Yet Another Media Blog

Playing this week on Yet Another Music Radio: Cover Songs 3, yet another batch of 50 great songs as covered by other artists:


7 Seconds cover Nena
Alison Brown & Indigo Girls cover Simon & Garfunkel
Barenaked Ladies cover Wham
Beth Orton covers The Ronettes
Carlotte Martin covers The Rolling Stones
Chely Wright covers Robbie Nevil
Def Leppard cover Badfinger
Fastball cover Herb Alpert
Fountains of Wayne cover Electric Light Orchestra
Fountains of Wayne cover Britney Spears
Frank Black covers The Beach Boys
Grant Lee Buffalo covers The Carpenters
Hugh Masekala covers The 5th Dimension
Jane Monheit covers Judy Garland
Jason Falkner covers Electric Light Orchestra
Jay Farrar & Kelly Willis cover Townes Van Zandt
Jem covers Paul McCartney
Jewel covers Lynyrd Skynyrd
John Wetton covers Genesis
Karrin Allyson covers Elton John
Lisa Stansfield covers Bobby Darrin
Love Spit Love covers The Smiths
Mandy Barnett covers Jim Lauderdale
Mandy Moore covers Cat Stevens
Matthew Sweet covers The Carpenters
Mindy McCready covers Linda Ronstadt
Nada Surf cover Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Neko Case covers The Everly Brothers
Nickel Creek cover Bob Dylan
Novaspace cover Cyndi Lauper
Pam Tillis covers Bruce Hornsby
Pat Donohue covers Henry Mancini
Renée Fleming covers Joni Mitchell
Rod Stewart covers Elton John
Sarah McLachlan covers XTC
Son Volt cover Del Reeves
Styx cover The Beatles
Suzy Bogguss covers Lucinda Williams
The Bacon Brothers cover Kenny Loggins
The Butchies cover The Offspring
The Goops cover The Foundations
the innocence mission cover Henry Mancini
The Pussycat Dolls cover Soft Cell
They Might Be Giants cover Cub
Tin Machine cover John Lennon
Tori Amos covers The Rolling Stones
Tori Amos covers R.E.M.
Tukuleur cover Toto
Wilson Phillips cover Elton John
Wyclef John covers Pink Floyd


It's over 3 hours of covers songs. Can there possibly be any more? Why yes, there will be a Cover Songs 4 at some point...

New Show of Note: There' sonly one new show on Sundays, and it's a stinker: The War at Home (FOX 8:30) is a perfect example of the sorry state of network sitcoms.

Returning Favorite: The West Wing (NBC, 8pm) was invigorated last season with its election campaign storyline, which will continue this season as they stretch it out all the way through March. Which means that we'll probably be sick of it by the time it finishes.

Bonehead Scheduling Move of the Night: None really; Sunday is one of the few nights on the schedule where things are balanced out. For example, at 8pm you can shoose from a reality show (Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, ABC); a procedural (Cold Case, CBS); a drama (The West Wing); an animated comedy(The Simpsons, FOX); and a fantasy (Charmed, WB). Too bad the networks cast seem to comprehend this kind of counter-programming on their other nights.

Also New: Nothing.

Also Returning: The 17th(!) season of The Simpsons, still entertaining after all these years; and Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBC, 9pm) brings Chris Noth back to the L&O fold.

New Show of Note: Nothing.

Returning Favorite: Justice League Unlimited on the Cartoon Network (10pm) is probably the best television series about super-heroes ever, as it plays with the entire expanse of the DC Comics Universe.

Bonehead Scheduling Move of the Night: Note even trying to put something new or interesting on Saturday. Heck, at the very least the networks could use the night to burn off episodes of cancelled shows that are already produced and paid for. But low ratings on Saturday have become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Also New: Still nothing.

Also Returning: Football on ABC, Movies on NBC, proceedural reruns on CBS, COPS and America's Most Wanted on FOX. Yawn.

New Show of Note: Threshold (CBS, 9pm), which yes is yet another secret alien invasion show, but this one has the best cast: Carla Gugino (from the brilliant-but-cancelled Karen Sisco) as the star, along with Brent Spiner & Peter Dinklage.

Returning Favorite: NUMB3RS (CBS, 10pm), last season's most pleasant mid-season surprise, both in quality and the fact that it garnered enough ratings for a second season. The bad news is that Sabrina Lloyd is gone; but the good news is that Navi Rawat returns. Someday soon I'll have to write up a post about the woderfulness that is the radiant Navi Rawat, so you'll understand.

