Just discovered this cover of the Neil Diamond song on Youtube, along with several other videos by the Music Machine, and it really stunned me. It's a beautiful soft pop version of "Cherry Cherry" complete with flute solo-nothing like the other songs I've heard from the band. Nothing garagey about it at all, more in the easy listening vein...and I mean that in a good way!
Another great cover version that the Music Machine do is "Hey Joe"-their's is my favorite version of that oft-recorded chestnut.
available on CD - Turn On the Music Machine (Collectables)
A sensuously haunting track, from the equally haunting soundtrack of a notoriously haunting film. Sparse, but slowly layered and building with anticipation. Don't know much about the late Paul Giovanni, but he surely hit a home run with this entire soundtack.
available on CD - The Wicker Man (OST) (Silva)
n-jeff: Lovely stuff, but strangely, disquietingly, indistinct. One of the tracks that got me sacked from a regular pub DJ slot. haha.
Everyone is mixing breakbeats with bossa nova and lounge these days, but rarely as good as Zuco 103 on their album 'Outro Lado'. Probably because other bands don't have a singer as sensuous as Lilian Vieira. Surpisingly my favourite track of this record is the one without beats: it could be discribed as 'bass 'n' violins'.
If you like Bebel Gilberto, listen to this song.