BSquared
Nov 16th, 2006, 02:43 AM
After a short break from reviewing (I felt the need to listen to some podcasts for the enjoyment rather than with a critical ear) podcast fanatic's reviews are back. I thought I'd re-start with a review of one of the earliest podcasts and one of my personal favourites.
For those interested you can now get the latest reviews (and some other bits and pieces) delivered direct to your in-box via the podcast fanatic blog (http://blog.podcastfanatic.com/).
*****
The Statistics
What?s it Called? Coverville
What is the show?s website? http://www.coverville.com/
When was the first episode produced? September 2004
How long is the average episode? Around 45 minutes
How often is an episode released? 2-3 times per week
The Review
Back in the early days of my podcast listening I heard about a podcast which only played cover songs. Until that point in my life my main experience of cover songs had been the endless array of third-rate cover bands that musically disinterested pub owners hired as cheap background music for drinkers. It was with some trepidation therefore that I approached Coverville. Fortunately I?ve lived long enough to have learned that keeping an open mind, although difficult, often leads to life?s great joys. There?s no doubt that Coverville is one of those.
Brian Ibbot is equal parts consummate professional and dedicated music fan: the ideal combination for a pioneering music podcast host. On Coverville he showcases artists who reinterpret previously released songs. It is one of the few podcasts that plays traditionally licensed music alongside the podsafe kind so there is a huge variety in the artists, genres and styles of music played. There are Cover Story episodes, featuring covers of one artist?s songs; All Request episodes, where listeners program the music; Hodge Podge episodes, containing an eclectic mix of Brian?s discoveries and, my personal favourite, Six Degrees of Separation episodes where listeners are led on an unpredictable journey of relationships between one song or artist and another. Demonstrating just how much of an ?old hand? he is at the podcasting gig Brian is about to launch his third annual Coverville Countdown series of episodes.
Each episode of the show features a half-dozen or so songs with introductions and interesting facts provided by Brian. For the trivia buffs there are also musical quizzes provided by a variety of podcasters at the end of some episodes. If you miss any important information about where to track down a song you can?t get out of your head the excellent Coverville website has great show notes with relevant links as well as a fully searchable archive of all the shows and an active listener forum. Being able to search for covers of or by any artist is one of the best features of any podcast website I've encountered.
This is the perfect podcast for introducing newbies to the medium due to its professional audio quality and vaguely familiar format. It is also the perfect podcast for anyone who loves music. In fact it is the perfect podcast. It is not; as I first anticipated with dread, merely a collection of music I already know. There are artists I?ve never encountered before and new music from some of my favourite people. There are musicians from all over the world and artists from every rung of the success ladder. There are songs that have stuck in my head and artists I?ve been driven to find more material from due to a too-brief exposure to them on the show. There are entire episodes of Coverville that are in high rotation on my personal soundtrack. Before commercial radio was ruined by an obsession with demographics and playing songs based on who pays most to be at the top of the pile music was king: in Coverville music reigns supreme once again.
The Rating
If I was stranded on a deserted island and could only have five podcast subscriptions this would be one of them
For those interested you can now get the latest reviews (and some other bits and pieces) delivered direct to your in-box via the podcast fanatic blog (http://blog.podcastfanatic.com/).
*****
The Statistics
What?s it Called? Coverville
What is the show?s website? http://www.coverville.com/
When was the first episode produced? September 2004
How long is the average episode? Around 45 minutes
How often is an episode released? 2-3 times per week
The Review
Back in the early days of my podcast listening I heard about a podcast which only played cover songs. Until that point in my life my main experience of cover songs had been the endless array of third-rate cover bands that musically disinterested pub owners hired as cheap background music for drinkers. It was with some trepidation therefore that I approached Coverville. Fortunately I?ve lived long enough to have learned that keeping an open mind, although difficult, often leads to life?s great joys. There?s no doubt that Coverville is one of those.
Brian Ibbot is equal parts consummate professional and dedicated music fan: the ideal combination for a pioneering music podcast host. On Coverville he showcases artists who reinterpret previously released songs. It is one of the few podcasts that plays traditionally licensed music alongside the podsafe kind so there is a huge variety in the artists, genres and styles of music played. There are Cover Story episodes, featuring covers of one artist?s songs; All Request episodes, where listeners program the music; Hodge Podge episodes, containing an eclectic mix of Brian?s discoveries and, my personal favourite, Six Degrees of Separation episodes where listeners are led on an unpredictable journey of relationships between one song or artist and another. Demonstrating just how much of an ?old hand? he is at the podcasting gig Brian is about to launch his third annual Coverville Countdown series of episodes.
Each episode of the show features a half-dozen or so songs with introductions and interesting facts provided by Brian. For the trivia buffs there are also musical quizzes provided by a variety of podcasters at the end of some episodes. If you miss any important information about where to track down a song you can?t get out of your head the excellent Coverville website has great show notes with relevant links as well as a fully searchable archive of all the shows and an active listener forum. Being able to search for covers of or by any artist is one of the best features of any podcast website I've encountered.
This is the perfect podcast for introducing newbies to the medium due to its professional audio quality and vaguely familiar format. It is also the perfect podcast for anyone who loves music. In fact it is the perfect podcast. It is not; as I first anticipated with dread, merely a collection of music I already know. There are artists I?ve never encountered before and new music from some of my favourite people. There are musicians from all over the world and artists from every rung of the success ladder. There are songs that have stuck in my head and artists I?ve been driven to find more material from due to a too-brief exposure to them on the show. There are entire episodes of Coverville that are in high rotation on my personal soundtrack. Before commercial radio was ruined by an obsession with demographics and playing songs based on who pays most to be at the top of the pile music was king: in Coverville music reigns supreme once again.
The Rating
If I was stranded on a deserted island and could only have five podcast subscriptions this would be one of them