Apr 302020
 
wino isolation cover

It seems like everyone is covering Joy Division’s “Isolation” these days. (That or John Lennon’s song of the same name.) The second track from Joy Division’s second and final album feels extremely appropriate to our times. Even if singer Ian Curtis’ lyrics don’t map directly onto our self-isolating/physical distancing world, it’s still easy to see why people find resonance in the song. And it’s not just the lyrics – the droning bass, the eery too-high synth melody and clicky electronic drums make it feel as though Curtis really is trapped somewhere unpleasant. Continue reading »

Feb 112020
 
angie mcmahon total eclipse

Bonnie Tyler’s biggest hit, “Total Eclipse of the Heart” is a power ballad that embodies of so much of what made the ’80s the ’80s. The lyrics are melodramatic, the recording might have a few too many instruments on it, Tyler really sings the song, and the accompanying video is full of big hair, wind machines and absurd visuals. “Total Eclipse” was written by Jim Steinman, the songwriter most famous for launching Meat Loaf’s career. His lyrics can be just a tad over-the-top – he originally planned to write “Total Eclipse” about vampires. (Of course he did.) But Tyler’s gritty voice sells Steinman’s words, and she takes what could have been full-on camp and makes it feel impassioned and real. Continue reading »

Aug 302019
 

Check out the best covers of past months here.

best cover songs august
aeseaes – Realiti (Grimes cover)

Bandits on the Run – Back to Black (Amy Winehouse cover)

Continue reading »

Jul 192019
 
nick cave cosmic dancer

Nick Cave was 14 years old when T.Rex’s seminal Electric Warrior LP was released and still references it as one of his favorite albums of all time. On his current tour he’s been covering it’s lynchpin ballad “Cosmic Dancer” and delivering it with such wistful, evocative melancholy, it is impossible not to think of the teenage Nick being completely besotted with it upon his first exposure. Continue reading »

May 242019
 

Full Albums features covers of every track off a classic album. Got an idea for a future pick? Leave a note in the comments!

time out of mind covers

For Bob Dylan’s 78th birthday today, we wanted to post covers of every song on one of his classic albums. Problem was, we’d already given the “Full Albums” treatment to so many contenders: Highway 61 Revisited, Blood on the Tracks, Blonde on Blonde, Bringing It All Back Home, and John Wesley Harding. We’d even done a couple of the oddballs: Empire Burlesque and Street Legal.

So, for the first poll on our new Patreon account, we put the question to our backers. Time Out of Mind beat out its competitors Desire and Freewheelin’ by a single vote – a testament to the power of Dylan’s latter-day work. Turns out, Dylan has a lot of classic albums.

Calling Time Out of Mind Dylan’s comeback, as many do, overstates it a bit. After, he was only eight years on from his last “comeback” album – 1989’s Oh Mercy – and had released several quite respectable records in between (though the less said about “Wiggle Wiggle” the better). Continue reading »

Jan 032019
 
matt pond chris hansen covers

When last we heard from Matt Pond PA, he was turning The Cars’ “Drive” into a lush folk-pop ballad. Now Pond and bandmate Chris Hansen are back with new covers applying a similar soft sheen to two very different artists: Peter Gabriel and Led Zeppelin.

They covered Gabriel’s “Mercy Street” to close out the year and to celebrate the final episode of a radio show they do in upstate New York. Here’s what Pond wrote about it: Continue reading »