Cover News is a weekly feature where I sum up the week’s cover-related news, whether it’s new to the world or just new to me. Anything that doesn’t fit in my regular thematic posts I think my readers would enjoy, be it a youtube video, a blog shout-out, or a cool-looking new release. I also post all the submissions I have gotten from record labels and artists. Send suggestions or submissions to the email address on the right.
This Week’s News
We’ll kick it off today with a hodgepodge of new freebie cover tunes. Prepare for a link explosion as I point you to…Noah and the Whale do the Smiths, Lady GaGa does Coldplay, Marie Digby does Ciara/Justin Timberlake, Islands do Beck, Of Montreal do the Beatles, Son of Dave does Kany—I mean, Daft Punk, Fischerspooner does R.E.M., Sugarland does Kings of Leon, and Andrew Bird does Kermit the Frog in French.
Whew. With all those out of the way, let’s look at a few upcoming releases on the horizon. Brooklyn Vegan tells us about a new one from French cover group Nouvelle Vague, and there’s quite a bit of buzz building about a Killers cover album. If it’s anything like what they’ve done to Dire Straits or Joy Division, it should be special indeed.
Even more interesting news comes from Pitchfork, telling us about an upcoming soundtrack where groups like Devandra Banhart and the Black Lips are covering regional Mexican songs. Interesting indeed, and will be available on Cinco de Mayo.
For music you can hear now though, head over the Berkeley Place for his take on three new tribute albums (with plenty of mp3 excitement) from Willie to Wu-Tang. He was nice enough to give this month’s Master of Puppets cover post a shout-out, so keep an eye on his site. Berkeley Place ain’t nothin’ to fuck with.
For eight seasons American Idol has brought us Barry Manilow-esq covers of schlock like “Kiss From a Rose” or “Send In the Clowns.” So give them points for showing actual musical relevancy by getting the remaining contestants to take on Lykke Li. Unfortunately, it’s for a car ad. But still.
Speaking of new ad covers, check out Peter Murphy of Bauhaus shilling for J.P. Morgan Chase with a cover of John Lennon’s “Instant Karma.”
For a guy who died twelve years ago, the new Jeff Buckley material never seems to end. A new concert recording has just surfaced from 1994 that features never-before-heard covers of Joni Mitchell, the Beatles, and many more. Get this…he even does Leonard Cohen! You’ll never guess which song.
So I saw Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band on Tuesday. And Wednesday. And, you know, they were pretty good or whatever. No John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band, but they try. Both shows featured some covers, including one fan-requested wildcard each night: ZZ Top’s “I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide” on night one and The Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated” on night two. Anyway, you can read my reviews here (soon), and then catch up on loads of new Springsteen covers over at Hangin’ Out On E Street. If there’s interest, I can rip some mp3s from the videos for next week’s Cover News.
This Week’s Submissions
None :(
