Joy Oladokun — The Thrill Is Gone (B.B. King cover)
Tied to America’s 250th birthday, Salt Lick Sessions’ “Songs of U.S.” series features musicians covering “songs that have shaped the country’s cultural identity while exploring what belongs in the American songbook today.” Nashville singer-songwriter Joy Oladokun selected Roy Hawkins and Rick Darnell’s “The Thrill Is Gone,” best known for the B.B. King version. She says the song “feels really powerful without being so poetic that people could be left behind.” Unlike many of the King-inspired blues-rock covers that feature copious guitar solos, she strips it back to a beautiful folky ballad. She also covered “Ain’t No Sunshine.”Continue reading »
At least to my memory, “Every Morning,” Sugar Ray‘s second Top 3 single (and US Alt #1) feels like one of those halo effect songs, the single equivalent of Chris Molanphy’s AC/DC rule, where the next song after the big hit becomes the bigger hit. “Fly” reached slightly higher on the charts while “Every Morning” achieved Gold status. But this isn’t borne out by streams: “Every Morning” is significantly more popular on streaming than “Fly” even if “Fly” feels, to me, like it was the bigger song and remains more famous.
Interpolating Malo’s “Suavecito,” “Every Morning” is even a bigger departure from Sugar Ray’s original funk rock/nu metal sound than “Fly” was. Like “Fly,” it incorporates scratching and other hip-hop elements. Its lead acoustic guitar part is particularly distinct, sounding like guitarist Rodney Sheppard got lost somewhere partway through it.
Australian singer-songwriter Julia Jacklin just treats it like a regular song, dropping much of what makes it distinctly ’90s. She and her band play it super conventionally. She sings the lyrics of the verse instead of the half-shouting in the original. And though the guitarist plays the riff, it’s on an electric guitar and lacks some of the original effect. There’s some chorus or similar effect on the backing vocals during the chorus to give them some of the shine from Sugar Ray’s version but they still don’t have that gloss.
There is no scratching, of course. And the Greek chorus spoken world backing vocal refrain is instead moved to the bridge where it is sung instead, almost reminiscent of the lullaby the lyrics were likely inspired by.
All in all, the changes are pretty minor, but the song feels totally different in Jacklin’s hands, removed from all the production choices that scream 1990s. Have a listen:
Before Bon Iver played “Who Is It?” one night in Washington, D.C., frontman Justin Vernon told the crowd they were about to cover Björk. Then he added, “Somebody told me that we’re doing a Björk cover because it’s so hip to do Björk covers. I just kinda like good music.”
He’s right on both counts. It is good music, and it is hip to do Björk covers. Has any other artist been covered by both Radiohead and Robyn? Not to mention Death Cab, The Decemberists, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and the aforementioned Bon Iver. If they were all over Pitchfork in the 2000s, they’ve probably covered Björk. (Or, maybe more to the point, all over Stereogum, which curated an entire Björk tribute album with the buzziest indie-rock bands of the moment like Dirty Projectors, Liars, and Atlas Sound.)
Björk seems to fall at that sweet spot for forward-thinking indie or “alternative” artists. She’s innovative, experimental, and downright weird… but she’s also really really popular! Her strange and inventive videos were on constant rotation on MTV in the 1990s. She’s got a ton of amazing deep cuts to mine, but she also has household-name hits too. As Justin Vernon said, it’s just good music.
35. Thao with Secret Sidewalk — Human Behaviour
After all these years, “Human Behaviour” might remain Björk’s signature song. It’s one of those songs that, even though it’s very much of its time, it’s so distinctly Björk that it almost sounds out of time. It’s closely tied to her and her distinct voice and vocalizations, but also to the electronic sounds around her voice.
American singer-songwriter Thao decided she should do a band version. Well, sort of. She enlists a saxophonist, with her taking guitar, and with a drummer joining. Most of the electronic elements remain, courtesy of a DJ, so for the first two minutes the song is remarkably similar, despite the live instrumentation and two instruments not present in the original recording.
