Green Listening

August 19, 2011 4:40 PM

Muppets: The Green Album (previously) is now available to listen to in its entirety as an NPR "First Listen".
posted by hippybear (20 comments total)

I'm still disappointed that nobody did a rousing cover of the Rhyming Song.
posted by BigHeartedGuy at 4:57 PM on August 19, 2011 [1 favorite]

In the interest of being positive: the Andrew Bird song is lovely.
posted by pxe2000 at 5:11 PM on August 19, 2011

Wicked! I have the Gumby Green album. Much the same concept. Great fun. I wonder if there are others?
posted by five fresh fish at 5:44 PM on August 19, 2011

Yes, and it's really, really horrible.
posted by sleepy pete at 5:48 PM on August 19, 2011

I have a live performance copy of Andrew Bird singing "Being Green" in French, from somewhere. It's always kind of interesting to me how differently he can perform the same song just because he goes off individually every time he plays instead of doing the same thing over and over again.
posted by titus n. owl at 6:11 PM on August 19, 2011

future phish halloween cover?
posted by Gankmore at 6:36 PM on August 19, 2011

I am enjoying the theme cover much more than I would expect to, given the weirdness. Glad to have a chance to listen.
posted by maryr at 6:42 PM on August 19, 2011

The Andrew Bird and My Morning Jacket covers are alright. The rest I could do without.
posted by fishmasta at 6:48 PM on August 19, 2011

Started commenting on a couple songs, but decided to sorta live-blog it. I'm not a music critic or anything, but here's my opinion, if you care to read. At the very least it can act as a track list.

1. Muppet Show Theme - OK Go: As I mentioned above, it's got a lot of weirdness in it - instrument effects I don't recognize, a strange opening, and much more in OK Go's more recent style (which I like less than the first two albums, personally) - but I thought it was a nice take on it. Fun, different, very different.
2. Rainbow Connection - Weezer feat. Hayley Williams: Kind of terrible. Why'd they sing it flat?
3. Mahna Mahna - The Fray: Wow. *checks again* The Fray? Really? Completely faithful to the original. Amazing. Never would have guessed it was them.
4. Movin' Right Along - Alkaline Trio: Meh. Acceptable, but y'know. Alkaline Trio. I'm convinced someone else could have done better, but they certainly tried and it's still fun to listen to. More fun live, I'd imagine.
5. Our World - My Morning Jacket: I'm not familiar with this one, so I actually had to stop and listen to the Muppets version. Very well suited to MMJ - great interpretation, great arrangement, very well done.
6. Halfway Down The Stairs - Amy Lee: Also had to watch the original. which I found sweet, but I'm not surprised I've forgotten it. The cover has very sweet singing over strange, seemingly random beats and beeps. Picks up midway through, thankfully, but such an odd start that it's not to my taste. If I had any sort of the connection to the song I would feel strongly.
7. Hey Mr. Bassman - Sondre Lerche: I really enjoyed this one, fun with terrible bass playing (which is on purpose and improves).
8. Wishing Song - The Airborne Toxic Event: Nice enough, but not a band I've much interest in seeking out. Seems appropriately dreamy, in an indie way.
9. Night Life - Brandon Saller (and Billy Martin?): Definitely in the (modern) spirit of Dr. Teeth and Electric Mayhem. Much better singing than Dr. Teeth. Awesome drum solo. Actually, the longer I listen, the more I prefer it to the original.
10. It's Not Easy Being Green - Andrew Bird: Not really an Andrew Bird fan, but he does a lovely job here. Very Kermit-like. I like the instrumentation a lot, especially the violin. Gotta love songs with whistling.
11. I Hope That Something Better Comes Along - Matthew Nathanson: Very pretty, but loses the jazziness of the original. ...Where did all these dog lyrics come from?!
12. I'm Going To Go Back There Someday - Rachel Yamagata: I don't think you can go wrong if you have respect for the song. She clearly loves it. Breathy, I might prefer another artist, but I'm not complaining.

So, in short, I was prepared for the Andrew Bird to be overhyped, but it really is beautiful. Night Life is classic rock, Our World is classic My Morning Jacket, Hey Mr. Bassman is just a personal favorite. The Weezer track is terrible, with the Amy Lee following up, for me. The Fray is by far the most faithful (to the point of carbon-copy), the OK Go the least traditional.
posted by maryr at 7:40 PM on August 19, 2011 [4 favorites]

If it's not going to be Kermit's voice, it might as well not be Kermit's voice.

(Thanks, OP!)
posted by Capt. Renault at 7:41 PM on August 19, 2011

IT'S TIME TO LIGHT THE LIGHTS
posted by The Whelk at 8:20 PM on August 19, 2011

I found the Rainbow Connection oddly effective cause it was sung flat, don;t know why, maybe cause it sounds like something you to could sing in the shower.
posted by The Whelk at 8:25 PM on August 19, 2011 [1 favorite]

Oh And Movin' Right Along is just the blandest thing ever.
posted by The Whelk at 8:29 PM on August 19, 2011

(yeah it really feels like a "better live" cover but this sounds like ...Neve Campell should be running along to it)
posted by The Whelk at 8:30 PM on August 19, 2011

Just listened to The Muppet Show Theme. Why did I get images of John Doe from Seven cutting off his fingertips?
posted by CarlRossi at 9:09 PM on August 19, 2011

there's a mefi music challenge here. I do a mean "I'm going to go back there some day."
posted by es_de_bah at 5:58 AM on August 20, 2011

also, Tom Waits should have done "I hope that something better comes along."
obviously
posted by es_de_bah at 6:03 AM on August 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

I liked it. Haters gonna hate.
posted by schmod at 6:25 AM on August 20, 2011

When I first saw this posting I thought maybe it was the Muppets singing the White Album. That I would like to hear. Animal would be all over Revolution 9.
posted by zzazazz at 7:17 AM on August 20, 2011 [3 favorites]

IT'S TIME TO PUT ON MAKEUP...
posted by zooropa at 7:29 AM on August 20, 2011