Mar 052024
 
pet shop boys all the young dudes

Erudite, enigmatic and quintessentially English, The Pet Shop Boys have been at the centre of Britain’s cultural life for over 40 years. Two boys from the North of England, who met in the South, they speak to the widest audience in their home country, with a worldwide appeal. With that experience and cachet, they can choose how they exercise their influence. If they wish to do a residency at the Royal Opera House, to perform to an audience less familiar with electronic music, they can. If the BBC Concert Orchestra offers a collaboration, and opportunity to plug a new album, they can take up the offer. For a recent slot in the Radio 2 Piano Room, available here, they added a cover of “All The Young Dudes” to revised versions of their songs, along with a chat to fellow Northerner Vernon Kay. Continue reading »

Mar 052024
 
nick cave new look

Nick Cave may have started in the Birthday Party—”the most violent live band in the world”—but his latest release a bit more toned down: an old-timey style cover of Edith Piaf’s “La Vie En Rose.” It comes from producer Jack Antonoff’s The New Look soundtrack, which has showcased period-appropriate versions of popular oldies by famous musicians and groups such as The 1975 (“Now is the Hour”), Lana Del Rey (“Blue Skies”), and more.

The show focuses on designers Coco Chanel and Christian Dior inside of Nazi-occupied Paris, France. Cave’s deep baritone voice was gritty and rich in the heartfelt version of the French song. This nostalgic cover is floating on a jazzy cafe-style piano with a steady quarter-note beat. About halfway through, Cave’s voice seems to fade into the distance, and orchestra-feeling saxes, and chimes/bells come in.

Cave takes his time on some unexpected syllables and even adds a spoken word section in the middle. Between the instrumentation, production, and weary/melancholy, the delivery makes it feel like it is coming from World War II.

Check out many more covers of and by Nick Cave here.

Mar 052024
 
enhyphen what makes you beautiful

Fans went wild when the 7-piece K-Pop band Enhyphen recently released a cover of One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful.” The original was upbeat and had clear, belted harmonies and a forward-moving rhythm, and this version is spot-on.

The members of Enhyphen have voices that combine to have a certain synergy to them- comparative to that of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik. The group even posed similarly to 1D in some promotional photos. Continue reading »

Mar 042024
 
lives lost let me down slowly

Lives Lost is a group from Hershey, PA. Their tasteful yet heavy cover of Alec Benjamin’s hit “Let Me Down Slowly” begins acoustic, but quickly turns into a more intense song after just a single phrase. The band added new harmonies with tasteful vocal distortion and layers and layers of wailing guitars. Then, when the words “Let me down” hit the intensity increases yet again. Continue reading »

Mar 042024
 
rhiannon giddens alice randall

On February 21, roots music virtuoso Rhiannon Giddens released a cover of Alice Randall’s “The Ballad of Sally Anne.” It will be included on an upcoming Randall tribute album: My Black Country. Yet, when Giddens looks back on this time, I imagine she’ll be thinking of a different song.

Giddens appears playing banjo and viola on Beyoncé’s new record-breaking, genre-busting country single “Texas Hold ‘Em.” As of this writing, the song is number one on the Billboard country music and pop music charts, inspiring countless internet memes (and fueling fits of hysteria from racist idiots).

Continue reading »

Mar 012024
 
clipping tipsy

Back in 2020, we listed the Save Stereogum album, a compilation of 55 artists covering songs from the ’00s, as the 21st best covers album of the year. The compilation featured an eclectic lineup, including experimental rap trio clipping. doing a noise-driven clipping. cover of J-Kwon’s club hit “Tipsy.” This week clipping. gave the song an official 7″ release on Sub Pop and have added it to streaming services.

clipping. have been around since 2009 but they’ve grown their fanbase thanks to rapper Daveed Diggs’ prominent role in Hamilton. Fans of that performance might be slightly jarred by the soundscapes created by Diggs’ partners William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes, but fans of noise-rap (or listeners with an open mind) will be delighted by the feedback-heavy production combined with Diggs’ precision wordplay and delivery.

The J-Kwon track here is paid due homage, both through the chorus and the use of the countdown starting each verse, but Diggs uses the song as a springboard for his own lyrics. Thematically, Diggs sticks to the storyline of the club, alcohol, sex, and violence, but as he’s known to do, he describes a scene with an additional layer of danger and darkness to it. The beat here is punctuated by static, beeps, and distortion of all kinds that solidify the griminess of this track. If you’re looking for a feel good hit to play in the club or at a party, this isn’t going to replace the J-Kwon original unless you are trying to get yourself a lot of quizzical looks. But if you want to hear a song that’s in that gray area between uncomfortable and catchy, this cover, like a lot of clipping. offerings, has you covered.