Greg Dulli covers Leonard Cohen. (I know!!!)

Antony's heartwrenching take on "Crazy In Love" last night capped off a week where cover songs were seemingly dropping into my lap on a daily basis. Why not take time out of your schedule to enjoy them now?

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Tonight the Twilight Singers, the current project of former Afghan Whigs frontman/Gutter Twins half Greg Dulli, perform at Webster Hall. My bias toward this band and Dulli's grimy revival of old soul tropes has been chronicled in this space before, but I'd be remiss in not urging you to attend tonight's concert. And hey, it's Friday afternoon--surely you're in need of something non-work-like to do, no? Why not listen to the tunes after the jump? I promise they are all worth your while (as is the above clip for "On the Corner," from the Twilight Singers' new album Dynamite Steps). And they are all much sexier than "S&M," that's for sure.

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Welcome to Sound of the City's year-in-review rock-critic roundtable, an amiable ongoing conversation between five prominent Voice critics: Rob Harvilla, Zach Baron, Sean Fennessey, Maura Johnston, and Rich Juzwiak. We'll be here all week!

At least one song on this record is really good!

Gentlemen,

If I had to pick one example of hashtag rap that I liked more than any other, it would probably be Nicki Minaj's "And I just be coming off the top -- asbestos," from Young Money's "Bedrock," if only because of its somewhat feminist implications. The song reached No. 2 on the Hot 100! Surely that must represent some strike in favor of female sexual empowerment. (Or maybe radio listeners finally realized the charms of Lloyd, whose silky come-ons were also available on "Lay It Down," one of the many r&b songs from this year with which I had passionate, intense flings.)

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Go ahead, ask him about the Yankees. Photo by Caryn Rose.

Greg Dulli
Bowery Ballroom
Tuesday, October 19

Better than: Leaving the lights on.

"Could we bring the lights down a little bit, please?" asked Greg Dulli after the first song of his Bowery Ballroom set on Tuesday night. And immediately after that request, an explanation: "Everybody looks prettier in the dark."

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Stupendous Cincinnati sleaze-rockers Afghan Whigs just made our list of '90s bands that haven't reunited yet, but ex-leader Greg Dulli has no apparent interest in reliving the past, and his projects since -- the Twilight Singers especially -- are plenty sleazy themselves. A new TS record is slated for early 2011 on Sub Pop, which is now proudly offering a free sample track, "Blackbird and the Fox," a duet between Dulli and -- why not? -- Ani DiFranco. Observe:

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So here's a rad thing Spin did: To celebrate their imminent cover story on the 25th anniversary of Purple Rain, they've commissioned a full tribute album called Purplish Rain, featuring Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings ("Take Me With U"), Craig Wedren ("Baby I'm a Star"), Of Montreal ("Computer Blue") and what have you. Best/weirdest of all: Greg Dulli crew the Twilight Singers join actual Purple Rain star Apollonia for a seedy rendition of "When Doves Cry," which Greg proudly and correctly proclaims "sounds nothing like what you expect. The only thing you'll recognize is the lyrics." Spin 's streaming it right now: The whole thing is available June 23. Bravo.