Jul 292011
 

This Week on Bandcamp rounds up our favorite covers to hit the site in the past seven days.

This week’s Bandcamp spotlight takes inspiration from Bollywood and the Boss, Brooklyn and Buenos Aires. Whether you’re into post-rock roar or delicate folk harmonies, these five tunes should be all you need to get through the weekend.


Clarence Clemons passed away last month, so you might expect this Bruce Springsteen cover to be a tribute to him. It isn’t – at least, not overtly. The Big Man’s sax solo is gone, replaced by handclaps, moaning, and organ darker than anything Danny Federici ever played.


Don’t feel bad if you only recognize 1978 Bollywood hit “Ye Mera Dil Pyaar Ka Diwana” from its prominent use in the Black Eyed Peas’ “Don’t Phunk with My Heart.” Watch Helen’s mesmerizing original performance in the film Don to catch up, then dig this more modern cover, recorded for the BBC’s Asian Network.


In its original form, Elliott Smith’s “Alphabet Town” was a harmonica-filled acoustic meditation. The harmonica remains in the Bondies’ cover, but not much else. The Buenos Aires psychedelic group churns through a mid-tempo rock cover that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Nuggets set.


Post-rock as a genre doesn’t lend itself to covers. You don’t see Sigur Rós or Explosions in the Sky churning out many indie or pop tributes. Covering another post-rock band, though, makes the transition easier. That’s the route Pie Are Squared take on their 65daysofstatic cover, one epically loud instrumental group reworking another. The results will both shake your ribcage and take you on a journey, just as the genre should.


Fleet Foxes are known for their immaculate harmonies, but they might have tough competition in the gals from the Suitor. Accompanied only by claps and whistles, these voices bring a new level of choral beauty to the already gorgeous song.

Check out previous installments here.

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