So on the drive home today I'm listening to the XM, which has singlehandedly restored my faith in "radio" as a discovery mechanism, when the jock mentioned that Beck has been doing this thing called Record Club, which is him and a bunch of pals locking themselves in a studio and covering an album. What did they record this time? INXS' album Kick, arguably one of the best albums recorded in the 80's, hands down.
All I can say about the covers is that they're incredibly and utterly fucking brilliant. They haven't posted everything yet, but even half way through the album, all I can say is publish that stuff and I'll buy it. Covering any song is risky, covering a well-known song is borderline stupid, but this is nothing but awesome. "New Sensation" will blow your mind. This woman Annie Clark singing "Need You Tonight" is just stunning. It's the same song, but not.
They're posting video from every recording on Vimeo (looks like they're recording on SLR's). It's really amazing stuff.
Of course, this does remind me about how completely selfish Michael Hutchence was when he killed himself in '97. Not every INXS record was good start to finish, but Kick was solid, and Welcome To Wherever You Are was one of my favorites in college. Stephanie and I saw them perform in Cleveland only a few weeks before he offed himself, and I feel lucky that I had the chance.
Yeah, that's an album I'd definitely pick up.
When you mentioned being lucky enough to see INXS before MH offed himself, it made me think about who I've been lucky enough to see before they died. I feel privileged to see George Carlin and Mitch Hedberg before they both passed.