Yes, the Big Lebowski classic … bùt do note: the original version is by Jerry Lee Lewis, off his "Soul My Way" lp (1967)! Mickey Newbury didn't release his own version of his song (a Jimi Hendrix favourite) until his 1968 debut "Harlequin Melodies". The First Edition's version (featuring Kenny Rogers) is from the same year. Bettye LaVette's wonderful cover version (1969) of "Just dropped in (to see what condition my condition was in)" can be found on Trikont's first "Dirty Laundry - The Soul Of Black Country" (US-0333, 2000) v/a comp … whilst Sharon Jones' version (with the Dap Kings) dates dates from 2002 or 2004. Carcass frontman Jeff Walker's cuntry metal version dates from 2006, Supergrass' "Condition" is off 1995's "Alright / Time" single, and die Haut's is off 1988's "Headless Body In Topless Bar" lp and features Nick Cave. Got that?

Once upon a time in the mid-1970s there was a man named Hans Fenger who taught music in the Langley School District outside Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada) … We've already reviewed the "Innocence & Despair" cd - featuring 1976 & 1977 recordings by students of the Wix-Brown, Lochiel South Carvolth and Glennwood Elementary schools - in [uzine 02.06]. Since, George Plasketes has published an interesting chapter on the project in his book "B-sides, undercurrents and overtones: peripheries to popular in music, 1960 to the present" (Ashgate 2009-06, ISBN 9780754665618). All hail Brian Lind!
http://www.bastamusic.com/catalog/langley-schools-music-project
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Langley_Schools_Music_Project
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1132233
http://www.bar-none.com/langley-schools-music-project.html
http://www.scrammagazine.com/scram-magazine-fifteen
http://www.appelstein.com/langley/
http://myspace.com/langschool
http://www.hansfenger.com/
http://www.keyofz.com/langley/
http://www.keyofz.com/langley/story.html
http://www.keyofz.com/langley/hanslett.html
http://www.keyofz.com/langley/kids.htm

Mark Landsman's 83' "Thunder Soul" documentary on Houston's Kashmere Stage Band (as produced by Jamie Foxx, 2010) isn't featured on Now-Again's 2cd + 1dvd package (NA-5085, 2011). But it does feature there's a 12' making of, footage of a 3' live version of "Makin' whoopee" (1972) and a 27' documentary by Charles Porter (1973 - check the KSB on holiday in Paris, Brussels, Louvain, Waterloo, Breda and Bonn). It's a mighty package with a 40 page booklet to boot … but it has only one flaw: there's no song author credits, making it difficult to find out which tracks are KSB originals and which are cover versions. Speaking of which: expect more "Shaft" covers in a future post + find a free download of Egon's extended edit of James Brown's "Super bad" (as featured on the 2005 US - but not Jazzman's 2002 UK - edition of "Texas Funk: Black Gold From The Lone Star State 1968-1975" v/a cd) via the Now-Again site:
http://www.nowagainrecords.com/tag/kashmere-stage-band/  [5 pages!]
http://www.austinchronicle.com/screens/2010-03-12/977581/
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5599377
http://www.npr.org/2011/09/23/140539483/thunder-soul-70s-sensation-dusts-off-its-groove
http://www.npr.org/2011/09/28/140891879/summer-school-funk-five-tracks-out-of-1970s-houston
http://www.filmindependent.org/news-and-blog/mark-landsman-on-his-influences-and-thunder-soul/
http://edendale.typepad.com/weblog/2010/03/sxsw-2010-mark-landsmans-thunder-soul.html
http://stonesthrow.com/news/2011/06/kashmere-stage-band-thunder-soul-official-movie-trailer
http://www.indiewire.com/article/toolkit-case-study-the-long-road-of-thunder-soul
http://www.indiewire.com/article/interview_thunder_soul
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashmere_Stage_Band
http://funky16corners.lunarpages.net/?p=2009
http://stonesthrow.com/funky16/kash.html
http://thundersoulmovie.com/
http://kashmere.org/

