Sep 142010
 

You all submit so many great covers it’s hard to keep up. When we fall behind, we gather the best and brightest in a Submission Roundup.

Our inbox is just about bursting. You guys send so many great songs I wish we could feature them all individually. Sadly, we can’t. Instead, we’re beginning a new feature: Submissions Roundup. It’s just what it sounds like: a barebones post collecting all the submissions we didn’t want to fall through the cracks. Next to each, you’ll find a link to the artist’s website.

Do you have something to submit? Send it along here! Continue reading »

Sep 032010
 

Live Collection brings together every live cover we can find from an artist. And we find a lot.

You think Vermont music, you might think flanneled hippies strumming mandolins. Not Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. They may come from the great wooded north, but their big soul sound comes straight from Dixie with a side of south-side Chicago. Potter is a vocal tour de force, a skinny white girl with an enormous voice. She can do a two-hour show without fading a bit and her hot four-piece band keeps right in step. Searing guitar solos abound, but nothing can upstage that voice.

Through years of near-constant touring, the band has amassed quite a stack of covers. In our latest Live Collection, we collect every concert cover we could find (thanks archive.org!). That includes blasts through Blondie, My Morning Jacket, and a whole lot of Neil Young – including a 14-minute “Cortez the Killer” that should be required listening for any rock band. Josh Ritter joins the band on John Prine’s “Pretty Good,” but otherwise they don’t need any help in blowing the roof off any building they play.

As a special bonus, below the main set we have the thematic new covers from their 2009 New Year’s Eve show. The band had clearly been spinning the Top Gun soundtrack a lot; they cover seven songs from the darn thing! And not just the original soundtrack either. The band apparently took to the 1999 Special Edition CD, cause they run through three of the four old-school bonus tracks as well. In between ’80s classics like “Take My Breath Away” and “Danger Zone,” the band throws out Top Gun lines as a wink to clued-in audience members. “This is Ghost Rider requesting permission for a flyby!” Permission granted. Continue reading »

Feb 132010
 

Cover News is a weekly feature keeping you up to date on the goings-on in the world of cover tunes, tribute albums, etc. Plus, at the bottom we post the array of cover tunes we’ve been sent in the past week. Have you recorded a cool cover? Send an mp3 to the address on the right!
 As always, follow Cover Me on Twitter for the latest news.

Vampire Weekend

This Week’s News

On Thursday we debuted a brand-new feature: Five Good Covers. Any ideas for future installments? [Cover Me]

Valentine’s Day is coming up! What could be more appropriate than Vampire Weekend covering Rancid? Answer: Absolutely anything. [Abeano]

Epic list of Decemberists covers. Finally I’ve tracked down a recording of them doing “The Weight” with Mavis Staples at Bonnaroo ’07. [You Ain’t No Picasso]

The Who may have embarrassed themselves at the Super Bowl, but the Postelles version of “I Can’t Explain” promises redemption. [Examiner]

The Air Force aired a Super Bowl ad containing an unauthorized instrumental White Stripes cover. Add this to the list of battles the military should never have gotten into. [Third Man Records]

YACHT cover Weezer’s “Holiday.” Teaser: Look for more Weez cover excitement here next week. [Tumblr]

Johnny Cash’s American VI will be his final album (probably). His version of “Ain’t No Grave” hints that it may be one of his best too. [Spinner]

Wilco cover Buffalo Springfield’s “Broken Arrows.” Jeff Tweedy likes Neil Young? Who’d have guessed! [YouTube]

Speaking of Neil Young, Graham Nash is the subject of a new tribute album. I hope it’s folksy! [Grass Roots Record Co.]

Cold War Kids (and Fiona Apple and She & Him) cover songs written by actual kids. Yes, very cute, but what are the odds of this actually being good? [Pitchfork]

Jersey ska punks Streetlight Manifesto have been teasing fans with the possibility of an eight-disc project for over a year now, but parts of the first disc are starting to leak. First up: their version of Radiohead’s “Just.” It’s loud. [Strike Gently]

This Week’s Submissions

Commuter – Always on My Mind (Brenda Lee) [more]

Jon Hardy & The Public – Where Did Our Love Go? (The Supremes) [more]

Julian Shah-Tayler – Joan of Arc (Leonard Cohen) [more]

That Noise – Sex on Fire (Kings of Leon) [more]

Send your cover to the address on the right for inclusion!