As stated in previous posts, I’ve begin to hunt by artist in an effort to prove that no one is safe from the sellout. NO ONE. I will not rest until my task is complete (or until our capitalist economy crushes under its own weight).

Anyways, back in the day, Cat Power was featured in not one, but two commercials: a very uplifting Cingular commercial (ahhhh… cellular love) and an extremely powerful diamond ad in which all us men get the point: she won’t love you until you purchase some ice.

Interestingly, both songs are covers. The Cingular commercial features “Hanging on the Telephone,” originally by The Nerves and made famous by Blondie (from Parallel Lines). Cat Steven’s “How Can I Tell You” was the focus of DeBeers’ ad.

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I updated the San Francisco Concert Schedule with a fresh crop of shows. Lots of good stuff coming up, including the Black Keys (tonight!), Cat Power, Mike Doughty, Kathleen Edwards, Man Man, Rilo Kiley, SF’s own Rogue Wave, another round of Stephen Malkmus and his Jicks, Jamie Lidell, Tapes N’ Tapes (now featuring Erik Appelwick, of the criminally unknown Vicious Vicious - MP3 below), a reunited Verve, Tift Merritt, Tom Petty’s old band, an R.E.M.-Modest Mouse-National troika, and some guy named Springsteen.

MP3s:

Venues:

I’ve included tracks from two of my most anticipated albums of 2008, Cat Power’s Jukebox and Beach House’s Devotion. While Jukebox is already out, Devotion isn’t scheduled for a proper release for another month although most songs leaked onto the Internets in December.

Cat Power - Jukebox

The eight years following Chan Marshall’s last covers project has treated her well. While she has traded in angsty minimalist folk for a sultry southern croon, she hasn’t lost her touch at re-interpreting covers - even classics - into something very much her own.

Marshall ambitiously covers a wide range of musicians (from Joni Mitchell to Sinatra to Janis), but she stands out on her takes on Joni Mitchell’s classic “Blue” and a bare-bones reading of the Highwaymen’s “Silver Stallion”.

Tenniscoats - Tan-Tan Therapy

Another blogger referred to the Tenniscoats’ Tan-Tan Therapy as “wide-eyed children at play in a room full of instruments” - not a bad description. There’s a refreshing innocence to these beautifully uneven folk-pop tunes. “Baibaba Bimba” was one of my favorite tracks of 2007.

Beach House - Devotion

The eponymous debut from Baltimore’s Beach House was one of my favorite records of 2006. “Gila” shows that they haven’t strayed too far from a winning formula for their sophomore effort.