The Best Cover Videos of 2010

 Posted by at 4:00 pm  10 Responses »
Dec 082010
 

So it begins: Listomania 2010. Like every music blog worth its proverbial salt, Cover Me will be going list-crazy this month. The difference is, our lists will specialize in – you guessed it – cover songs. Take the typical year-end list and insert the word “Cover” between “Best” and “Albums/Songs/etc” and you have a pretty good idea of what to expect. First up: The Best Cover Videos of 2010.

Cover songs hit the web faster than ever these days, but well-crafted cover videos remain relatively rare. Sure, YouTube is bursting with webcam performances and DIY concert footage, but bedroom confessions soon grow tiresome. Well-crafted cover music videos (remember those?) come along far less often. A great video can be art on its own, playing with – or against – the audio recording to create a viewer/listener experience greater than the sum of its parts.

Below, we present our top ten cover videos of 2010. In some cases the song’s origins play an essential role in the music video; in others it makes no difference. Each brings new imagery, insight, or, in some cases, lolz to the song it accompanies. A Rastafarian astronaut shoots lasers. Apples float around a Twilight Zone apartment. Pig people fight mummy surgeons in the basement.

Check out our ten favs below, then tell us which you liked best. Continue reading »

Random Beach Brits Lip-Sync Bieber Cover

 Posted by at 2:00 pm  1 Response »
Aug 112010
 

“Baby” just won’t die. Justin Bieber’s obnoxious mega-hit has infiltrated pop culture to a horrifying degree. It’s the most-viewed video on YouTube. It’s inspired hilarious accusations of intellectual theft by Aziz Ansari’s obnoxious comedian Raaaaaaaandy (“Justin Bieber shot my knee!”). It’s spawned Neon Trees’ recent doowop mash-up with “Stand By Me.” Now this.

Maria McAteer and Björn Dahlberg’s piano cover is smooth and jazzy, The real find is the video though. Filmed in on the beaches of Brighton, a series of Brits lip-sync the godawful lyrics. From young punk rock chicks to bemused octogenarians, everyone rallies around the unavoidable song. It’s both funny and strangely moving. Justin Bieber: Uniting the world since 2010. Continue reading »

Weird Al Unveils His New Polka(face)

 Posted by at 12:00 pm  2 Responses »
Jul 232010
 

The parody is the cover’s evil twin. While a good cover keeps the lyrics and changes the music, a parody does the exact opposite. As such, much of what “Weird Al” Yankovic does falls outside this blog’s purview (though covers of Weird Al songs are always popular). His polkas, however, fall strictly in the cover camp. On every album he creates a medley of popular hits set to polka tunes. The lyrics stay intact, the music goes oompah-oompah. Sounds like a cover to me!

He has been opening the shows on his latest tour with a brand-new polka featuring Justin Bieber, Ke$ha, Kid Cudi and more. It will presumably appear on his next album as a track titled “Polkaface.” The bummer flipside is that any song included in a polka is now off the table for parody, but you can count on another Lady Gaga song getting the Al treatment. Continue reading »

Neon Trees Go Doo-Wop on Justin Bieber

 Posted by at 2:58 pm  3 Responses »
Jun 142010
 

I have a higher tolerance for pop covers than most people, but I figured Justin Bieber’s megahit “Baby” was just too awful to ever be listenable. I was wrong. Utah-based new wavers give the song a doo-wop soul shine, going so far as to mix in a little “Stand By Me.” And it works!

The band played the tune for Billboard’s “Mashup Mondays” series and made no secret of the reasoning behind the choice. “We might as well cover something people are enjoying right now,” mohawked frontman Tyler Glenn says at video’s end. This mentality generally leads to awful, terrible covers, but the quintet bucked the trend. I’m in shock that I am enjoying “Baby” in any form, but there’s no denying this energy. Peep the video and download the MP3 below. Continue reading »

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