Okkervil River on Daytrotter


Daytrotter is not generally a website I peruse to find new music, but rather to hear the live sessions of bands I already enjoy. The site provides a unique forum for more daring bands to mess around with expectations a bit by playing covers and new songs, as well as giving their own deep cuts new arrangements. It’s when bands take advantage of this free reign that I inevitably enjoy Daytrotter most.

There’s a new session up today featuring Okkervil River that does exactly that. It finds the band taking on 3 cover songs that up until today I’d never even heard of before, as well as rearranging - and thus bringing to life - one of The Stage Names' lesser tracks, “You Can’t Hold The Hand Of A Rock n‘ Roll Man”.

The Stage Names, and especially 2005’s classic Black Sheep Boy, have already cemented Okkervil River to be one of the most vibrant indie-rock bands working today, as well as one that draws its influences from a wide array of diverse artists. They’ve previously used a semi-obscure Tim Hardin song as the building block for a brilliant song cycle, and now Will Sheff once again proves he is well-versed in music history. Today the evidence is covers of lost classics from John Phillips, Carole King, and Jimmy Webb.

MP3 :: April Anne (John Phillips cover)
MP3 :: No Easy Way Down (Carole King cover)
MP3 :: Do What You Gotta Do (Jimmy Webb cover)
MP3 :: You Can’t Hold The Hand Of A Rock n’ Roll Man
(from Daytrotter Sessions - Okkervil River)
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Bonus MP3 :: Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe
(from The Stage Names. Buy here. myspace.)
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