Mar 222017
 

Full Albums features covers of every track off a classic album. Got an idea for a future pick? Leave a note in the comments!

bringing it all back home covers

Bob Dylan’s 1965 Newport Folk Festival concerts is one of the most famous – or infamous – performances of all time, subject to numerous books, documentaries, and debates over why Pete Seeger threatened to cut the power cable with an axe. But the fact is, by the time he stepped on that stage, Dylan had already gone electric, four months prior. The first half of his 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home – which turns 52 today – is all electric. And not the sort of light electric augmentation other folk singers were experimenting with either. The first track “Subterranean Homesick Blues” may still be the loudest, hardest track of Dylan’s entire career. He’d already drawn his line in the sand; the folk-music crowd had just chosen to ignore it.

To celebrate this landmark album’s 52nd birthday, we’re giving it the full-album treatment. Our recent tributes to Dylan albums have covered underrated works like 1978’s Street Legal and 1985’s Empire Burlesque, but today we return to the classics. Such classics, in fact, that in addition to our main cover picks we list some honorable-mention bonus covers for each song. Continue reading »

Dec 062011
 

I have no hard data to back this up, but I suspect that EPs play a larger role in the world of cover songs than they do elsewhere. In the wider world, EPs tend to be an afterthought, a set of rejects or remixes that may or may not be worthwhile. People pay little attention to EPs, and artists act accordingly, saving their real statements for the full-lengths. In our world, though, we see as many EPs as we do proper albums, and they’re every bit as good. An artist may hesitate to put out a “cover album” – still a loaded term in some circles – but in the age of Garageband and Bandcamp, it’s only too easy to record a half dozen covers and toss ‘em out between albums. Therefore, in honor of the EP’s prominence in our world, we present our favorite EPs of 2011 (with an MP3 from each). Continue reading »

Oct 272011
 

A couple of weeks ago, KEXP radio set up a studio at the KEX Hostel in Reykjavik during Iceland Airwaves ’11 to broadcast some live performances. One of those was Icelandic indie singer/songwriter and musician Ólöf Arnalds, who was joined by her younger sister Karla on a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man,” and you can watch it below. Continue reading »

Jun 162010
 

Under the Radar shines a light on lesser-known cover artists. If you’re not listening to these folks, you should.

What is it about Iceland? Yes, sometimes it spews enough ash to shut down European flights for weeks. Sure, sometimes it accumulates debt that threatens the entire global economy. Everyone has their faults. The music Iceland exports seems universally fantastic though. Does Iceland simply not have any pop-punk emo kids? Where are the ear-bleeding Top 40 rappers? Does the Icelandic populace just have better taste than everyone else?

The country continues its winning streak with Ólöf Arnalds. Ms. Arnalds debuted in 2007 with – say it with me now – Við Og Við. She works closely with Sigur Rós piano/xylophone player Kjartan Sveinsson and her latest single features Björk. Icelandic musicians stick together.
Continue reading »