Dec 112013
 

OK, so it may have only been two years ago that James Murphy last played (and streamed live) as LCD Soundsystem in Madison Square Garden, but there is still a small little hole in our hearts that can only be filled by Mr. Murphy…or at least an amazing cover of one of his songs. MS MR have been performing an awesome live rendition of “Dance Yrslf Clean” and here we have a polished studio version, complete with some bumpin’ sax. Continue reading »

Jan 032012
 

Last April’s five-song set of Franz Ferdinand covers to celebrate Record Store Day was unlikely enough. LCD Soundsystem, Debbie Harry, and more came together to tackle some newer songs by the Scottish quartet. Even less likely: now all the covers have honest-to-goodness music videos. Continue reading »

Dec 162011
 

When people look back in 2011 in music a decade from now, one name will come to mind: Adele. In our little world of cover songs, she dominated. Everyone covered Adele this year. It’s not just that we saw more covers of “Rolling in the Deep” than any other song; they beat out second place (probably “Pumped Up Kicks”) by like a factor of five! We generally try to look for larger cover trends in these annual wrap-ups, but it’s hard to remember anything else from this year except the year-long onslaught of Adele covers hitting our mailbox.

There’s only one “Rolling in the Deep” cover in this year’s list though. The rest are all over the place. Some of the artists listed built their covers with lush soundscapes, thick beats, and intricate string work. Others just took guitars or pianos and bowled us over with the emotion in their voices. There may not be much of an overarching “Year in Covers” narrative, but that means there’s a cover or two for everyone. From feel-good takes on rap songs to kill-yourself versions of pop songs, this year’s list features flips, flops, and genre switcheroos of all sorts. A good cover should be informed by the source material but stand on its own, and we’ll be unrolling the 50 finest examples of songs doing just that all week. Start with #50-41 on the next page and check back daily as we count down to the best cover of 2011.

Sep 062011
 

Tokyo Police Club finished their “10 Songs, 10 Days, 10 Hours, 10 Years” series over the weekend with five more covers. We’ve already heard them tackle everyone from Moby to the Strokes and that diversity holds for the final set. They start with Phoenix, end with Miley Cyrus, and tackle LCD Soundsystem, M83, and Harlem Shakes in between. Continue reading »

Aug 262011
 

Brooklyn newcomers Lightouts have only been making music for about a year, but they’ve already appeared twice on these pages, covering the Stone Roses and then the La’s. Their latest cover combines two more well-established artists. They cleverly pair LCD Soundsystem’s “All I Want” with David Bowie’s “Heroes.” Lightouts, the named adopted by duo Greg Nelson and Gavin Rhodes, craft a seamless, energetic cross-generational mashup as the b-side for their new single, “The Eloise Suite.” Continue reading »

Aug 122011
 

For the last few years, the folks at Cokemachineglow have marked the end of the year with a Fantasy Covers Podcast. In the latest edition, they give the Podcast a twist by making it a contest– they encouraged artists to submit covers that “re-contextualize” a track with an unexpected new genre. As they predicted, the results are both strange, creative, and occasionally hit-or-miss, but the overall result is a set of imaginative covers with some terrific standouts. Unfortunately the Podcast format means that the 13 covers are only available in one massive file, but it’s one worth downloading. Continue reading »