May 312019
 

Check out the best covers of past months here.

best cover songs may
AURORA – Across the Universe (The Beatles cover)

The first of a couple Beatles covers this month, AURORA’s “Across the Universe” doesn’t reinvent the wheel, it just removes a few spokes. The Norwegian singer-songwriter strips everything away but keys and a bunch of voices (there’s a guitarist too, though barely audible). It’s all the song needs. Continue reading »

Jan 032013
 

If there’s one thing YouTube is great for (of which there are many), it’s the proliferation of great covers. While there are many not-so-great covers, there are a some acts like Walk Off The Earth that launch their careers with fantastic ones. The band first demonstrated their quirky genius with their take on Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know,” on which they somehow managed to coordinate five people playing one guitar. Continue reading »

Oct 152012
 

Earlier this year we featured five of the best covers, so far, of Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know”. Of course the first video that went uber-viral and helped ignite interest in this year-old song was the five-on-one guitar cover by Walk Off the Earth. Since then hundreds of covers, parodies and remixes of this hit have flooded the YouTubes. You are in luck, as I have spent far too much time listening to the already overexposed song to pull out a few covers that either rival or surpass the original. In no particular order, here are ten more versions for your enjoyment.

1) Karmin–  a Cover Me regular from YouTube that has gone on to appear on Saturday Night Live. Watch Amy and Nick do their pop thing on SiriusXM Hits.

 

2) Kelly Clarkson – The original American Idol performs live at Jones Beach, NY on August 21, 2012.

 

3) Netherlands Radio Choir – The 74 person ensemble does the song to raise funds to help save the choir.

 

4) fun. featuring Hayley Williams – fun, performs live on BBC 1 Radio’s Live Lounge alongside a recording of the Paramore singer.

 

5) Rita Ora – The UK singer, songwriter and actress drops an R&B take on Radio 1’s Live Lounge

 

6) Cast of Glee – “They did such a faithful arrangement of the instruments but the vocals were that pop ‘Glee’ style, ultra dry, sounded pretty tuned and the rock has no real sense, like it’s playing to you from a cardboard box,” Gotye told the Sunday Mail of Darren Criss and Matt Bomer’s rendition of his song.

 

7) Noah featuring Christina Grimmie – The incredibly talented, deep voiced Noah Guthrie keeps the YouTube cover hits coming.

 

8) Old School Computer Remix – With an HP Scanjet 3C as the vocals.  An Amiga 600 as Bass on left audio output and Guitar on right audio output. Harddrives as the drums and cymbal and a PIC16F84A microcontroller, this digital ditty is pretty amazing.

 

9) “The Star Wars That I Used To Know”  – A Parody with new music and original lyrics. It’s a story of heartbreak to which Star Wars fans everywhere can relate. A shot at the movie remakes, new CGi effects and George Lucas. Easily the best video.

 

10) Two Kids in a Car – I know this isn’t a cover, but these two six year old friends who love this song are serious stars in the making. How can you not love this?


Check out more from Gotye on his website
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Aug 272012
 

Following up on their massively successful Youtube version of Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” (133 million views and counting!), Walk Off the Earth is back with another indie pop cover. As they prepare to kick off an international tour, the Ontario five-piece has released their take on fun.‘s “Some Nights.” They invited singer/songwriter Julia Nunes along for the ride. Continue reading »

Feb 242012
 

Back in early January when we first posted Walk Off The Earth‘s unique cover of Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know” the video had around 30K views. Now, less than six weeks later it has over sixty million! If you have one of the fastest growing viral videos ever on YouTube, what do you do next? The answer is easy: you figure out what made the viral craze great and you capitalize on it. Walk Off The Earth have nailed it on their follow up, as they have released official ‘Beard Guy’ t-shirts and turned him into ‘Epic Beard Guy’ with the addition of a smoking pipe in the latest vid. Continue reading »

Feb 072012
 

Best (So Far) finds the finest first-round covers of the latest pop hits.

Gotye’s über-ctachy breakup jam “Somebody That I Used to Know” first hit the web last summer, but it’s only taken off stateside in the past few months. A small part of that popularity comes from Walk Off the Earth’s stunning viral cover. Lots of other artists have covered the song too, many delivering takes at least almost as memorable. Continue reading »