Jan 302023
 
best cover songs january 2023
Brandi Carlile – If It Makes You Happy (Sheryl Crow cover)

This month, Austin City Limits held its eighth annual ACL Hall of Fame ceremony. The inductees were Joe Ely and Sheryl Crow. The latter was covered by, among others, Brandi Carlile, who also delivered Crow’s induction speech. It will surprise no one who’s ever seen Carlile perform on an award show before that she crushes it. (Find another Crow cover from the ceremony, by Jason Isbell, in the Best of the Rest below.) Continue reading »

Nov 022020
 
best cover songs october 2020
Andrew Bird – Andalucia (John Cale cover)

Props to any musician who chooses some non-obvious tunes for their Christmas album. Even Joni Mitchell’s “River” has so often been served as the “surprise” holiday song by now that it feels pretty played out. Andrew Bird covers a few standards on his upcoming Hark! – “Oh Holy Night,” “White Christmas” (though weirdly not the hymn that gave the album its name) – but makes room for some seasonally-appropriate fare John Prine, Handsome Family, and, on the first single, John Cale. Continue reading »

Feb 032012
 

The Axis of Awesome bill themselves as “Australia’s Most Awesomest Musical Comedy Sensation.” With their 2011 viral video hit “4 Chords” nearing four million views, they are certainly trying to earn that title. The trio features Benny Davis on keyboard and vocals; Benny was an original member of the Aussie sketch comedy troupe “The Delusionists” and is a virtuoso on keyboard. He has taken on a side-project featuring his uncanny skill-set as The Human Jukebox. Continue reading »

Nov 162011
 

So-called “witch-house” group Salem are known for their absolutely terrifying brand of creepy electronic music with inhuman, ghoulish vocals and hints of southern crunk hip-hop, but recently they’ve turned from creating original songs to making dystopic remixes and covers of otherwise innocent pop hits, starting with Britney Spears’ “Til The World Ends” and now reaching back to 1998 for Alice Deejay’s classic “Better Off Alone” (yes, the one with the incessant “do you think you were better off alone?” hook). Continue reading »