Bonehead Scheduling Move of the Night: Cancelling Joan of Arcadia, a wonderful show that dared to explore faith, and replacing it with The Ghost Whisperer (CBS, 8pm), another talking-to-the-dead show that claims to be based on the experiences of a crackpot medium.

Also New: Three Wishes (NBC, 9pm) features Amy Grant and the bunch of do-gooders traveling each week to a new town and bestowing three wishes on its inhabitants. It's a show intentionally designed to tug on the heart-strings, and even my cold heart has nearly moved to tears just watching the previews. But I have to wonder: how mean is it to all the other of requests they get for help when they'll only fulfill three of them?

Also Returning: The Bernie Mac Show and Malcolm in the Middle, two of the best shows I don't watch, are banished to the FOX Friday 8pm death slot. Nothing else that FOX has tried here has worked--maybe a couple of single-camera comedies will. Yeah, right.

Playing this week on Yet Another Music Radio: Live Tracks 2, over 3 more hours of great live recordings.

Artists in this week's playlist are: Abra Moore; Automatic Baby; Average White Band; Barenaked Ladies; Ben Folds; Big Country; Burlap to Cashmere; Cat Stevens; The Corrs; Cranberries; Credence Clearwater Revival; Dixie Chicks; Emerson, Lake & Palmer; Fiona Apple; Genesis; Heather Nova; Hole; Joe Jackson; John Mellencamp; K's Choice; Kansas; Kristy Thirsk; Moxy Früvous; Phil Collins; Pink Floyd, Pretenders, Robert Randolph & The Family Band; Rosanne Cash; Sam Phillips; Shakira; Sheryl Crow; Soul Asylum; The Sundays; They Might Be Giants; Todd Snider; and Violent Femmes.

New Show of Note: First there was Kolchak, the Night Stalker, which was the inspiration for The X-Files. Now Frank Spotnitz, one of the producers on The X-Files, brings us a new Kolchack in Night Stalker (ABC, 9pm). Let's hope that it lives up to its ancestry.

Returning Favorite: Alias (ABC, 8pm)--after that shocking season finale last May, I've been on the edge of my seat all summer. Yes, things this season have shark bait written all over them: a pregnancy, a new girl, etc., but we have faith here that J. J. Abrams and crew will be able to pull it off. Plus, Lena Olin is back again, and that's always good.

Bonehead Scheduling Move of the Night: Thursday at 8pm, which sees Alias go head-to-head with Survivor (CBS), Joey/Will & Grace (NBC), The O.C. (FOX), Smallville (WB), and the season's most criticaly acclaimed new comedy, Everybody Hates Chris (UPN). I mean really people, there are only so many ways to divvy up that demographic pie. I can pretty much guarantee that by the end of November sweeps, either Alias or Smallville will find itself on a different night.

Also New: Reunion on FOX (9pm). I don't care how cute Chyler Leigh is, after watching the pilot, which included the afterschool special double-whammy of both an unwanted pregnancy and drunk driving, I'm not sitting through 19 more hours of that. How they could take such an intriguing premise and screw it up so badly is beyond me.

Also Returning: Wait, ER (NBC, 10pm) is still on? Really? Huh. And ABC feels the need to counter-program with Prime Time Live. WTF? Hey, here's a free bit of advice, ABC: try putting either your critically aclaimed drama or your new drama on at 10pm, where ER is waning.

New Show of Note: Invasion (ABC, 10pm), which will probably be the best of this year's alien invasion series, thanks largely to the fact that i's created by Shawn Cassidy, who brought us the sublime American Gothic. It also is the most likely to last the season, thaks to having the good fortune to be scheduled after:

Returning Favorite: Lost (ABC, 9pm), the best new show of last season, which survived its bad movie of the week premise to deliver a gripping genre show that appealed to a wide audience. And you know what? I'm really not in any hurry to see all of the mysteries of the island resolved--I'm just enjoying the ride.

Bonehead Scheduling Move of the Night: Putting Veronica Mars (UPN, 9pm), last season's second-best new show, up against Lost. Yeah, the mystery was compelling, but it was really the characters and the writing that made us want to turn in each week. But really, UPN, if you want to give your critically acclaimed but low-rated show a chance to catch on, do'nt put it up against a show that is not only a ratings smash but also one that all of your likely viewers are going to be tuning in to!

