Muzak

I haven't been excited about a compilation album since Epitaph put out Punk O Rama 3 in 1998. I actually haven't been too excited about new albums in quite some time. But last month, a comp called " War Child Presents: Hereos" came out, and it is just amazing.

First of all, War Child is an amazing charity. They work with children affected in war torn countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, Uganda, etc. Quite the noble cause, so I didn't mind shelling out a few bucks to buy it. So, since I have nothing else going on, I offer you brief commentary on the first 8 tracks.

1. Beck covering Bob Dylan's "Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat." - I know it's a crime to not really like Bob Dylan, but for some reason I just never got into him. I missed the boat with him. And I feel like he has too much of an extensive library to even attempt to jump on board at this point in my life. I have however, always liked Beck, even though he is a Scientologist. This is a Dylan song that I vaguely knew, but to me it just felt like a decent Beck song.

2.The Kooks covering The Kinks "Victoria"- The Kooks covering The Kinks... Say that 5 times fast! LOL! Seriously though, I just recently (within the past 9 months) got into The Kinks. I also like The Kooks a great deal. I actually saw them on their first U.S tour. On this track, they stay true to the reggae-ish sound of The Kinks, but also add their own touch. It's BritPop at it's finest.

3. The Hold Steady covering Bruce Springsteen's "Atlantic City"- Let me preface this by saying that I do not like Bruce Springsteen. I never have, and this whole thing with him only selling his albums at Wal-Mart makes me dislike him even more. But I do like The Hold Steady, as does almost every other twenty something jaded scenester I know. THS does a really good job making this song their own (I think.. I've never heard the Boss' version). But if I didn't know that it was a cover, I could totally see this track being on one of their own albums.

4. Hot Chip covering Joy Divisions "Transmission"- I've never heard Hot Chip before this. They were always one of those bands that I knew someone who was into them, but never really checked them out myself. Same thing with Joy Division. I was a big fan of New Order though. Good song none the less.

5. Lily Allen and Mick Jones covering The Clash "Straight to Hell"- Well this was just a real treat. Here we have my future wife, Ms Lily Allen, collaborating with Mick Jones, guitarist of one of my favorite bands of all time, The Clash. Straight To Hell is an amazing song, and Lily (who happens to be Joe Strummer's goddaughter) does an amazing job covering it.

6. Yeah Yeah Yeahs covering The Ramones "Sheena is a Punk Rocker"- The Ramones are in my top 10. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, I'm basically indifferent about. I don't hate them, don't particularly like them, they are just whatever. And thats how I feel about this version of good Ramones song. They didn't butcher the song, but they could have done better.

7. Franz Ferndinand covering Blondie's "Call Me" - I'm not a Franz fanz. I'm not really a Blondie fan either. But I do know they have better songs than "Call Me." But FF decided to be like any cover band playing the Long Island nightclub cicuit, and chose that one. It's a live version and I don't like it. Modest Mouse would have done a better job.

8. Duffy covering Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die"- "Live and Let Die" is one of the few Paul McCartney songs that I dig. There are only a handful of Beatles solo members songs that I like. I can't think of the name, but Ringo Starr had a song about smoking a ton of weed that I always liked. But anyway. I only know that one song by Duffy that they play on WFUV every once in a while. I know she gets a load of press, but I don't like her much. This song is a little slow for my taste, but not the worst thing I've ever heard either.

So that's the first half. I'll finish the other 8 songs at another point.

I was sitting down earlier, eating a delicious veggie burger, when a commercial came on for KFC. They were advertising the famous KFC Bowls, or whatever they are called. Now, I have about a million different problems with KFC, but this advert really irked me for some reason. First of all, the famous bowl, made up of layers of mashed potatoes, corn, FrankenChicken, gravy, and 3 types of cheese, looks disgusting. Not to mention like an instant heart attack. And for the low price of I think it was 2.59, you get that and what looked like to be about 40 gallons of soda. After the commercial was over, I literally looked at my veggie burger and side of more vegetables, and had a real sense of elitism. It's quite a confusing sensation.