BBC Radio 1′s yearly Live Lounge collection always seems to come up with a few gems. For those not in the know, the compilation is a collection of live tracks that were played at the Radio 1 studios. At some point during the Radio 1 sessions, someone decided it was a good idea to record these tracks, so starting in 2006, they released a yearly compilation of the best bits from the year. Now a lot of artist travel through Radio 1′s land and they often like to do covers for some reason so every year, you see some interesting covers, among those include

Arctic Monkey – Love Machine (Girls Aloud cover)
The Futureheads – Hounds of Love (Kate Bush .. also voted one of the best tracks of that year)
Amy Winehouse – Valerie (later re-recorded for Mark Ronson)
Diizzee Rascal – That’s Not My Name (way better than the original Ting Tings version)

You get the drift.

I just recently got the 2011 version of this compilation and stumbled upon this number, which features reigning UK Heavyweight Champion of the World Ellie Goulding covering USA’s Intercontentinal Champion – Rihanna (I would say either Katy Perry / Lady Gaga hold the heavyweight championship belt). If there’s one artist who has benefitted tremendously from doing covers in the past year or so, it’s Ellie Goulding. Her heartfelt rendition of Your Song topped charts all over the commonwealth and elevated her from mid-card to main event status. Why am I using wrestling terminologies? I don’t know.

For this compilation, Ellie covered Rihanna’s second best track (best dance track though) Only Girl in the World. Once again, she strips the song down to the bare basics, slows down the track and even adds a string section. The results are pretty good. It helps that the original song was fantastic, but this is an original and unique take on it. Check it out.

Once in a while, we all need to take a trip to Pyschic City

For Torontonians, that opportunity comes on February 23rd at the Wrongbar.

Of course, I’m talking about Portland band Yacht, who will once again bring their super awesome live act to Toronto once again. It’ll be their first show here since they released their third record Shangri-La (second if you only count what’s on DFA). They’ll be ready to go, and certainly ready to roll and we would like you to be there.

We have a pair of tickets to give away. To enter for a chance to enter, do one of the following

1) Retweet this post
2) Email panic@panicmanual.com with the subject: “I’d like to go to the Psychic City” with your name in the body.
3) Send us a picture of you on a yacht, holding a yacht record and listening to yacht rock.

The first thing I must say about Town Hall is: thank god for a band that ‘gets’ website design. Maybe I’m just not artistic/musically minded to appreciate the thought and nuance that goes into some bands’ sites, but every time I have to ‘click to enter’ nine times before finding the actual content I’m looking for or come upon a long-outdated ‘next shows’ section I cringe. No wonder some indie bands stay small.

Thankfully, Town Hall has a wonderful site: no clicking to enter, music is up front and center, contact info readily available. Check it out here .

On to the music. The Brooklyn-based band just released its first full-band EP, Sticky Notes and Paper Scraps. For those of you looking for energetic indie, be aware: the first word that comes to mind when listening to the tracks is mellow. Soothing is not far behind. Listen to it while you’re getting ready for bed, not prepping for a night out. The band’s tags include freak and folk, but I would put a far heavier emphasis on the ‘folk’ aspect of the sound. That being said, it’s a 100% enjoyable soothing/mellow/folskie sound. The band reminds me a bit of Nickel Creek with the plucky-string sound and the female-male duets. My favorite track is Mary A. Longdon with its line: “all the women want to know is how she keeps her skin so smooth/what pills does she take, what creams does she use.” For some reason it’s a bit haunting – definitely sticks with you. Don’t believe me? Try it out.

Just Watching My Breath by TownHall

It’s almost the new year, which means it’s almost time to start looking at some new and upcoming acts. One of them is Caveman, a five piece band from New York city who formed in January of 2010(!). The group has self-released their debut album CoCo Beware recently and it has been met with some praise. The group’s music has a sunny disposition and a soft upbeat indie rock sound that’s sure to please the crowd. The group will be here on January 11th and lucky for you, we have a pair of tickets to give away!

To enter, do 1 of 3 things:

1) Retweet this post
2) Email panic@panicmanual.com with the subjet “Caveman: me go concert”
3) Write a 800 word essay on why the caveman from those popular commercials failed to transition to a successful tv show.

Here is the facebook event page

Here is a song

Caveman – Thankful by We Listen For You