Apr 182025
 

You can’t get a more direct than Covers, Kathleen Edwards’ newest short LP/long EP. It lets you know exactly what you got, even before you press play. That is commendable, but then Edwards has never been much for one to conceal her thoughts or her situation. This Canadian singer supreme has had a rocky old trail over the past decade or two, since electing to step away from critical acclaim in 2014, after four well-received albums of polished country and roots-derived songmanship.

The Ottawa coffee shop Edwards subsequently opened and ran was called “Quitters.” That might have been a self-deprecating jibe in name, but it was only later she revealed her then battle with depression had led to her tactical withdrawal from the music business. She returned to music in 2020, we all know what then came along to wreak worldwide havoc. This is her second release since her return, and her first since COVID lockdown and her eventual sale of Quitters.

The eight songs on Covers are a good mix of the likely and the unexpected, broadly drawn from Edwards’ fellow ranks of singer-songwriters. Springsteen, Petty and Pride are among the former, but songs from The Flaming Lips and Supertramp get a turn also. With backing of electric guitars, keyboards, occasional strings and a rhythm section, Edwards sings and plays acoustic. Greg Leisz and Scott Thurston are two of the accompaniments dropping by, on guitars and bass, respectively, each a sign of her esteem amongst peers.
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Mar 252025
 
Weird Al Tim Heidecker and Puddles Pity Party

Many artists have stepped up in the past few months to help raise money for the people affected by the LA wildfires. This past Sunday was yet another, gathering up performers to help support the community. This concert, dubbed “Let’s Get L.Aid,” was subtitled “a night of comedy and music.” Headliner “Weird” Al Yankovic, whose work covers both of those descriptions, wrapped up the show with a special performance of Tom Petty‘s “Free Fallin'”. (Petty was a long-time Los Angeles resident.) Yankovic brought out Puddles Pity Party and Tim Hedecker to join in the song. Continue reading »

Dec 202024
 

Follow all our Best of 2024 coverage (along with previous year-end lists) here.

best cover songs of 2024

Welcome to the 50 Best Tom Petty Covers of 2024!

We kid, of course. But for whatever reason, this year’s big trend in covers was: Tom Petty. At one point there were something like 20 Petty covers on our longlist. Many came from two all-star tribute albums that dropped, entirely coincidentally, the same year (they both made our Best Albums list). We narrowed it down, of course. Three Petty covers ended up in this Top 50, one not even from those albums. Then, just this week, another high-profile Petty cover dropped: Snoop and Jelly Roll reworking “Last Dance for Mary Jane”! Suffice to say that one wouldn’t have been a contender even if it hadn’t arrived too late.

That was the big surprise trend in 2024 covers. The less-surprising trend you could have called from a mile out: The new wave of young pop divas—Chappell, Sabrina, Charli—got covered a lot. We could have done an entire 50-song list of their covers, too (the “Good Luck Babe”s alone!). But, if we had, we would have missed out on gospel R.E.M. and country The Weeknd and electropop Mott the Hoople and soul Green Day and… you know what, just read the list.

(Moo-chas gracias and Deng-ke schoen to Hope Silverman for this year’s tiny-hippo art.)

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Dec 192024
 

Follow all our Best of 2024 coverage (along with previous year-end lists) here.

best cover and tribute albums

A great cover song is hard enough to pull off. Doing it over and over again enough times to make a great cover album is something like a miracle. This year, miracles abounded. We awarded only the third or fourth five-star album in the site’s history. That’s our number one, naturally. But if we’d run a full review of our number two album, it might have gotten five stars too.

Our list includes tributes to everyone from Lou Reed to Low to Tom Petty—twice. It includes jammy experimental covers of ’90s alt-rock, fingerpicked guitar covers of Kraftwerk, and skankin’ ska covers of Weird Al. It translates Leonard Cohen into Hebrew and Talking Heads into Spanish. It honors Fleetwood Mac before Fleetwood Mac and deeper Bob Dylan cuts than you can imagine. (Seriously, imagine the most obscure Bob Dylan song you can. These are more obscure than that.) It was that kind of year.

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Dec 182024
 
snoop dogg and jelly roll

A new album by Snopp Dogg has just been released. Titled Missionary, it features a unique cover/collaboration with the late Tom Petty. On “Last Dance with Mary Jane,” Snoop trades lines with guest Jelly Roll as the riff from the Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers track loops in the background. And, lest you think this is a huge disrespect to Petty, the track’s producer, Dr Dre has something he’d like to let you know. Continue reading »

Oct 102024
 
sharon van etten i won't back down

The AppleTV+ mystery comedy Bad Monkey‘s full soundtrack album is now out, revealing the complete list of Tom Petty covers for those who haven’t been watching the show. (See flipturn’s cover of “Don’t Do Me Like That” for one of the covers that was released before the album dropped.) Sharon Van Etten is one of the more high profile artists to contribute to the soundtrack, though hardly the highest profile given the presence of Eddie Vedder and Weezer. Continue reading »