Cover Classics: Mates of State’s ‘Crushes (The Covers Mixtape)’

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Feb 032016
 

Cover Classics takes a closer look at all-cover albums of the past, their genesis, and their legacy.

MatesofStateCrushesCoversMixtape

When Mates of State‘s Crushes (The Covers Mixtape) came out in 2010, we ranked it the sixth best cover album of the year. If I were redoing that list today, I’d make it #1 (or, at worst, #2 – I do still love that Peter Gabriel album). The reason Crushes holds up so well is the same reason a lot of people might hate it: Its almost gleeful irreverence to its source material.

On Crushes, the husband-wife indiepop duo of Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel draw their song selections equally from indie hits of the past decade and classic singer-songwriters. But they are beholden to neither group. Americana laments become dance celebrations. Outsider indie-prog becomes glossy toy-store pop. Electronic beats and gorgeous harmonies coexist in worlds far different than the ones the original artists envisioned. Continue reading »

Girls Pay Tribute to Whitney Houston with “I Will Always Love You”

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Feb 152012
 

There are few love songs as universally known as Whitney Houston‘s version of “I Will Always Love You.” The song usually attracts those with a heavy heart due to lost love, and with the recent loss of a legend, it hangs even heavier this year. Girls frontman Christopher Owens paid tribute to the late great by performing a solo version of the iconic song. Continue reading »

Our Five Favorite Coachella Covers ft. Prince, La Roux, Girls, Beach House, and Amanda Palmer

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Jan 192011
 

The weather may still be a giant grey slushpile outside, but the Coachella lineup just dropped, and you know what that means: time to start thinking about summer music! As always, the annual extravaganza kicks off the fest season, taking advantage of the fact that SoCal can host outdoor shows a bit earlier in the year than can, say, Chicago (Lollapalooza). This year’s lineup features Cover Me favs like Robyn, Mumford & Sons, and the Swell Season. Kanye West headlines the final night – is it too much to ask to hope for a Telephoned collaboration? (answer: yes it is).

In the past, Coachella has inspired heaps of special covers from artists big and small. Below, we look back with five of our favorite Coachella covers. Continue reading »

Song of the Day: C.C. Sheffield, “Lust for Life”

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Jul 012010
 

Song of the Day posts one cool cover every morning. Catch up on past installments here.

Iggy Pop’s “Lust for Life” is one of the all-time great punk songs. After 33 years, its energy hasn’t faded a bit and it truly deserves a Song of the Day feature.

This isn’t it.

Southern California pop duo Girls wrote their own “Lust for Life” last year and Iggy’s influence appears nonexistent. It’s a breezy ode to summer, featuring such weather-appropriate lines as “I wish I had a suntan/I wish a pizza and a bottle of wine.” It’s the closest thing to a Beach Boys anthem we’ve seen in years, which is impressive coming from a guy who grew up in the Children of God cult where his mom was a brainwashed sex volunteer (true story).
Continue reading »