But then they take the song to a radical place, vamping during a bridge that feels improvised. When they return to beats and melody, they are less faithful as the song slows and Thao chants some of the lyrics as she solos. To complete the transformation, there’s a brief saxophone solo after Thao’s solo. It’s still recognizable as “Human Behaviour” at the beginning and mostly at the end, but it gets way out there in the middle. — Riley Haas
34. RIAYA feat. John Mark McMillan — Hunter
As you can probably tell from its epic, over-the-top vibe, this cover of “Hunter” was created for use in a movie, specifically 2019’s Terminator: Dark Fate. You can practically smell the popcorn as it plays. Alas, it only ended up featuring in the trailer. All kidding aside, there is something so wonderfully glorious and earnest about this “Hunter.” It sounds less futuristic than was probably intended and more like music to wave your sword to, as you lead your “Army of Me’s” over the hill. It’s hard not to smile during the cover’s climax, where McMillan and the piano stand alone on their sonic mountain and presumably look over the horizon. “I’m the Hunter” indeed. Onward!— Hope Silverman
33. Emily Hope Price — Come to Me
Björk’s “Come To Me” is somehow both alluring and maternal, warding off any acknowledgement of love while at the same time making it clear that love is what’s making her sing these words. The musical bed she gives it is sort of Bond goes Bollywood in zero-G, with strings, synths and tabla creating their own atmosphere.
Cellist Emily Hope Price’s cover takes all the quilts, blankets, and pillows off that bed, rendering it spare but still rich and luxuriant in its own way. Even her intakes of breath provide their own sense of lushness, and her vocal is that of someone who wants and needs more than to care for someone. She needs that someone, and you can feel her pain at that someone being just out of reach. — Patrick Robbins
32. Bartok v Björk — Bachelorette
A child who could make music from an early age. Fully trained in the art and method of classical music, but also deeply linked to the folklore and folk music of their homeland. Someone whose defiance of convention led to being pilloried by some critics, but lauded by others. Someone who refused to be silenced when they saw what they believed to be injustice.
No, I’m not talking about Björk. I’m talking about Béla Bartók. Bartók’s journey was a more painful one, ending in exile, and he never saw the widest recognition of his genius, but he is nevertheless a good pairing for Iceland’s great musical gift to the world.
Composer Steve Hackman’s fusions between classical and modern work are a bridge of sorts, but the Björk vs Bartók project is particularly inspired. The show tours regularly, with top-class musicianship on display. Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra is one of the great works of 20th-century classical music, and, when combined with words from Björk’s first three albums, there are great musical and personal stories to be heard.
The entire show is available online, but the version of “Bachelorette” captures some of the best features of the work as a whole. The French horns and brass section do some great work, and the three vocalists are mesmerizing. Whether by design or as a feat of acting they attempt to embody, in addition to the sound, the emotions of the creator of these songs. Steely determination. Awe at what they are producing. Fear that the work will go off the rails. Singers and Muses. — Mike Tobyn
31. Madison Cunningham — Army of Me
Much of Björk’s appeal is based around the contrast between the light and airy vocal against the dense hum of electronica she places beneath it. Madison Cunningham doesn’t deal in such, preferring organic sounds, conventional instrumentation and orchestration. How is it, then, that she manages to find equivalent eeriness in this haunting song? Her voice is cold and dispassionate, which renders further the eldritch spirit of the original, the absence of emotion, all the more chilling. As the orchestra swirls and the timpani clatter, you know the battle, and any resistance, is lost. — Seuras Og
Aaron Taos ft. Jordana — Under Control (The Strokes cover)
Aaron Taos says: “When Jordana and I met for the first time, we realized very quickly that we both shared an obsession with the Strokes. What’s more surprising is that we also share the same favorite Strokes song, “Under Control,” an album cut off of their second LP Room On Fire. Naturally, we decided that we had to cover this amazing tune. Reimagined as a minimalist duet, this slow burn produced by Blake Richardson (formerly artist Sage Baptiste) also comes with a lo-fi vid shot in Brooklyn, NY. We just want to make Julian Casablancas proud.”Continue reading »
You may listen to the gentle plucking when this begins and thing, boy that’s not what I expected from that band photo. Is this an acoustic flying V? Blacktop Mojo’s “My Girl” stays pretty and meditative for over half the run time, turning the oldies classic into a pretty folk-rock ballad. Eventually, though, true to that long-hair-and-leather image, the heads start banging and axes start shredding.Continue reading »
As a part of a retrospective on English folk singer-songwriter Bill Fay, Julia Jacklin has just released a cover of his yearning ballad “Just To Be A Part.” The original version has Bill Fay at the piano, with a persistent high hat and a can-filling contribution by the rest of the band. There is urgency in his vocal, with the electric guitar wailing like yells and groans of desperation.
Jacklin’s cover builds more slowly, starting with her trademark indie guitar sound, before building the rest of the band and double tracked vocals in for a swelling, powerful finish. The song structure of starting solo and then adding more band elements as the song progresses is still here, but the clean crisp indie tones take this song to another level. Check out the track below.
