Apr 302013
 

Five Good Covers presents five cross-genre reinterpretations of an oft-covered song.

1961’s Blue Hawaii marked the start of Elvis Presley’s long and painful slide down the dull razor blade of mediocrity. The movie has little plot, bland acting, and inane dialogue that sounds more suited to the romantic Anakin Skywalker (“You wanna know something – on you, wet is my favorite color”). Meanwhile, its soundtrack featured emetic material like “Rock-A-Hula Baby” and “Ito Eats.” But we’re ready to forgive all the minute we hear “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” Sure, it took a few takes to get it right (give this outtake a listen if you’re in a spot where you won’t get in trouble), but you can’t deny Presley’s performance here, and it would be flat out wrong to try.
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Jan 112012
 

You may remember that back in September we posted an interview with “Fleet Foxes.” That’s “Fleet Foxes” in quotes, since it wasn’t actually Fleet Foxes, but a guy who covered pop songs in the harmony-acoustic style of Fleet Foxes, and did so damn well. Since then, the imposter known as Fleet Foxes Sing has gotten more press, from the likes of New York Magazine and BlackBook (who claims our interview blew the lid on the farce, though it wasn’t exactly a secret). Continue reading »

Sep 082011
 

Let’s rip the band-aid off right up front: “Fleet Foxes Sing” is not actually Fleet Foxes. This needs explaining, because when the first cover popped up on Tumblr last month, plenty of folks bought it. “Fleet Foxes Covered Whitney Houston’s ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’,” announced Yahoo. “Fleet Foxes Cover Whitney Houston, Prove They Can Turn Anything into a Campfire Singalong,” crowed The L Magazine. Only problem? The real band’s response. “We didn’t do that Whitney Houston cover,” they tweeted. “Funny though!” Continue reading »