Nov 022020
 
baha men

On Friday, we published a massive list of the 50 best cover songs from the year 2000. Some were emblematic of that year’s musical trends, but most could just as easily have come out yesterday.

So today, a postscript: Covers that came out that year that just scream “2000.” If you were paying attention to music then, you will recognize many of these trends. There’s the ska revival. There’s rap-rock. There are, of course, boy bands.

Smash Mouth and Aaron Carter both make appearances. So do the Vengaboys. Madonna covers “American Pie”; Fred Durst covers Public Enemy. Someone sings a ska cover of “Take On Me” while sitting on the toilet. It was just that sort of year.

To be fair, these covers are not all terrible…but most are. Many were also among the year’s biggest hits, proving that people in the year 2000 exhibited no better taste in music than they did picking a president. And a few you probably didn’t even know were covers in the first place.

Relive your most traumatic memories of music back then below. Bonus hall-of-shame points if the cover has a music video featuring bleached tips or JNCOs. Continue reading »

Jan 082018
 
james blake covers

What makes a musician who primarily works in electronic music, dubstep, hip-hop, and trip-hop decide to cover one of the most iconic singer-songwriter ballads of the 1970s? I don’t know, but I’m glad James Blake sat down at his piano and recorded this stunning version of Don McLean’s “Vincent”.

Blake drops the ambient backgrounds in favor of longer phrases to fill space, highlighting his extensive musical training. His vocals come out raw, with a slight crack in his voice. It works well in this context, heightening the emotion of the words and melody, though I do miss the clarity in tone of McLean’s original. Continue reading »