Our official list of the Best Cover Songs of 2017 comes next week. But first, we’re continuing the tradition we started last year by rounding up some of the songs it most killed us to cut in a grab-bag post. No ranking, no writing, just a bunch of knockout covers. Continue reading »
On “I Wanna Be Sedated,” the Ramones sound anything but. Mirel Wagner’s new cover though shows what the song would sound like had the band gotten its wish.
Over spare guitar finger-picking, the Finnish singer delicately enunciates each lyric. It’s about as far from the original as you can get, but it works. Gradually strings and other shimmery instruments enter, courtesy of recently Golden Globe-nominated composer and arranger Benjamin Wallfisch, but the speed never gets above 5 M.P.H. on this one. It would have fit well on our full-album covers tribute to the Ramones’ Road to Ruin. Continue reading »