Best Song I’ve Heard All Day: Tribute Edition

(part 956 in a 1001 part series)

I sure love a well executed cover song. Case in point: Holly Miranda‘s haunting rendition of Sparklehorse’s “Hundreds Of Sparrows.” Miranda, a member of the Detroit band Jealous Girlfriends, has been playing the song recently in her solo set. But on New Year’s Day, the singer-songwriter gave away a lo-fi recording of the song for free on her site.

What makes this song work so well is how she so skillfully paired away the late Mark Linkous’ trademark production, down to a lone finger-picked guitar, vocal harmonies and the building flourishes of a glockenspiel. It’s easy to load up a song with too many layers, but Miranda shows a lot of restraint. It’s a perfect and loving tribute that finds the both beauty and sadness in Linkous’ words.

Holly Miranda – Hundreds of Sparrows (Sparklehorse Cover) by morrisday

Here’s a video of her performing the song as well:

Holly Miranda- Hundreds of Sparrows (Sparklehorse Cover) from Adrian Vieni (Wood & Wires) on Vimeo.

Reblogging Update: Antlers, Besnard Lakes, more

Here is yet another post highlighting some links to a few things I’ve contributed to over at NPR Music:

The Antlers: Tiny Desk ConcertHelped shoot and edited\produced the video for this beautiful set.

Laura Veirs: Tiny Desk Concert Edited\produced this video of a very preggers Laura Veirs. Great, warm show.

— Song of the Day: The Besnard Lakes: Filling The Room With Sound

Sparklehorse Singer Mark Linkous RememberedHelped put this page together and selected all the music.

— All Songs Considered blog: Dorks Gather For Listening Party In which I am mentioned and briefly talk about the RPM Challenge.

Culturetopia Won A Gracie Award! — This is a weekly arts and entertainment podcast I produce and it really is quite great. Check it out if you haven’t tuned in.