Corin Joel Acoustifies Bieber and Britney, Katy and Ke$ha

 Posted by at 3:00 pm  3 Responses »
Mar 312011
 

It’s easy to have low expectations of acoustic covers of pop songs. It’s understandable that so many of them are as difficult to listen to as the originals; with the general simplicity of the originals, an artist might be quick to think they’ve nailed it. Oftentimes they’re right and they have nailed it – this, however, doesn’t mean that the cover is good. Corin Joel blows this generalization out of the water with his recent batch of covers: Britney Spears’ “Hold it Against Me,” Ke$ha’s “We R Who We R,” Sean Kingston and Justin Bieber’s “Eenie Meenie,” and Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl.” Continue reading »

Avril Lavigne Performs “Tik Tok” for the BBC

 Posted by at 1:00 pm  4 Responses »
Mar 082011
 

Canadian popstress Avril Lavigne‘s new album, Goodbye Lullaby, hits the streets today after an extended and difficult gestation. The album was originally slated to come out in 2009, but personal difficulties prevented the release. Perhaps it’s appropriate then that to promote it, she turned up in the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge and covered a song that actually did come out in 2009: Ke$ha‘s “Tik Tok.” Continue reading »

Glee Covers Roundup 2/22/11: Blame It On The Alcohol

 Posted by at 10:00 am  1 Response »
Feb 232011
 

Every Wednesday, our resident Gleek Eric Garneau gives his take on last night’s Glee covers.


Last night’s Glee would fall into the category of “a very special episode,” except that the show often takes on issues typically relegated to after-school specials. Still, as the title promises, “Blame it on the Alcohol” features the glee club from McKinley High dealing with that particular temptation in exaggerated ways. Responding to increased incidents of public drunkenness from students, Principal Figgins assigns the club to perform an anti-drinking number during a school assembly. Meanwhile, Rachel’s parents leave town and, looking to “live a little,” she throws one of those wild teenage parties that usually only happens in TV shows (and where most of the actors are well past their teenage years). Continue reading »

Song of the Day: Sunday Girl, “Tik Tok” (Ke$ha cover)

 Posted by at 9:00 am  1 Response »
Oct 192010
 

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

Sunday Girl (a.k.a Jade Williams, an English DJ/model/graphic artist) is a big deal in the UK dance scene (check out her stuff here). The moniker came about when she worked in a pet shop every Sunday and no one asked her name, but she recently became the darling of dance remixers everywhere by offering a cappella versions of her songs to anyone who was willing to sacrifice some bandwidth.

Don’t expect any remixes coming from this cover, though. Taking on Ke$ha‘s “Tik Tok,” Sunday Girl strips out the noise and sings liltingly along to an acoustic guitar. Her vocals evoke Harriet Wheeler of The Sundays, conjuring images of a shy teen out for the first time with her wild white-trash girlfriend. Here’s hoping nothing too bad happened on that crazy night. Hanging out with Ke$ha can’t be a good thing. Continue reading »

Sassy Schoolteachers, Man-Boy in Dress, Horny Pirates, Batwoman Cover Top Ten Hits

 Posted by at 4:00 pm  No Responses »
Aug 192010
 

When we last checked in with the loveable eccentrics at Our Hit Parade, they were mashing together Pocahontas and Ke$ha and going hair-metal on Rihanna. Well they’re back with more crazy theatrics from their monthly performance of New York artists covering top-ten hits. The pop love is flowing and the results are stranger (and funnier) than ever.

First: Bradford Scobie and his sister sing Taio Cruz’s hit “Dynamite” as sassy schoolteachers. Oh no you didn’t dance, dance, dance, dance!
Then: Jeffrey & Cole Casserole web star Cole Escola goes all Little Orphan Annie on K’naan’s World Cup hit “Wavin’ Flag.” It’s the hard-knock life for Somalian refugees.
Third: Trapper Felides, who we last saw singing Katy Perry’s “California Gurls,” return as a pirate gang reminiscing with 3Oh!3’s “My First Kiss.” The original features Ke$ha, for anyone whose first kiss gave them herpes.
Next: Don’t worry K.P. fans – “California Gurls” returns from southern rockers .357 Lover. Less cotton candy, more rye whiskey.
Finally: Jenn Harris dresses up as a giant bat for Miley Cyrus’ “Can’t Be Tamed.” Still less creepy than the jailbait original! 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 »

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