Cover News is a weekly feature where I sum up the week’s cover-related news, whether it’s new to the world or just new to me. Anything that doesn’t fit in my regular thematic posts I think my readers would enjoy, be it a youtube video, a blog shout-out, or a cool-looking new release. I also post all the submissions I have gotten from record labels and artists.
Time to debut another new feature here at Cover Me! I’ve loved sharing the music with you all over the past year and a half, but I always find stuff that doesn’t fit in my somewhat constricting thematic format. So allow me to present a new supplementary series: Cover News. Anything cover-related I think you should hear now, without waiting for it to fit into one of my themes.
One of the most exciting parts will be sharing the many submissions I get from artists and labels. I always feel guilty when I am sent great tracks or CDs and take forever posting them because they don’t fit into a theme. So here you can grab the tunes as soon as they reach my mailbox. Side note: Any artists/labels that sent me tunes I never posted, remind me and they will go up here next week. The days of your (completely justified) impatience are over!
This Week’s News
The first bit of news is a little self-promotion, a reminder that you only have four more days to decide which song derpferdheisshorstwienerschnitzelschwarzeneggerkablowie (sp?) covers for this week’s Cover Commissions. Read about it here, then vote on the right.
I’d like to give a shout-out to the newest member to the cover crew, Grand Passion. There’s plenty of tunes out there, so the more the merrier!
Ariel Aparicio does a great cover of the Psychedelic Furs’ “Pretty in Pink,” and now you can hear it while supporting a good cause! Buy it from iTunes here and Ariel will donate all his profits to the Greater New York City Affiliate of Susan G. Komen For The Cure, founded for a friend battling breast cancer.
Highly Rec’d has come up with a nice little playlist called Don’t Hog the Covers ’09 that you can check out here. From Elvis to the Thermals, they’ve got you covered.
Our old friend James Eric directed me to Redbear’s live set of Velvet Underground covers, available for free at the music paradise CLLCT (hint: search “cover). Thanks James!
Fiona Apple has been hiding out recently, but she’s resurfaced with a track for a Cy Coleman tribute EP. Listen to “Why Try to Change Me Now?” here.
Old-school folkie Marianne Faithfull has released a covers disc that tries to get some of that Johnny Cash mojo, taking on everyone from Espers to Merle Haggard. The unquestioned high point though is her take on The Decemberists’ “The Crane Wife 3” with Nick Cave, and you can watch her perform it on Letterman here.
In a blogosphere filled with shoddy posts and quick tunes, you can always count on Aquarium Drunkard to raise the bar for thoughtful content along with their tunes. Read about (then listen to) Whiskeytown’s “Nervous Breakdown” cover here, then check out their thoughts on Spoon doing Destroyer thisaway.
Berkeley Place isn’t technically a cover blog, but dude posts so many covers it might as well be. All Kurt fans will love his set of Nirvana covers, rarities, etc. Did I set set? I meant sets. It’s a four part post.
The Smithsonian is offering a free download of Cephas & Winnan’s version of the folk classic “John Henry,” which I found over at Muruch.
This Week’s Submissions
The Marches – Cold Shoulder (Adele) [Website]
My Lady’s House – I Kissed a Girl (Katy Perry) [Website]
Daniel Eaton – Just Like Honey (Jesus and Mary Chain) [Website]
Neil Nathan – Do Ya (Electric Light Orchestra) [Website]
Catman Cohen – Fade Into You (Mazzy Star) [Website]
Sharif – The District Sleeps Alone Tonight (The Postal Service) [Website]
Haverford Humtones – Get Behind the Mule (Tom Waits) [Website]
