Raconteurs: "Carolina Drama"

Happy Jack White Friday!

"Carolina Drama," performed by The Raconteurs.
Original on The Raconteurs' "Consolers of the Lonely" (2008).

Nirvana: "Lithium"

Nirvana arose from the Seattle grunge scene to become one of the most influential bands in modern music. Despite being active for less than a decade in the late '80s and early '90s -- cut short by lead singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain's suicide in 1994 -- the mark they left completely changed the public's conception and the music industry's marketing of alternative rock. The New York Times called Nirvana "the voice of a generation."

Slight tangent: Lynn Hirschberg wrote an incredible narrative piece for Vanity Fair in 1992 that centers on Cobain's life with wife (and crazy person) Courtney Love. It's about a 30-minute read and completely worth it, both for the beautiful prose and the incomparable look into the couple's life together. The piece is titled, aptly enough, "Strange Love."

This song, recorded in 1990 before Nirvana's second album, "Nevermind," garnered a lot of attention both in and out of the industry. The verses are calm and even; the choruses explode. Cobain leans and forces his voice to its end with his raspy "yeah"s, which most people totally couldn't get away with as far as one-word choruses go. But no one could sing this song like Kurt Cobain.

I don't know how else to describe it. It's impossible not to rock out to this song. Enjoy.

"Lithium," performed by Nirvana.
Original on Nirvana's "Nevermind" (1991).

Killers: "This River Is Wild"

I've stopped going to big stadium shows. My music -- indie rock, funk, blues rock, ska, and so forth -- is generally better on a smaller stage. But some bands are meant to be enjoyed by tens of thousands of people at once. Enter The Killers.

The Killers formed in Las Vegas in 2001. They released Hot Fuss in 2004, which went white-hot (6x platinum) and even got a Grammy nod for best rock album. Their second and third albums, Sam's Town (2006) and Day & Night (2008), were not...just really not as good. Or at least, they didn't develop the radio buzz that the first album enjoyed. (In truth, I probably owe them each a more dedicated listen-through.) They also released a compilation album, Sawdust, in 2007, and a live album/DVD in 2009.

This song is straight off Sam's Town by way of the DVD release. Again, not my favorite album, but with that lilt, Brandon Flowers can sell pretty much anything live.

I mean really, does this look like fun or what? Enjoy.

"This River Is Wild," performed by The Killers.
Original on The Killers' "Sam's Town" (2006).

Queen: "Fat Bottomed Girls"

Hey folks. I’ve had a long day at work. Have you? Are you bitter about it? Me too. Here, let me share with you my favorite way to kill the bitterness and stress that is currently crippling your mood:

Queen.

More specifically, Fat Bottomed Girls.

Enjoy/You’re welcome.

"Fat Bottomed Girls," performed by Queen.
Original on Queen's "Jazz" (1978).

This post was written by Brittan Wood.

Carrie Underwood: "Last Name"

It's a busy day, so a quick Monday post and some girl power to get you motivated this week. This is from the same CMA performance as the Carrie video I posted last month. Sang it, girl. (And also check out Kristen Chenoweth's scrumptious Glee cover of this song.)I hope you all had a very happy Easter -- whether or not you celebrate it -- and that you remember more of your weekend than Ms. Underwood in this instance. (That communion wine can be overpowering, I know.) Enjoy.

"Last Name," performed by Carrie Underwood.
Original on Underwood's "Carnival Ride" (2008).

Reel Big Fish: "S.R."

Reel Big Fish is a cornerstone in the ska music scene, helping to bring about an American ska revival in the 1990s. But as they prove with this song, they can also do so much more.

Reel Big Fish has been continually active since its founding in 1992, releasing seven studio albums and touring pretty much constantly. Lead singer/guitarist/songwriter Aaron Barrett is the only remaining original member of the band (though trombonist Dan Regan has been around since 1994). Lead backing vocalist/trumpet/other stuff player Scott Klopfenstein joined in 1995 and is the other face of the band, often leading the small talk/riffing with Aaron in between songs at live shows. Sadly he resigned in January to focus on raising a family (he and the wife just had their first kid).

Reel Big Fish is a great live band: They're totally pro, polished -- but still just boys having fun and playing music. The aimless, wandering conversation in between songs was a hallmark of Barrett and Klopfenstein's stage presence; I'll be curious to see how they do without Klopfenstein, both during and in between songs. (He's a killer with harmony.)

This song, which is short for "Suburban Rhythm," is not their best song, they admit -- so they attempt to improve it by recasting it in different genres. Here they go through a handful, but on the live album version they attempt no fewer than eight variations, from death metal to disco. (That's a great live album to own, by the way.)

It's a clever recognition that music can be packaged any which way and probably be wildly successful or...not so much...depending on that packaging. (It's that idea that provides Andy Rehfeldt with a very amusing hobby, re-dubbing recognizable songs in new genres.)

Hopefully this is not your introduction to Reel Big Fish (I'm sure you heard "Sell Out" at some point in the 90s), but if it is then I'm honored to introduce you to such an institutional group of live musicians. Enjoy.

"S.R.," performed by Reel Big Fish.
Original on Reel Big Fish's "Everything Sucks" (1995).

Wow, the paragraph-ending parentheticals got a little out of hand in this post. Sorry about that. (But it's just so easy!) (And it mollifies my multiple personality disorder.)

Karmin: "Look at Me Now"

This video, a cover of a current Chris Brown song, was uploaded just over a week ago and already snagged more than three million views for its young performers. They were even on the Ellen DeGeneres Show earlier this week. Maybe it's because this is, like, way better than the original.

Karmin is composed of musicians Amy Heidemann and Nick Noonan, who met at Berklee College of Music in Boston. (And are now engaged! Adorable.) They released an original EP last year and have a series of covers on their YouTube page. Amy's got a poppy R&B thing going on, and Nick is apparently a trained trombonist (and keyboardist/back-up vocalist). Their stripped-down covers feature Amy's lovely voice in a bunch of contexts -- but none more impressive than this. She sounds like she could go toe-to-toe with Nicki Minaj the way she handles the rhymes of not only Chris Brown but also Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes, who both rapped on the original track.

As a sidenote, this is a true modern indie duo: They're promulgating their music in every way possible, from the increasingly archaic MySpace to YouTube to Facebook to Twitter to Last.fm to Amazon to iTunes to iLike to Reverb Nation. And after all that work it's a Chris Brown cover that's getting them attention. Figures.

If you're skeptical, just watch the first minute and a half. If your jaw doesn't drop along with the beat at 1:15, you may not have a soul. Enjoy.

"Look at Me Now," performed by Karmin.
Original on Chris Brown's "F.A.M.E." (2011).