THE MOOG COOKBOOK

These guys caused quite a stir back when their debut dropped in 1996 - covers of contemporary rock hits, most of the "alt" variety, performed on vintage electronics in a '60s Space Age style, with large dollops of humor. It could have just been a gimmick that might have been funny to listen to once or twice, but the tunes were expertly played, with quite the attention to period detail. Mucho clever touches abounded, as well.

By the mid'90s, vintage Moog records had been rediscovered by the masses. (Lucky for me - I was able to re-sell records I'd bought for 50s cents for 50 dollars. Thank you, record collectors!) In fact, I saw The Moog Cookbook live at an event to honor Robert Moog himself, same show I saw Pamelia Kurstin. And yes, they wore spacesuits.

The Moog Cookbook

1. "Black Hole Sun" (Cornell) - 4:22 (original by Soundgarden)
2. "Buddy Holly" (Cuomo) - 4:13 (original by Weezer)
3. "Basket Case" (Armstrong/Green Day) - 4:04 (original by Green Day)
4. "Come Out and Play" (Holland) - 5:00 (original by The Offspring)
5. "Free Fallin'" (Lynne/Petty) - 4:15 (original by Tom Petty)
6. "Are You Gonna Go My Way?" (Kravitz/Ross) - 3:35 (original by Lenny Kravitz)
7. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (Cobain/Grohl/Novoselic) - 5:29 (original by Nirvana)
8. "Even Flow" (Gossard/Vedder) - 4:28 (original by Pearl Jam)
9. "The One I Love" (Berry/Buck/Mills/Stipe) - 4:31 (original by R.E.M.)
10. "Rockin' in the Free World" (Young) - 5:03 (original by Neil Young)

This album's out of print now, but you can still buy their genius second one, which covers "classic rock" hits. They released a third album (that you can buy here) independently a couple of years ago that gathers up all their previously unreleased stuff and remixes they did for other artists.