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Category Archives: Check Out This Song
Ball of Wax 59 Songs: Tomo Nakayama – “The Sugar Nile”
It’s quite an experience to hear one of your songs covered for the first time, and I can’t think of a better one to have than hearing Tomo Nakayama do “The Sugar Nile.” In fact, “cover” seems a woefully inappropriate … Continue reading
Posted in Ball of Wax, BoW Covers, Check Out This Song
Tagged sam russell, Tomo Nakayama
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Ball of Wax 59 Songs: Medejin – “Roma”
Medejin’s cover of Tomo’s Nakayama’s “Roma” highlights, in its simplicity, how beautiful and strange the original composition is at its core. Medejin’s rendition feels especially haunting and hollow in the best way. Perhaps it’s because Jenn Taranto abandons her soft … Continue reading
Posted in Ball of Wax, BoW Covers, Check Out This Song
Tagged Medejin, Tomo Nakayama
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Ball of Wax 59 Songs: Annie Ford – “World’s Fair”
For our next Ball of Wax cover, Annie Ford beautifully deconstructs Medejin’s “World’s Fair.” The original – released as a single last summer, and featured recently on Ball of Wax 57 – is a driving deluge of layered guitars, vocals, … Continue reading
Ball of Wax 59 Songs: Julia Massey – “Ain’t No Place”
Annie Ford’s original recording of her song “Ain’t No Place” (which, it turns out, was written by drummer Matthew Manges) strikes that mythic sweet spot between the composed and the seemingly found; the song feels like it’s been around forever … Continue reading
Posted in Ball of Wax, BoW Covers, Check Out This Song
Tagged Annie Ford, Julia Massey
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Ball of Wax 59 Songs: Moe Provencher & Carrie Biell: “A Bit of a Hard Time”
I don’t believe in magic or fate or astrology or pretty much anything along those lines (except jinxes), but I do love the wonderful coincidences and synchronicities that projects like this often serve up. Another bit of magic that my … Continue reading
Posted in Ball of Wax, BoW Covers, Check Out This Song
Tagged carrie biell, Julia Massey, Moe Provencher
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Ball of Wax 59 Songs: Nic Masangkay – “Like Moon River”
I have not heard Moe Provencher’s original version of “Like Moon River.” You probably haven’t either. In fact, it may well be that only Moe and Nic Masangkay have had that pleasure. You see, Nic and Moe went the extra … Continue reading
Posted in Ball of Wax, BoW Covers, Check Out This Song
Tagged Moe Provencher, Nic Masangkay
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Ball of Wax 59 Songs: Levi Fuller and the Library – “Forever” (Feat. Amanda Winterhalter)
Here’s the challenge: you want to cover an electro-R&B song with confessionally soulful vocals and gentle synth touches. Where to begin? How will you interpret it in a way that retains the elegance of the original but has your own … Continue reading
Posted in Ball of Wax, BoW Covers, Check Out This Song
Tagged levi fuller and the library, Nic Masangkay
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Ball of Wax 58 Songs: Robert Deeble – “Veni Emmanuel”
Seattle-by-way-of-Long-Beach institution Robert Deeble has a deep discography containing multitudes (including collaborations with fellow Ball of Wax contributors Tomo Nakayama and Shenandoah Davis) and here offers a sinister gothic take on “Veni Emmanual” . . . or “O Come, O … Continue reading
Ball of Wax 58 Songs: Laudatory Consortium – “Fine Wine”
One thing about Ball of Wax that I will always be proud of – regardless of how many people in the world are even aware that this strange little endeavor exists – is the number of musical collaborations and friendships … Continue reading
Posted in Ball of Wax, Check Out This Song
Tagged darryl blood, Grumpy Bear, Laudatory Consortium
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Ball of Wax 58 Songs: Arthur C. Lee – “Holiday Cheer”
Now and then, I like to try playing along to stuff I’m listening to. For the most part, I do an okay job of anticipating chord changes, structures, and progressions. Not that the artists I love are predictable at all, … Continue reading