Hey, Senor Coconut is more than goofy - they were one of the highlights of the Big Chill last year. And you need an 11 for the Ukelele Orchestra Of Great Britain, whose cover of Wuthering Heights is the pinnacle of western civilisation thus far.

And you need an 11 for the Ukelele Orchestra Of Great Britain, whose cover of Wuthering Heights is the pinnacle of western civilisation thus far

Must hear this.

Sadly Kate Bush has refused permission for it to be released. They do it in a broad yorkshire accent and after each "Heathcliff" there's a huge shout of "HEATHCLIFF!"

If they ever play the US they're a must see; they also do a version of Le Freak - on ukeleles- which when I saw them had 2000 people dancing like fools.

Sadly Kate Bush has refused permission for it to be released.

That is odd. Really, there's not a whole lot an artist can do to keep a cover version from being released, at least in the US, due to the compulsory licensing laws.

I didn't even realize that Geldof concert thing was this weekend. That's what you get for sleeping in a tent with no cable.

Sufjan Stevens new album, Illinois, comes out today, and I am going to get it over my lunch hour but I just downloaded two great songs off of it from Amazon - which you can get here.

Based on these two songs the albums seems a bit more religious but less Bible-y than Seven Swans and a bit more varied. I'm excited to hear the rest.

I heard the most infectious song on a great mix this weekend. If you are feeling an iTunes purchase coming on, I highly recommend "When U Love Somebody" by the Fruit Bats. It's like the most perfect crush-on-someone/new-love song ever.

Oh, I have those two. I also have "Chicago" and "Come On! Feel the Illinoise!" which are totally and completely awesome. "Chicago" is utterly gorgeous.

The Knitters are releasing another album, and going back out on the road!!!

Very droll artist bio here: [link]

“Some folks might say our music has always been what you call ‘eclectic,’” says John Doe of the Knitters. “Well, OK. As A.P. Carter used to say to me when we’d go song-hunting in the Clinch Mountains, ‘Buddy, it’s all music, y’know.’”

The Knitters — Doe, co-lead vocalist Exene Cervenka, guitarist Dave Alvin, bassist Jonny Ray Bartel, and drummer D.J. Bonebrake — have been rambling a tangled map of American musical highways since way back in the 20th century. Now, with their first album in 20 years, The Modern Sounds of the Knitters, the revered American band is bringing their traditional sound to a new generation of listeners.

Taking a long, thoughtful draw on her corncob pipe, Exene says, “We figured that some people knew our music — from our Folkways and Vanguard albums, or those compilations the Smithsonian put out in the ‘90s, or maybe even from some of our early 78s. We decided to call our new one The Modern Sounds of the Knitters to show that our sound is always up-to-date, no matter how far back it reaches.”

The Knitters’ sound stretches back quite a ways, and it wasn’t always the electrified style heard on the group’s new Zoë/Rounder album. “When we played for Ralph Peer in Bristol, Tennessee back in ’27,” Alvin recalls with a nostalgic chuckle, “there wasn’t what you’d call ‘electric’ music. It was just us, Jimmie Rodgers, and the Carter Family with our acoustic guitars, singing into one microphone. Too bad our master from that session fell off the back of a Model A. Our career might have gotten started sooner.” ....

The Knitters are releasing another album, and going back out on the road!!!

OH YAY!

So, I wasn't able to find Illinois at any CD stores over lunch, I couldn't figure out if it didn't arrive because of the holiday or what. Apparently it is being held by retailers because Stevens tried to put Supes on the cover without getting DC's approval. Oops.

D'oh! Here's the offending cover.