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Jan 232015
 

In the Spotlight showcases a cross-section of an artist’s cover work. View past installments, then post suggestions for future picks in the comments!

The sun must have been approximately eight inches from my forehead as I wound my way through a crush of warm bodies – all of them panting and glistening in the fierce Texas heat. Perspiration beaded and trickled down the damp necks of an expectant crowd; condensation beaded and trickled down their cans of Lagunitas.

With the first loud and clear ring of an electric guitar, a roar arose from the crowd, and Paolo Nutini strutted onto stage at Austin City Limits – shirt unbuttoned like a golden god of 70s rock, tight pants that might have been painted onto his lithe frame, and a tousled mane that exemplified the definition of “sex hair.”

And then, the man proceeded to take us to church.
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Aug 082011
 

Last month, we heard the first cut from upcoming John Martyn tribute album Johnny Boy Would Love This. Today we have seven more to check out, from some of the album’s heaviest hitters. John Martyn may not be a household name, but these cuts should help breathe new life into many near-forgotten gems. Continue reading »

Nov 172010
 

Single Servings digs out a cover worth revisiting.

One of the downsides to a song that is legitimately great, particularly when part of its greatness is thematically tied to the singer and/or songwriter, is that you can all but guarantee a gazillion lesser artists are going to cover it without worrying for a moment about how appropriate the song is to their style. This is how we get “Lust for Life” played over cruise ship commercials and Britney Spears using words like “prerogative.” While this occasionally turns out amusing, it’s usually a problem. See, it’s one thing for every Tom, Dick and Harry to rush off to cover a great, if generic, song like “Umbrella,” and quite another for a supposed high school glee club to tackle something like Amy Winehouse‘s great ironic ode to contentious stubbornness and substance abuse rationalization, “Rehab.” Continue reading »

May 102011
 

Five Good Covers presents five cross-genre reinterpretations of an oft-covered song.

Every band likes to end gigs with their biggest song. Arcade Fire must have a hard time drafting a set list, since every one of their songs is massive, but for a long time they’ve been sending off fans with the truly epic “Wake Up.” It’s a grand, soaring song that really requires the dedication of all eight Arcade Fire members. However, it’s also such a gem that other artists can’t help but try to take it on, though most of them tone it down to a more manageable acoustic number. The results are mixed – covering Arcade Fire can be a daunting task – but the five artists below prove up to the challenge. Continue reading »

Nov 092012
 

In the Spotlight showcases a cross-section of an artist’s cover work. View past installments, then post suggestions for future picks in the comments!

One of the best-reviewed documentaries of 2012 has been Searching for Sugar Man, the story of Sixto Rodriguez, a singer-songwriter who was fast forgotten in America and became a legend half a world away. Rodriguez released two albums – 1970’s Cold Fact and 1971’s Coming From Reality – that didn’t sell, and his label dropped him. He vanished like a breeze, not knowing that in South Africa, he was becoming bigger than Elvis; Cold Fact sold more than half a million copies in a nation of 40 million. Two fans there decided to find out what happened to him, what became of him, and how he died; the film follows them as they make discovery after discovery.
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Feb 082012
 

Celebrating their 50th anniversary The Chieftains will mark the occasion with the release of Voice of Ages on February 21. The album features the torch-bearers of traditional Irish music collaborating with  stars from the worlds of indie-rock (Bon Iver, The Decemberists, The Low Anthem), country and Americana (The Civil Wars, Pistol Annies, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Punch Brothers), Irish and Scottish folk (Imelda May, Lisa Hannigan, Paolo Nutini) and more. Continue reading »