Bangles musician Susanna Hoffs team up for an engaging collection of cover songs from the '70s. The album "Under the Covers Vol. 2" uncannily re-creates tracks from artists like Fleetwood Mac and Carly Simon. Working out of his home studio, Sweet—joined by drummer Ric Menck and multi-instrumentalist Greg Leisz—nails every sonic nuance, buried under cumulous clouds of glorious boy/girl harmonies.In 2006, Sweet and Hoffs demonstrated with engaging '60s collection Under The Covers Vol. 1 that revisiting rock standards is a viable aesthetic pursuit. Like its predecessor, their new '70s retrospective uncannily re-creates indelible tracks from primary Sweet inspirations Todd Rundgren (twice), Big Star, Fleetwood Mac (with Lindsey Buckingham guesting) and Yes (ditto Steve Howe), while also giving Hoffs a chance to wrap her crystalline voice around unexpected choices like Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" and Bread's "Everything I Own."
Pop sensation Matthew Sweet and Bangles vocalist Susanna Hoffs visit the GRAMMY Museum on Tuesday, July 21, to discuss and perform selections from their newest project, "Under The Covers Vol. 2." Tickets for the event, part of the museum's series The Drop, are on-sale now, but we've got five pairs for some lucky blogdowntown readers. The pair released "Under The Covers Vol. 1," their first collaboration, in 2006. The followup release comes out on Tuesday, the day of the GRAMMY Museum event. The albums feature covers of songs from the 1960's and 1970's.
The gorgeous Dayana Mendoza, Miss Venezuela, was crowned the 2008 Miss Universe winner earlier this evening in Nha Trang, Vietman. The pageant, which was hosted by talk show host Jerry Springer and Spice Girl Mel B, had four Latina finalists in the Top 5 – Miss Mexico, Miss Colombia, Miss Dominican Republic, and Mendoza, Miss Venezuela.