After conquering Nirvana and then releasing an album of orchestral indie rock covers in September, the Jingle Punks Hipster Orchestra have set their sights on hip-hop, starting a project that they call “Four Strings and an 808.” Their newest release features a medley of hits from hip-hop’s most recently newsworthy family, Beyonce, Jay-Z and the newborn Blue Ivy Carter. In the video they point out that listening to classical music helps development in infants, so they made it their mission to provide baby Blue with classical takes on her parent’s tracks. I’m not sure how beneficial “Big Pimpin’” could be for an impressionable child, but for adults it sounds pretty impressive. Continue reading »

Justin Timberlake appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon over the weekend. As it has twice before (here and here), the occasion necessitated a look at the “History of Rap.” The duo once more busted a move dropping lines from classic hip-hip tracks with the Roots backing. Continue reading »

This Week on Bandcamp rounds up our favorite covers to hit the site in the past seven days.

An embarrassment of riches this week. In addition to the normal five Bandcamp spotlights, we’ve added five more below that we just didn’t want to let go. Check out the main set, then scroll further to download bonus covers of Roky Erickson, Black-Eyed Peas, The Wizard of Oz, Mountain Goats, and Antony and the Johnsons. Continue reading »

I’ve been trying to make sense of this one for an hour. What you’re looking at here is Vayden’s alt-rock-ish cover of the Kanye West/Jay-Z song “H.A.M.” (which, in case you were wondering, stands for “Hard As a Motherfucker”). It’s, well, it’s remarkably similar to the original…but different. Continue reading »

In the Spotlight showcases a cross-section of an artist’s cover work. View past installments, then post suggestions for future picks in the comments!

A few weeks ago, the music world and 20,000 lucky fans in Madison Square Garden said a bittersweet goodbye to LCD Soundsystem. James Murphy is probably better known for who has taken on his music than for covers he’s done, with everyone from Franz Ferdinand to the Muppets reimagining LCD songs. However, he’s recorded some excellent covers as well (including this week’s take on Franz’s “Live Alone” for Record Store Day). At first, it’s hard to imagine how covers could live up to LCD’s best original moments: the songs that capture the complexities of lost youth, fading love, or hipster culture with a few deft electronic tweaks. But Murphy successfully brings his signature sound to a surprising number of genres, draping sharp, lush electronics over a diverse assortment of other musicians’ work. Here’s a look at five of his best studio covers, along with a bonus live track. Continue reading »

It seems like every week we post another cover of a Katy Perry hit. Just last Friday we dug up a fun new “Firework,” after having premiered a cover of the same song the week before. Next up on Cover Me: The Top 50 Covers of “Teenage Dream” (not really).

So today we switch it up on ya with a cover by Katy Perry. No, this isn’t Cover Me: TMZ Edition, but this one’s worth posting. At last night’s opening show on the California Dreams tour located in – where else? – Portugal, Perry took a break from the high-school romance and candy-coated kisses for an acoustic medley. The choices aren’t surprising – no Dylan deep cuts here – but the pop star delivers some quirky, inventive performances stripping down recent hits. Continue reading »

Dec 082010

So it begins: Listomania 2010. Like every music blog worth its proverbial salt, Cover Me will be going list-crazy this month. The difference is, our lists will specialize in – you guessed it – cover songs. Take the typical year-end list and insert the word “Cover” between “Best” and “Albums/Songs/etc” and you have a pretty good idea of what to expect. First up: The Best Cover Videos of 2010.

Cover songs hit the web faster than ever these days, but well-crafted cover videos remain relatively rare. Sure, YouTube is bursting with webcam performances and DIY concert footage, but bedroom confessions soon grow tiresome. Well-crafted cover music videos (remember those?) come along far less often. A great video can be art on its own, playing with – or against – the audio recording to create a viewer/listener experience greater than the sum of its parts.

Below, we present our top ten cover videos of 2010. In some cases the song’s origins play an essential role in the music video; in others it makes no difference. Each brings new imagery, insight, or, in some cases, lolz to the song it accompanies. A Rastafarian astronaut shoots lasers. Apples float around a Twilight Zone apartment. Pig people fight mummy surgeons in the basement.

Check out our ten favs below, then tell us which you liked best. Continue reading »

Recently we’ve seen quite a few Roots posts (1, 2, 3). We’ve also seen some Jimmy Fallon. We haven’t yet posted the two together though (funny, given that they hang out five nights a week). Well now we can. They’ve even brought along Justin Timberlake, the best third wheel ever.

The trio (Timberlake, Fallon, Roots) takes us through a four-minute medley of rap hits from yesterday and today on last night’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. It starts with the Sugarhill Gang and ends with Jay-Z (“Empire State of Mind”). In between they tackle Eminem, Tupac, Kanye, Soulja Boy – well, pretty much everyone. Even the Roots’ own “The Seed 2.0” gets the Timb-Fall treatment. Continue reading »

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