Stereogum » Chris Isaak

Rewards & Alia Shawkat Cover “Wicked Game”

tom — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:51:50 +0000

A few months ago, we noticed that indie bands like Washed Out and WU LYF were covering the fuck out of Chris Isaak’s almighty soft-focus smooth jam “Wicked Game,” and we even got Chris Isaak himself to comment on the phenomenon. Well, here’s another “Wicked Game” to throw on the pile.

Rewards is the former Chairlift member Aaron Pfenning; we’ve previously posted his track “What A Loser” and his Solange collab “Equal Dreams.” Alia Shawkat is the actress who played Maeby Fünke on Arrested Development. They got together to record a perfectly lovely electronic pop version of the song, and you can download it below.

Chris Isaak Talks About All Those “Wicked Game” Covers

tom — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 16:49:33 +0000

Chris Isaak’s soft-focus boudoir-rockabilly classic “Wicked Game” is one of those songs that just about all of us attempt to sing at some point, if only to confirm suspicions that our falsettos are terrible. And it’s a song that plenty of indie rock types have covered, as well. In just the past few months, Washed Out and WU LYF have tried their respective hands at it.

As it happens, Isaak is no slouch at covers himself; on the new album Beyond The Sun, he takes on the Sun Records songbook. In the email interview below, Isaak talks a bit about all those “Wicked Game” covers and, more nebulously, what makes a good cover.

Watch WU LYF Cover “Wicked Game” In London

tom — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 19:39:15 +0000

“Wicked Game” is the one Chris Isaak song that everybody loves to cover. Washed Out did it a few months ago, and the bizarre pop-opera project Il Divo tried it out just last night on The Tonight Show. Below, check out a video of the enigmatic art-rock yowlers WU LYF doing a scraggly but surprisingly soulful rendition of the song at a recent London show.

Washed Out Covers “Wicked Game”

Scott — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 20:40:25 +0000

We’ve posted a handful of “Wicked Games” covers over the years — by Grooms, Girl Crisis, Giant Drag, and other bands that don’t begin with G — but Washed Out’s take for Sirius XMU’s Sessions is the most lush, as Ernest Greene replaces Chris Isaak’s famous guitar vibrato with warm synths. Listen up, Diplo…

NME‘s 100 Greatest Music Videos

Scott — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 18:34:50 +0000

To celebrate the launch of NMEVideo.com, NME put together a list of the 100 greatest videos of all time. While other publications’ countdowns have given props to groundbreaking-but-dated ’80s clips like “Thriller,” “Sledgehammer,” “Money For Nothing,” and “Take On Me,” the British rock mag eschews many obvious choices in favor of a thoroughly modern overview. Kanye West’s one-month-old video for “Monster,” for example, comes in at #35. Also notable is that, save for the #1 entry, every video in the top ten was released in the ’90s. Almost makes me feel less guilty for spending all those school nights watching Alternative Nation. No surprise too that the big winner here is Spike Jonze, with eight videos included on the list. Strangest inclusion must be Summer Camp’s “Round The Moon,” which just repurposes footage from the Swedish film En kärlekshistoria, and some curious omissions include “Losing My Religion” and “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” But don’t worry, there’s plenty of Radiohead. What else did they miss?

Lonely Island Tribute, Ass In Eminem’s Face Highlight MTV Movie Awards

Scott — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:00:55 +0000

LeeAnn Rimes, Chris Isaak, and Forest Whitaker sang an SNL song medley, Bruno “accidentally” bare-assed Eminem, and Kristen Stewart was predictably awkward. Check out video and photos of the funniest moments.

Pissy Pumpkins Unplug On Chris Isaak Hour

Scott — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 17:51:38 +0000

Last night’s Chris Isaak Hour featured Billy Corgan and his now departed bandmate Jimmy Chamberlin in a predictably petulant Q&A intercut with sweet acoustic performances to remind us why we still care about the Smashing Pumpkins. Along with their touring musicians, Chamberlin and a harmonica-playing Corgan were joined by horns and violin on four post-Zeitgeist tracks plus an Issak-assisted cover of “Nowhere Man.” Isaak is a charming, able interviewer, getting the Smashing frontman to open up about the fans who hate their music, his dad who hates his singing, his former bandmates who have no talent, and Kurt Cobain who “wasn’t necessarily the nicest person.” Cobain and Corgan had a “strange” relationship, he says, because “the night I threw Courtney Love out of my apartment is the night she famously walked down the street and ended up in his bed.” Chamberlin also makes some petty comments about former bandmates James Iha and Darcy Wretzky, claiming their only contribution to the band was “high fashion” and implying they didn’t know how to play their instruments. The performance segments were more successful. Watch…

Smashing Pumpkins Talk Haters, Rock Out With Chris Isaak

Scott — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 18:11:51 +0000

Retro rocker/funnyman Chris Isaak has a new interview show premiering on the Biography Channel tomorrow night. It’s called The Chris Isaak Hour, not to be confused with the fictionalized Chris Isaak Show that aired on Showtime a few years ago. Or maybe it is to be confused, they are pretty similar titles. It’s a Q&A and performance format, not unlike Elvis Costello’s Spectacle, except Chris’s hour isn’t filmed in front of an audience. Guests include folks we never blog about (Trisha Yearwood, Glen Campbell, Chicago, Michael Bublé) and also the Smashing Pumpkins, who we always blog about.