Also New: Criminal Minds (CBS), E-Ring (NBC), Head Cases (FOX), and Related (WB)--all new dramas being offered up by their respective network as sacrificial lambs against Lost. Seriously, people, how about some counter-programming? NOne of you could try slotting a sitcom, newsmagazine or reality show here?

Also Returning: Law & Order (NBC, 10pm), amazingly in its 18th season. Don't worry if you miss an episode because you're watching Invasion though, as I'm sure you'll be able to catch it in repeats at some point.

New Show of Note: Bones (FOX, 8pm) brings Angel's David Boreanaz back to television. Yeah sure, we'd prefer to have had more Angel, and teaming him with Emily Deschanel may work. Or not...

Returning Favorite: Gilmore Girls (WB, 8pm), one of the best-written and -acted shows on tv, returns for a sixth season. Frankly, I don't care if Luke & Lorelei end up together or not, just so long as it continues to be funny and interesting. Our Tuesday night TV watching group spent the summer watching the first season on DVD, and I was impressed at how quickly the show found its feet early on.

Bonehead Scheduling Move of the Night: The 10pm hours finds returning Boston Legal (ABC), a lawyer show; new Close to Home (CBS), a cop show; both up against perennial ratings grabber Law & Order: SVU, a cop & lawyer show. Too much similarity for one hour, which will probably end up with Close to Home biting the dust.

Also New: Supernatural (WB) aims to be a Kolchack for the teen set; My Name is Earl (NBC) is getting notice from critics as one of the few actually funny new comidies; and Commander in Chief (ABC) gives us Geena Davis in the Martin Sheen role as President, because surely viewers aren't burned out on fictional Presidential politics. Oh hey, look, they're all on at 9pm, the same time as:

Also Returning: The Amazing Race (CBS), the only network 'reality' show worth watching, which mixes it up for the fall season with a family edition featuring teams of four. I can't tell you how glad I'll be to not see the token bickering engaged couple for a season.

Kinda cool, actually.

We're kicking off our weeklong preview of the fall television season with Monday:

New Show of Note: Prison Break on FOX (9pm), the high-concept drama of a guy who purposely goes to prison in order to break out his wrongfully convicted brother. This actually debuted in late August, and so far has been good escapist fun, as long as you don't think about it too hard. It's only scheduled to run until the end of 2005 (in order to make way for 24 to return in January), so hopefully there will be some resultion as they actually make good on the title's promise.

Returning Favorite: Arrested Development (also on FOX, 8pm) was pretty much the funniest show on tv for two seasons running, and frankly its amazing that it is coming back for a third go-around.

Bonehead Scheduling Move of the Night: Two new sitcoms with Buffy-alums as costars: Kitchen Confidential (FOX) with Nicholas Brendan, and How I Met Your Mother (CBS) with Alyson Hannigan. Against each other in the 8:30 slot. How is a Buffy fan to choose? I'll probably go with Kitchen, seeing as it's on right after Arrested Development. Then again, Mother has Doogie Howser...

Also New: Surface (NBC) is also in the 8pm slot, although it looks as though SciFi channel will be carrying it in later-in-the-week re-broadcasts, so even though it looks to be the weakest of the three invasion-themed shows this fall I'll probably at least sample it to see if it's any good.

Also Returning: Las Vegas (NBC, 9pm), although I was really starting to get fatigued on this show near the end of last season, and they're bringing in Lara Flynn Boyle as a new cast member to spice things up, which is never really a good sign for a show. Still, there's always Nikki Cox...

It was not a good day yesterday for Big Ten football, as all three of the top-ten ranked teams lost: #4 Ohio State lost to #2 Texas in a squeaker, #8 Iowa took a shellacking from unranked Iowa State, and my own beloved #3 Michigan Wolverines looked inept against the hated #20 Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

I always wonder why the AP ranks Michgan so high in the preseason year after year, when it usually means the kiss of death for the team, especially is they have to play a lwoer-ranked Notre Dame. Their lowest preseason ranking of recent years was in 1997, when they were ranked #14--and that was the year they went on to win the National Championship.

Another good week of Celebrity Poker Showdown, with some good play and entertaining table talk. Amber Tamblyn was doing well at first, but then decided to try to bluff at the wrong times and ended up being the second player out. Alex Trebek was probably playing the best poker at the table, but except for one lucky break near the end he just couldn't get the cards. But Cheryl Hines--I don't think I've ever really seen her in anything (she's on Curb Your Enthusiasm, but I've never watched more than 5 minutes of that show) but she's smart and funny and pretty and can play cards; I certainly won't mind her being in the final round.

