Quickies rounds up new can’t-miss covers. Download ‘em below.
• Later this week, Detroit soul revivalist Mayer Hawthorne will be dropping a free covers EP on Twitter. The first glimpse is an official recording – finally – of a song he’s been covering live for months. Recorded with his band The County, it’s ELO’s “Mr. Blue Sky.”
MP3: Mayer Hawthorne – Mr. Blue Sky (ELO cover)
• Raleigh quintet The Young Sinclairs just dropped their new collection Don’t Believe In Demos Vol. 1 today, and the first track off side two is a particular treat. It’s a jingle-jangly Byrds-esque cover of Merle Haggard’s outlaw country classic “Running Kind.” You can practically hear Roger McGuinn on 12-string.
MP3: The Young Sinclairs – Running Kind (Merle Haggard cover)
• Atlanta prog-metal band From Exile just dropped a free Nine Inch Nails covers EP on their website. It trades out the glitchy synths for guitars on songs like “Ruiner,” but the most dramatic reinvention is instrumental “A Warm Place,” which positively aches with a slow-melting guitar line.
MP3: From Exile – A Warm Place (Nine Inch Nails cover)
• Electro-rock duo The City Music Project recently dropped this free dance jam on Pink Floyd’s The Wall classic. Would have fit right in with our Full Album Wall double–feature.
MP3: The City Music Project – The Thin Ice (Pink Floyd cover)
• Chicago shoegazer Vehicle Blues create a swirling soundscape on “Sleeping with Tallboy.” Originally East River Pipe, one of the more obscure artists on the Merge Records roster, “Sleeping with Tallboy” now sounds more like “Sleeping with Shrooms.”
MP3: Vehicle Blues – Sleeping with Tallboy (East River Pipe cover)
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Mayer Hawthorne didn’t crash onto the scene the way other soul revivalists did in 2008. Sharon Jones and Raphael Saadiq cast big shadows that year that proved difficult for other soul revivalists to get out from under. Still, Hawthorne managed to get his voice out there and people tuned in to listen found themselves impressed. “Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out” became a stylish indie hit, shepherding many nerdy white kids into the enticing world of soul music. Hawthorne’s debut album A Strange Arrangement managed to propel him onto the scene, but this new covers EP will give Mayer Hawthorne the sticking power he needs to become an indie powerhouse. If nothing else, it will carry fans over until the long-awaited release of his follow up album How Do You Do this fall. Continue reading »
