratatat's 9 beats; an unofficial release that included 9 instrumental tracks that were used on their remix albums of famous hip hop and rap stars' songs. The tracks are really bumping and totally get you going! Martin's Volvo's speakers never really worked so for a little bit he would use a dinky portable speaker to project his favorite beats. But none of that bothered me. 

Last.fm

 Pogo - Wonderland (2007)

It made sense that Martin got me in to tons of fun electronic, dancey and beaty music. Martin loved to dance (not like dance but like dance dance) and have a good time with his friends. My friends and I sometimes throw flash "dance parties"in each other's dirty little basements. It's just what we do. A lot of these dance parties have either been put on or featured a whole lotta really cool tracks found by Martin Smith himself. Martin introduced me to many electronic type bands back in the day, like Ratatat, Kraftwerk, Justice, Caribou, and even Pogo. 

Pogo is pretty famous for his special crafting of "Alice" a song using only chords, sound effects and vocal samples from the cartoon version of Alice in Wonderland. Pogo has also played around with more Alice in Wonderland in Wonderland, Disney's Up, Dexter, Harry Potter and many other films and bits of pop culture. Under all the glitch and bloops & woops, it actually sounds really chill and almost trip-hop like. I still remember the first time martin played this to me... Afterwards, I think I may have listened to it a hundred times that week.

Last.fm

Jamie T - Kings & Queens (2009)

Martin ripped this album for me a little after its release and I really enjoyed it.  I drifted away from this album and Jamie T for a bit but came back to listening to him after hearing his first album, Panic Prevention again. Jamie T definitely appeals to many people and could absolutely have a larger success here in the states some day. Nowadays I just like listening to the sadder songs on this one. 

Martin was always a giving person. Cliché, I know but he was! He would gave me a lot of weird things sometimes from a container of teeth to a little pink Jesus ring to a bunch of condoms after pretending to be a college and winning a big box of 500 prophylactics. But most of all, he would try to give himself to everyone of his friends including me! He would always try to entertain me every time we were together. Even when I was having a wonderful time just hanging around in his company, he still felt I was not having enough fun and would try his hardest to change that and thus, make my day. 

Last.fm

Titus Andronicus - The Monitor (2010)

One of Martin's favorites.

Last.fm

Pussy - Sings the Hits (2011)

Matin and Friends (Dx2, Will Horseman and Thee Jesse Gertz) singing the hits with meows. It's music for the kitties in all of us. The hits include: Ring of Meow, Pokemeow Theme, Pur the Magic Dragon, Just a Feline and The National Anthem among many others!

Martin will always be remembered for his cat art, pink CATS hat and all the other cat type creations and placements.

Some of Martin's finest works:

Empty Suit by Martin Smith

Martin Smith's House of Spaghetti House

RIP