Tim Robinson’s new HBO show The Chair Company is… different. The show somehow combines Robinson’s awkward, uncomfortable humor with a conspiracy thriller. Yet, it somehow works. And if the show wasn’t enjoyable enough, episode five included a great new cover: Aimee Mann taking on The Carpenters‘ “Rainy Days and Mondays.” Continue reading »
In Memoriam pays tribute to those who have left this world, and the songs they left us to remember them by.
Burt Bacharach, who along with his writing partner Hal David embodied the sophisticated pop sounds of the 1960s, died of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles on February 8. He was 94 years old.
If you missed the whole brouhaha when Steely Dan dropped Aimee Mann as their opening act, it’s too long to recap here. To skip to the end, Mann tweeted, “All is forgiven if Donald [Fagan] just tells me what Brooklyn is about.” And he did! So, at a recent show at City Winery, she covered it. All does indeed appear to be forgiven. Continue reading »
‘The Best Covers Ever’ series counts down our favorite covers of great artists.
There’s plenty of good reasons that the Cars and their songs have retained their power long past the expiration date of most new wave bands. For one, though their cool-geek look was a part of their appeal, they never relied on it the way other bands had to rely on their appearance. For another, they brought together multiple influences – rock, pop, synth, punk – and created a sound with deep roots that was both edgy and fresh – no mean feat, that.
Most importantly, the songs that (mostly) Ric Ocasek and Benjamin Orr wrote for the band were strong and memorable, loaded with hooks and containing lyrics that take on more meaning the more you look at them – is “You’re All I’ve Got Tonight” a positive or negative? What does it mean if you “needed someone to bleed”?
Their self-titled debut album is their strongest, and Heartbeat City may be their biggest, but the Cars are primarily known as a singles band, with over a dozen of them reaching the top 40. So it seems appropriate that a list of the best Cars covers should echo that. Here are the top forty cover songs of a band whose best songs won’t be tied down to any one era, preferring instead to resonate to all the generations that followed.
clap clap clapclapclap clapclapclapclap Let’s go!
– Patrick Robbins, Features Editor
One of the biggest one-hit wonders of the last few years, pop singer Tones and I’s “Dance Monkey” emerged out of seeming nowhere to top charts across the world last year. In her home country of Australia, it is the longest chart-topper ever, breaking a record held by Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas”! Despite its ubiquity, however, major covers have been sparse (perhaps because many people find the song, you know, annoying). Never one to shy away from putting off his audience, though, MGMT frontman Andrew VanWyngarden gave it a trippy psychedelic-folk cover as part of a radio station fundraising challenge. Continue reading »
Though The Bangles last released a full-length record in 2011, co-founder Susanna Hoffs has kept plenty busy with touring, solo records and some long-running work in the realm of covers. After collaborating with Mike Myers and singer-songwriter Matthew Sweet as psuedo-Mod band Ming Tea (the group had a number of hilariously spot-on features in the Austin Powers films), Hoffs and Sweet continued their collaboration in the ensuing years — putting aside the jokes and faux-stylings for a trio of all-covers albums, aptly titled Under the Covers (Vol. I – III). Now, Hoffs has returned with a covers record of her own, Bright Lights. The first track out of the gate from the new album is a version of Badfinger’s “Name Of the Game,” featuring Aimee Mann on additional vocals. Continue reading »