Silly … but since we'd already posted this one … here goes! Hey and while you listen to that brand new "Love will tear us apart" cover version by June Tabor & Oysterband (off "Ragged Kingdom", Topic 2011), or Bis's interpretation (2002), or to two more Curtis & co covers by My Robot Friend (2006) & Tortoise (1995) … well, do check Kapetank's two other nods to to Joy Division, Peter Saville and Chris Mathan's CP1919 pulsar sleeve for "Unknown Pleasures" won't you?
http://kapetank.tumblr.com/post/3102166266
http://kapetank.tumblr.com/post/6278563909/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
http://adamcap.com/2011/05/history-of-joy-division-unknown-pleasures-album-art/
http://joydivisionunknownpleasures.blogspot.com/2011/09/front-cover-image-comes-from-edition-of.html
http://testpressing.org/2011/07/tony-wilson-and-peter-saville-in-conversation/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/gallery/2011/may/29/joydivision-neworder
http://homepage2.nifty.com/truefaith/tosq/petersaville/1985-1989.html
http://paulstolper.com/gallery/img.php?id_img=207
http://ricardocabello.com/blog/post/640
http://www.joydiv.org/covers.htm
http://www.joydiv.org/up.htm

Finally, three Bowie covers off 2002's "After Low" v/a cd - which came with the book "Fascination: the Bowie show" (featuring writing and art by Douglas Coupland, Ann Magnuson, Rick Moody and many more).

What with Miguel gone (back to Argentina), Monguito has been dismembered. I'd hoped to find footage of their legendary Spoor Noord / Damhal gig, but this is nice too ;-)

"Cosmic Sounds (Celestial Counterpoint With Words And Music)" by the Zodiac was released late 1967 on Elektra (and reissued by the now defunct Water label in 2002). Music written by Mort Garson, words by Jacques Wilson, and narration by Cyrus Faryar. Moog by Paul Beaver, keyboards Mike Melvoin, flute Bud Shank, bass Carol Kaye, drums Hal Blaine, percussion Emil Richards. Must be played in the dark, it says, so kill that monitor!
http://www.richieunterberger.com/zodiac.html
http://www.answers.com/topic/cosmic-sounds
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Zodiac_:_Cosmic_Sounds
http://psychedelicobscurities.blogspot.com/2007/01/zodiac-cosmic-sounds-1967.html
http://www.elektra60.com/album/the-zodiac-cosmic-sounds-celestial-counterpoint-with-words-and-music/

Hey, and do check this interview with Mary Weiss of the Shangri-Las! And my next post, on the Red Bird label ;-) The radio spots below are off the one and only Shangs record you'll ever need: "Myrmidons Of Melodrama (The Definitive Collection Includes All The Hits Plus Rare Tracks)" on RPM (1994, cat. no. 136, revamped in 2002 as cat. no. 506). Though Charly has that "Remember" budget 2cd as well (SNAX625CD) ...

"Seconds" aside, the Rushent era Human League isn't my favourite incarnation of the band. To, me that's the Human League mk. 1 - the one that recorded "The Dignity Of Labour Pts. 1-4" and "The black hit of space" and a few odd covers (cf. the tracks below), predating the sound of Boards of Canada and other Warp acts by some twenty years - and all the acts that preceded it in the 1973-1978 period, e.g. the Future featuring Adi Newton. For more about the band's history, check some of the videos here, there and everywhere, or retrieve my review of "The Golden Hour Of The Future" (Black Melody MELCD4) and accompanying 12" (Black Melody MEL3, both 2002) in [uzine] 02.24 (U0224.txt in the zip / the reprint here isn't complete at all) … Or consult any of these sites, obviously:
http://www.blindyouth.co.uk/
http://www.league-online.com/biography1.html
http://www.the-black-hit-of-space.dk/menu.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Human_League

What a dull book, "Nick Drake - the pink moon files" (Omnibus 2011-03-01, ISBN 9781849386586)! It's quite expensive, yet we don't even get a single illustration - not even a picture of any of the 19 original "Pink moon" fanzines which Jason Creed published between 1994 and 2000 … and which are recompiled here without any layout effort whatsoever. Shame on you, Omnibus! And why is it publishers are so lazy they never put the contents pages of their publications online? More interesting re: Nick Drake:
"A skin too few - the days of Nick Drake" (Jeroen Berkvens, 2002): 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
"Nick Drake - a stranger among us" (Tim Clements, BBC 1999): 1 / 2 / 3 / 4