May 302018
 

‘The Best Ever’ series counts down our favorite covers of great artists.

pink floyd covers

Coming in at 40 tracks, our third ‘Best Ever’ countdown is our longest yet. This feels appropriate; Pink Floyd’s songs tend to be a whole lot longer than Talking Heads’ or Fleetwood Mac’s. A band whose default length was set at “epic” deserves a list just as winding.

Luckily, the covers community has obliged, allowing us a list as discursive as Pink Floyd itself. A band that, for better or worse, can get pigeonholed into a specific sound and era, gets transformed into a whole host of other genres and moods. Psychedelic rock is represented here, of course, but so is bluegrass, soul, and disco. One cover even includes a “featuring Tupac Shakur” credit, which is probably not what Gilmour or Waters envisioned. Though the latter would certainly appreciate the walls being torn down.

Twenty-minute tracks that might seem intimidating to some don’t phase these artists. Some turn them into tight four-minute pop songs. Others, if you can believe it, extend the songs further. So strap in, and set the controls for the heart of the cover… Continue reading »

May 102011
 

Quickies rounds up new can’t-miss covers. Download ‘em below.

• Later this week, Detroit soul revivalist Mayer Hawthorne will be dropping a free covers EP on Twitter. The first glimpse is an official recording – finally – of a song he’s been covering live for months. Recorded with his band The County, it’s ELO’s “Mr. Blue Sky.”
MP3: Mayer Hawthorne – Mr. Blue Sky (ELO cover)

• Raleigh quintet The Young Sinclairs just dropped their new collection Don’t Believe In Demos Vol. 1 today, and the first track off side two is a particular treat. It’s a jingle-jangly Byrds-esque cover of Merle Haggard’s outlaw country classic “Running Kind.” You can practically hear Roger McGuinn on 12-string.
MP3: The Young Sinclairs – Running Kind (Merle Haggard cover)

• Atlanta prog-metal band From Exile just dropped a free Nine Inch Nails covers EP on their website. It trades out the glitchy synths for guitars on songs like “Ruiner,” but the most dramatic reinvention is instrumental “A Warm Place,” which positively aches with a slow-melting guitar line.
MP3: From Exile – A Warm Place (Nine Inch Nails cover)

• Electro-rock duo The City Music Project recently dropped this free dance jam on Pink Floyd’s The Wall classic. Would have fit right in with our Full Album Wall doublefeature.
MP3: The City Music Project – The Thin Ice (Pink Floyd cover)

• Chicago shoegazer Vehicle Blues create a swirling soundscape on “Sleeping with Tallboy.” Originally East River Pipe, one of the more obscure artists on the Merge Records roster, “Sleeping with Tallboy” now sounds more like “Sleeping with Shrooms.”
MP3: Vehicle Blues – Sleeping with Tallboy (East River Pipe cover)

Check out more Quickies here.