Playing this week on Yet Another Music Radio: Phil Collins (Doesn't Suck).

But wait, I hear you say, doesn't Phil Collins, y'know, suck?

No he doesn't--and this week's YAMR playlist aims to prove to you that Phil Collins is, in fact, cool.

Now pay attention:


Phil Collins is perhaps best known as a solo artist. And while his recent albums have been lacking, well, that happens to just about every aging pop.rock star, yes? But in his early 80's heyday, Phil was putting out some damn fine pop recordings. While everyone knows the hits, I've included some of his lesser-known solo tracks: "I Missed Again" and "Hand in Hand" come from his first solo album, Face Value. Phil frequently employed the Earth, Wind & Fire horns on his solo albums, and "I Missed Again" showcases them to great effect; he also tended to put an instrumental on his albums, and "Hand in Hand" is one of the best. "Don't Let Him Steal Your Heart Away" comes from Phil's second solo album, Hello, I Must Be Going!, and it's a piano ballad with a great melody and heart-felt lyrics. No Jacket Required was Phil's big breakout album, and one of the best though least-played song from it is "Doesn't Anybody Stay Together Anymore?" with its pounding drums on the chorus.


Of course, Phil was first and foremost a drummer, specifically coming to fame as the drummer for the 70s prog-rock band Genesis. When lead vocalist Peter Gabriel left the band, Phil stepped out from behind the drum set to become the lead singer. "Dance on a Volcano" is the lead track from Genesis's first post-Gabriel album, A Trick of the Tail, and shows off Phil's rock drumming techniques in a song that hues rather tightly to the Genesis storytelling song style. "Down and Out" comes from the first post-Steve Hackett Genesis album, ...And Then There Were Three..., and is another drumming showcase for Phil ina song that's rhythmically all over the place.

My all-time favorite Genesis album is Duke, which for me strikes the perfect balance between their old storytelling days and their modern pop/rock albums; my favorite song from Duke--and in fact on my top ten list of songs ever--is "Turn it On Again," a song that at first listen appears to be a simple pop song, until you realize that the verses aren't in straight 4/4, but rather in 13/4, and the rhythm is slyly traveling all over the place.

Rounding out the Genesis selections is a live recording from one of their concerts, an "Old Medley" that features Phil doing vocals on many of the old songs that Peter Gabriel originally sang.


Phil was not only the drummer for Genesis, but also for Brand X, a jazz-rock fusion band that Phil worked with as a side project in the mid-70's. I've included three tracks from one of their albums, Moroccan Roll: "Sun in the Night," "Why Should I Lend You Mine (When You’ve Broken Yours Off Already) ..." and "Macrocosm." Not the Phil Collins you're used to, right?


One way that you can judge the coolness of an artist is by the others who cover his songs. Here are some of the Phil Collins cover songs I've included:

The Postal Service cover "Against All Odds" in an alt-rock style.

Dennis Brown gives "Another Day in Paradise" a reggae flavor.

Both Angry Chiwawah and From Zero give "I Don't Care Anymore" an angry rock edge.

Changing Faces give us an R&B version of the ballad "One More Night."

There are two versions of "Something Happened On the Way to Heaven" by Deborah Cox: An R&B version and a dance version.

Ol' Dirty Bastard recasts "Sussudio" as a Hip-Hop track.

The Matthew Show do "The Roof is Leaking."

Fourplay give "Why Can't It Wait 'Til Morning" the smooth jazz treatment.

And there are five covers of Phil's first big solo hit, "In the Air Tonight": Lisa Brandt, Nonpoint, Robert Michaels, Touré Kunda, & DMX all give it a whirl.


In the late 90's, Phil played around with his own big band: The Phil Collins Big Band. They put together a live album of their performances, and I've included their versions of "Sussudio," "The Los Endos Suite" and "Pick Up the Pieces."


Back in the early 80's, Phil produced an album for Frida, ex- of the Swedish pop mega-group ABBA. The two songs from that album on this playlist are a cover of Phil's "You Know What I Mean" and "Here We'll Stay," a duet with Phil.


And that wraps up this week's playlist, over 3 hours of music proving that Phil Collins doesn't suck. Listen for yourself and find out!

