Lissie - "Covered Up With Flowers" CD Review (Fat Possum)

After generating a buzz with the her full-length debut, Catching a Tiger (2010), and a sold-out CMJ show at Hiro Ballroom, Lissie's back with a five-track / 25 minute EP of covers, "Covered Up With Flowers". The disc includes covers of Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance", Kid Cudi's "Pursuit Of Happiness" and Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters" (which are well familiar to fans through Lissie's YouTube videos) in addition to previously unheard covers of Joe South's "Games People Play" and a haunting version of Nick Cave's "The Ship Song".



Coincidently, prior to playing this disc, I had pulled Nick Cave's Kicking Against the Pricks off the shelf and given it a spin. There are a lot of similarities between Kicking Against the Pricks and "Covered Up With Flowers" as Lissie, like Cave, picks an eclectic mix of cover songs and "owns" her version and reinterpretation of these songs. The key to a good cover song is to pick something unexpected and then either present a unique take on the song or completely deconstruct the song (like Devo's "Satisfaction" or Meat Puppets' "I've Got a Right"). By this mark, Lissie succeeds on both fronts and gives recognizable but unique takes on each of these five songs.

The disc starts with a live version of Kid Cudi's "Pursuit of Happiness", which appears to be from the video embedded above. After this, Lissie shaves off the pop gloss from Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" and delivers a dark and somber but spirited reinterpretation of the song. From there, Lissie goes into a sun-baked cover of Joe South's "Games People Play" before returning back to the somber side of life with faithful-to-the-original covers of Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters" and Nick Cave's "The Ship Song".



While most covers albums are stop-gap measures, "Covered Up With Flowers" is a solid addition to Lissie's catalog as it collects (almost all of) the previously unreleased songs that have helped defined Lissie's career to-date.

Links:
Lissie

Mohombi Readies Debut Album "Movemeant" for RedOne's 2101 Records

Some days, I feel like I know very little pop music. While I know who Lady Gaga is, my thirteen year old had to explain to me who RedOne is (co-writer of "Poker Face", among other things) and that he has formed his own record label, 2101 Records (which is distributed through Universal). RedOne's first signing was Mohombi (another name that meant nothing to me) so I looked at some of his YouTube videos and the views for these videos are ranging between 2M - 26M (for "Bumpy Road").

Mohombi has a fascinating backstory and an album coming out soon -- the details are below.

Raised the youngest of 15 siblings by his Swedish mother and Congolese-King father in Africa, Mohombi escaped war-torn Congo with his family to Stockholm where he and his older brother, Djo, formed the duo Avalon, became a huge dance club sensation and eventually sold over half a million albums in Europe and Africa. They also won the prestigious African Grammy in 2002.

Today, Mohombi is making his way into the US market as a solo artist with his upcoming debut album Movemeant, produced by Grammy-winning super-producer RedOne (Akon, Usher, Lady Gaga). The album is expected to be out in Spring or early Summer 2011 and features Nelly, Akon, T.I. and Nicole Scherzinger (from Pussycat Dolls). Mohombi’s first single from the album, “Bumpy Ride” has charted in 11 countries overseas - including impressive Top Five positions in The Netherlands, France, Slovakia and Poland.



Mohombi's most recent video, for the track "Dirty Situation", features Akon (who has worked with artists ranging from Michael Jackson to Lady Gaga).



Links:
Mohombi

Lissie Releases First Single "Bully" From Forthcoming Full-Length as Free Download // Covers Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance"

DOWNLOAD: Lissie - "Bully" (from Catching a Tiger)

Lissie Maurus is a singer/songwriter in the old-school tradition of Rosanne Cash and Nanci Griffth and she got national attention last year with the release of her 5-track EP Why You Runnin'. Lissie now has a full-length, Catching A Tiger, due out in the US on August 17 on Fat Possum Records.

Lissie recorded sessions in Nashville with Jacquire King (who was fresh from working with the Kings of Leon) and also recorded some more with Bill Reynolds (Band of Horses). What came out of these sessions is the bulk of her debut album, Catching A Tiger: 12 songs that range from bluesy-folk to unfettered pop, and showcase both her remarkable voice and her songwriting chops.

Since early this year, Lissie has largely been based in London, where Catching A Tiger has already been released. Embraced lovingly by the British press, she’s been featured in Q, The Sun, The Sunday Times, The Mirror, Time Out, The Big Issue, and on the BBC and Later…with Jools Holland, among others; she’s played with Joshua Radin, Local Natives, and Alan Pownall, in addition to performing at Bonnaroo in Manchester, TN, and The Great Escape in Brighton, England. She’s also picked up praise and support from a wide range of fellow artists, including Katy Perry, Courtney Love, Mumford & Sons, and Ellie Goulding, who joined her onstage to perform “Everywhere I Go” at The Great Escape in May.



Lissie has been posting a few cover tunes to YouTube which include covers of Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" and Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters" (both below).





Links:
Lissie

Today Show Announces 2010 Summer Concert Series

The Today Show 2010 Summer Concert series kicks off on May 14th with a set from Sting. Sting will play a thirty minute greatest hits set which is the forerunner to his forthcoming world tour with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra.



Here is the rest of the Summer line-up:

MAY
14 Sting
21 The Script

JUNE
4 Justin Bieber
8 Christina Aguilera
11 Rascal Flatts
18 James Taylor and Carole King
25 Maxwell

JULY
2 Maroon 5
9 Lady Gaga
16 Enrique Iglesias
23 John Mayer
30 Carrie Underwood

AUGUST
6 Train
13 Ke$ha
20 Keith Urban
27 Katy Perry

Links:
The Today Show