August 2016 - Page 2 of 4

Cover Me Q&A: What’s your favorite foreign-language cover song?

Posted by Staff at 12:00 pm 4 Responses »

Aug 242016

Welcome to Cover Me Q&A, where we take your questions about cover songs and answer them to the best of our ability.

Here at Cover Me Q&A, we’ll be taking questions about cover songs and giving as many different answers as we can. This will give us a chance to hold forth on covers we might not otherwise get to talk about, to give Cover Me readers a chance to learn more about individual staffers’ tastes and writing styles, and to provide an opportunity for some back-and-forth, as we’ll be taking requests (learn how to do so at feature’s end).

Today’s question, from Cover Me staffer Jordan Becker: What’s your favorite foreign-language cover song?
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Kris Kristofferson Duets with Audrey Spillman on Her New Cover of “I’ve Got to Have You” (Premiere)

Posted by Ray Padgett at 10:00 am 6 Responses »

Aug 232016

As has happened with a number of Kris Kristofferson songs (“Me and Bobby McGee,” “For the Good Times,” “Sunday Morning Comin’ Down”), “I’ve Got to Have You” was originally a hit for somebody else, Carly Simon. When Kristofferson first recorded his own version in 1974, he turned it into a duet, with his then-wife Rita Coolidge. Forty years later, he’s reprising his part on a gorgeous new cover by Nashville singer/songwriter Audrey Spillman.

Spillman met Kristofferson last year when they both acted together on the upcoming movie Wheeler. She’d given his wife a copy of her new EP and the couple loved it. As Spillman began recording her debut album (Thornbird, out next month), she emailed wondering whether he had any unrecorded songs he might like her to record. His wife suggested instead that Spillman record “I’ve Got To Have You” – and have Kris sing it with her, reprising his part from forty years ago. Continue reading »

Cover Classics: Drive XV: A Tribute to ‘Automatic for the People’

Posted by Patrick Robbins at 5:00 pm No Responses »

Aug 192016

Cover Classics takes a closer look at all-cover albums of the past, their genesis, and their legacy.

With Out of Time, R.E.M. completed their transition from college band to global stardom, and they wanted their next album to move away from Time‘s gentle lushness and move into harder-rocking territory, more suited to the grunge-y times. But when the band members reconvened, they found they were no longer of a mind to write loud ‘n’ angry. Result: Automatic for the People, a meditation on loss that’s downbeat without being depressing, from a band turning away from a world begging to be conquered so it could consider its disquiet. The record wasn’t what they originally promised, but it didn’t disappoint either – it went top-five worldwide, and today it’s considered the band’s masterpiece, the kind of album you put on and then you just lie down and you let it engulf you (or so it is said).

“Every one of its 12 songs is worthy of attention,” MOJO said, and in 2007 the website Stereogum proved it with their tribute album Drive XV: A Tribute to Automatic for the People. A celebration of Automatic‘s 15th anniversary, the tribute featured artists who grew up with R.E.M. as a constant in their lives, and hearing that familiar band speaking with a new voice clearly made an impression on these musicians who were still discovering their own voices and the ways they could be raised.
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Israeli Singer Jozzef Gives Nick Drake’s “River Man” a Beautiful Electro-Orchestral Cover

Posted by Ray Padgett at 11:30 am 2 Responses »

Aug 182016

Due to a certain Volkswagen commercial, Nick Drake may be most often thought of these days as an guitar-strumming-songwriter type. But anyone who’s listened beyond Pink Moon knows Drake’s first records were elaborate orchestral affairs helmed by producing legend Joe Boyd, the man behind Fairport Convention and early Pink Floyd. One of those ornate beauties is Drake’s debut album Five Leaves Left (we posted covers of every song a few years ago), which contains the stunning single “River Man.” And on his soaring new cover, Israeli singer Jozzef pays tribute to the orchestral side of Nick Drake with his own layered production. Instead of just orchestra, though, Jozzef adds in more modern touches like layered vocals and even the occasional subtle synthesizer. Continue reading »

Florence and The Machine Brings Back the Harp for Soaring “Stand By Me” Cover

Posted by Ray Padgett at 4:38 pm No Responses »

Aug 172016

On Florence and The Machine’s most recent album How Big How Blue How Beautiful, much was made of the absence of Florence Welch’s trademark harp. Well for any early fans who missed it, the harp is back in full force on her new cover of Ben E. King’s classic “Stand By Me.” It’s a very different song choice than the Justin Bieber and Skrillex song she tackled last year! The cover was teased months ago as part of the Final Fantasy XV video game, but the full version just came out on a new EP. Continue reading »

Concert Review: ‘Day of the Dead’ Tribute ft. The National @ Eaux Claires Fest

Posted by Matt Vadnais at 4:45 pm 1 Response »

Aug 152016

Preparing for this past weekend’s “Day of the Dead” concert – the all-star band rendition of The National-lead Grateful Dead tribute album of the same name at Bon Iver’s Eaux Claires festival in Wisconsin – I interviewed a handful of involved artists and kept asking a question that no one knew exactly what to do with. My question: “Given the legacy of the Dead as a live band, what is going to be different about playing these covers live, as opposed to recording them for a tribute album?”

After a thoughtful silence that may have been tinged with a little bit of puzzlement, everyone said something about it being a terrific opportunity to harness the additional energy of having a live crowd.

“No [it’s not going to be harder],” Megafaun’s Phil Cook told me, “mostly because people are just stoked as shit to hear a Dead cover. Whenever people in the audience recognize it, they just lose their shit. They’re so happy that you’re doing it. It’s a completely welcome enterprise.” Continue reading »