Unpiano | Music Blog

//yeah i know bonnie raitt was older when she wrote this.. but man she was a fox.

This Bonnie Raitt tune has been covered by a ton of people and to be honest the original is one of favorite sad songs of all time. It makes my heart return to a fetus-like state every time I hear that piano. Bon Iver covered it recently and it sounds.. just okay. Actually I think he fucked it up a little bit, but he gets points anyway for picking a good song to cover. Perfect for his whiny brand of falsetto crooning. If you are broken-hearted, do yourself a favor and put the original on repeat. Then grab a bottle and drown yourself in it for a night or two. Works like a charm every time.

EDIT: I totally forgot that This American Life told the story of this song being written on one of their old programs. Apparently the song was written after the songwriters (not Bonnie Raitt) read about a news story where a man went and shot up his ex-girlfriend’s car. When asked in court if he had learned anything from his crime, the man answered “You can’t make a woman love you if she don’t”.

Bon Iver – I Can’t Make You Love Me
Bonnie Raitt – I Can’t Make You Love Me

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The Whines have been on my radar for some time, with a wasted Karianne hopping in on drums for Eat Skull for all of ten minutes and their debut 7″ making rounds for the last year or so. Backed by alternating members of the aforementioned Portland faves, she recorded in stop-and-start installments until finally piecing together this fantastic first LP. Hell To Play is a collection of reverb soaked noise pop that would play more like a mix tape if it wasn’t for a layer of over-saturated tape hiss, as well as Karianne’s sweet-to-sad-to-sexy vocals, gluing the whole thing together. A dreary Portland Sunday with a hangover put to wax just for you.

The Whines – Cut Meat
The Whines – Straybird
The Whines – Down The 2 Tracks

The rambling, ramshackle country-folk of Seattle’s The Dutchess And The Duke has been a good soundtrack to the hot summer nights we’ve been having. A departure from their previous punk outfit The Flying Dutchmen, Jesse and Kimberly pull together a record of rootsy, familiar hooks and lyrics that smack of sincerity without being cheesy. Its not a happy record, but not a hopeless one either.

The Dutchess And The Duke – Reservoir Park
The Dutchess And The Duke – Mary

Saw The King Kahn & BBQ Show a while back and they put on a pretty amazing live show. I think I had only heard them once before I saw them but it didn’t even matter. I’m not sure how two people can sound so full, but they pull it off. To top that all off they played three shows back to back in San Francisco and Oakland. Now that’s a fucking work ethic.

The King Kahn & BBQ Show – Zombies
The King Kahn & BBQ Show – Why Don’t You Lie?

Bonus:
The King Kahn & BBQ Show – Why Don’t You Lie? (video)