Mar 282019
 

‘The Best Ever’ series counts down our favorite covers of great artists.

best radiohead cover songs

All week we’ve been running features on every artist inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s unusually strong 2019 class. But the biggest tribute goes to the band least excited about the honor. And that’s maybe as it should be.

Their unenthusiastic reaction – as I write this, it’s not even clear if any of them will show up – reminds me of when Bob Dylan first played Obama’s White House. Bob didn’t come to his own rehearsal, or to the customary photo op with the president. He turned up at the last minute, played his songs, shook the President’s hand, and immediately left the building. And as Obama told Rolling Stone: “That’s how you want Bob Dylan, right? You don’t want him to be all cheesin’ and grinnin’ with you. You want him to be a little skeptical about the whole enterprise.” Continue reading »

Mar 262012
 

Last we checked in with Portland Cello Project, they were getting their hip-hop on with Kanye West’s “All of the Lights.” They’ve now continued the trend, but mixed a little Jigga into the mix with their new cover of Jay-Z and Kanye’s collab “H.A.M.” It adds flutes, brass, and crashing percussion to the classical-gone-crunk blend. Continue reading »

Jan 282011
 

Hip-hop and cello may seem like strange bedfellows to most, but not to the Portland Cello Project. The group, who describe themselves as an “amorphous collective,” formed in 2007 and record for Kill Rock Stars – home to The Decemberists, Gossip and Bikini Kill. They perform a mixture of originals and genre-crossing orchestral covers. And it doesn’t get much more genre-crossing than this. Continue reading »