Last weekend was a long one, so I managed to watch all three of the DVDs I had out from NetFlix:

Man of the House wasn't horrible, nor was it anything memorable either. The high concept was: Tommy Lee Jones as a Texas Ranger assigned as a bodyguard to a houseful of UT-Austin cheerleaders. From there it just about wirtes itself, and apparently it did, as there's nothing original or surprising here. Everyone showed up and did their jobs, and that's about it. Oh, and Christina Milian needs to look for better scripts; with this and Be Cool she's now paid her dues in crappy Hollywood formula pics, and she's much better than the material whe's been given.

The Pacifier on the other hand is just a disaster. Vin Diesel as a Navy Seal who has to serve as a bodyguard to a houseful of kids. Could have been decent family fun on the order of Cheaper by the Dozen, but no, this is just a snooze-fest from begining to end.

Woody Allen's Manhattan Murder Mystery was at least sometimes funny and sometimes mysterious. Allen and Diane Keaton are (surprise!) a couple of Manhattanites; when Keaton thinks that their next-door-neighbor has killed his wife, she involves all of their friends in the mystery, and before long Allen has to join in just to try to keep his marriage together. Not a great work by Allen, but at least it holds your interest.

Several months ago I suggested to Jon Silpayamanant that his band, Il Troubadore, do a cover of The Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive." Well, they did, and it turns out to big one of their biggest hits at their live shows. You can download an MP3 of their version here.

Il Troubadore are a 16th century indy band. No really--it's fun music. Go listen.

Playing this week on Yet Another Music Radio: Cover Songs 2, another batch of 50 great songs as covered by other artists:

Atomic Kitten cover ABBA
Counting Crows cover Joni Mitchell
The Cranberries cover The Carpenters
Darren Hayes covers E.L.O.
Deana Carter covers Melanie Safka
Deanna Kirk covers Boris Karloff
Dishwalla cover The Carpenters
Dixie Chicks cover Fleetwood Mac
Elton John covers Tammy Wynette
Frickin' A covers Rick Springfield
Frida covers Phil Collins
Gary Allan covers Todd Snider
Heather Nova covers Bruce Springsteen
Jason Mraz covers Seals & Crofts
Jenny Queen covers Moby
Johnette Napolitano covers The Carpenters
Jonatha Brooke covers James Taylor
Kelly Willis covers Bruce Robison
kidneythieves cover Patsy Cline
Leigh Nash covers Cat Stevens
Lucy Kaplansky covers Nick Lowe
Mandy Moore covers Joe Jackson
Martina McBride covers Beth Nielsen Chapman
Maura O'Connell covers Kim Richey
Nelson Hubbard & Venus Hum cover E.L.O. & Olivia Newton-John
Nickel Creek covers Sinéad Lohan
Novaspace cover Midnight Oil
Oleta Adams covers Elton John
O.A.R. & Robert Randolph & The Family Band cover Led Zeppelin
P. M. Dawn cover Prince & The Talking Heads & Harry Nilsson
Petra Haden covers The Who
Phil Collins covers Genesis
Phil Collins covers Elton John
The Ramones cover Spider-Man
Rusted Root cover Santana
Sara Evans covers Tammy Wynette
Sarah McLachlan covers Jim Henson
Senor Coconut & His Orchestra cover Deep Purple
Shawn Colvin covers The Police
Sherrié Austin covers Dolly Parton
Sheryl Crow covers The Who
Sixpence None the Richer cover E.L.O.
Smash Mouth cover Steely Dan
Suzy Bogguss covers Nanci Griffith
They Might Be Giants cover XTC
Todd Snider covers The Steve Miller Band
Tom Jones and The Cardigans cover The Talking Heads
Tori Amos covers The Police
Tori Amos covers Nirvana
Wilson Phillips cover Jackson Browne


It's over 3 hours of covers songs. Can you listen to them all?

Over at CD Baby, one of the best online music stores for independent music, many of the artists have agreed to donate their entire profits to the Red Cross for disaster relief. So check it out. Not only will you be helping people in need, you'll also get some great music (and the confirmation emails alone are worth your while--they're quite funny!)

(link via Postmodern Barney)


Also, over at Audio Lunchbox--a great place to buy legal downloads from indie artists--they're donating 10% of all sales to the Red Cross.


If you want to donate directly to the Red Cross, Yahoo! makes it easy.