“Weird Al” Yankovic first debuted his new “Polka Face” covers medley live last year, and now, 15 months later, we move from shaky concert footage to off-the-wall music video. Now, normally Al’s polkas get music videos for his concerts consisting of the original video clips synced to his medley (like this one), so this marks his polka-video debut. Continue reading »
No question, music-comedy pioneer “Weird Al” Yankovic is known for his parodies and, to a lesser extent, his original musical numbers. But he performs a third, perhaps underappreciated, category of song: the cover. Every album includes a “polka” medley which, though not labeled as such, fits the dictionary definition of a cover: same lyrics, different music. His latest, Alpocalypse, includes another instant classic: Polka Face. Continue reading »
It’s easy to have low expectations of acoustic covers of pop songs. It’s understandable that so many of them are as difficult to listen to as the originals; with the general simplicity of the originals, an artist might be quick to think they’ve nailed it. Oftentimes they’re right and they have nailed it – this, however, doesn’t mean that the cover is good. Corin Joel blows this generalization out of the water with his recent batch of covers: Britney Spears’ “Hold it Against Me,” Ke$ha’s “We R Who We R,” Sean Kingston and Justin Bieber’s “Eenie Meenie,” and Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl.” Continue reading »
Today marks the 7th 17th birthday of Canadian popstar Justin Bieber. If you’re a fan, you might already have plans to celebrate by watching his video for “Baby” another 472 million times on YouTube (that’s the actual view count), sending hate mail to Esperanza Spalding, or seeing his recently-deceased haircut in glorious 3-D during your seventh viewing of Never Say Never. Montreal band Code Pie have marked the auspicious occasion – and more importantly the upcoming release of their third album – with a nostalgic cover of Bieber’s hit single “Baby.” Continue reading »
Every Wednesday, our resident Gleek Eric Garneau gives his take on last night’s Glee covers.
Call me Esperanza Spalding, because I’m about to upset some Justin Bieber fans.
Earlier this season, when some press outlets reported rumors that Glee would spend an entire episode paying tribute to Justin Bieber, my heart sank a little. Fortunately, those rumors were blown out of proportion; instead of a whole episode, Glee gave over only a couple songs to the teenage sensation. Still, those 20 minutes or so when Bieber provided the central focus for the show’s plot created a pretty horrific viewing experience. Continue reading »
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 »