Dec 212012
 

Adele dominated the cover song landscape in 2011, but Two-Aught-Twelve saw no similar galvanizing figure. Yes Lana Del Rey got covered a lot, but Leonard Cohen and Arcade Fire also seemed to garner an unexpected landslide of great covers (and speaking of landslides, so did Fleetwood Mac). “Call Me Maybe” was a huge hit that didn’t lead to much in the way of classic covers, and few seem to have even bothered attempting the Korean raps on “Gangnam Style.”

Which means that cover songs in 2012 were more diverse, ambitious, and left-field than ever before. A given YouTube search or Hype Machine browse would be as likely to turn up forgotten hits or underappreciated songwriters as it would the latest Top 40 smash. Find a sampling of all the diversity in Cover Me’s official Best Cover Songs of 2012 countdown. Start with #40-31 on the next page, and check back daily as we’ll be adding more til we hit #1.

Aug 172011
 

Richard Buckner’s spare alt-country ballads remind many people of Townes Van Zandt. When NPR posted a “First Listen” to his new album, they mentioned Van Zandt in the second sentence. Buckner’s Wikipedia page waits a little longer…till Sentence #4. It would seem this association is no music-writer fantasy. In his new cover of “Still Looking for You,” Buckner channels Townes so thoroughly you’d swear you were looking at a warts-and-all reincarnation of the man. Continue reading »