At the recent Just Like Heaven festival in Pasadena, Vampire Weekend stepped away from their signature sound to pay homage to the indie hits that defined their generation. The band delivered a series of electrifying cover performances that revisited the raw, unpolished energy of early-2000s indie rock and post-punk revival. Dubbed a “salute to indie” medley, they covered iconic tracks from their contemporaries, including Phoenix’s “Lisztomania,” Tame Impala’s “The Less I Know The Better,” Beach House’s “Space Song,” Grizzly Bear’s “Two Weeks,” and finished off with TV on the Radio’s “Wolf Like Me.”Continue reading »
Third Eye Blind has recently covered everybody’s favorite ‘06 tune about being a werewolf (and embracing their well, more sensual instincts…).
Since TV on the Radio released “Wolf Like Me,” it’s been a popular song to cover – and for good reason. There’s certainly something contagiously catchy and gritty about the art-rocker’s tune.
Third Eye Blind was on their most recent tour when they performed their live version of the cover at New Jersey’s PNC Bank Arts Center. And while some music critics aren’t so sure about the San-Fran native alternative rockers performing the Brooklyn-ers tune, we think they more than pulled it off!
From the lively locked-in bassline to the emotive and rowdy vocals and the musicians draped in purple-red lights, everything about this one is a win. If only there was more than a one-and-a-half-minute clip of the live version for us to all watch retroactively… And now, fans on YouTube are beginning for a studio version. Listen to it now down below:
For more great TV on the Radio covers, be sure to check out this link!
It’s been 15 years since the last Al Green album. Does “Perfect Day” signal the beginning of his comeback? Unclear — I thought so after his last single, another cover, and that was five years ago. But we can hope. “I loved Lou’s original ‘Perfect Day’—the song immediately puts you in a good mood,” Green explained. “We wanted to preserve that spirit, while adding our own sauce and style.”Continue reading »
For a certain ilk of artist, boutique destination music festivals in Mexico have become a recent mainstay of the January/February touring cycle (or lack thereof — who wouldn’t want to scuttle off to Mexico for a lost weekend rather than tour in the depths of winter?). Acts like Wilco, Brandi Carlile and an array of others in the indie/jam/rock firmament have been parading down south of the border to the all-inclusive resorts of Riviera Maya. Though Dead & Co.’s plans were thwarted this winter by the Omicron variant in the final hour, many other acts were still able to perform without snafus or health scares. Atop the heap of performers who made their way successfully to Riviera Maya, Mexico this February were My Morning Jacket, Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds, and Phish.Continue reading »
“I was basically trying to rip off the Pixies. I have to admit it. When I heard the Pixies for the first time, I connected with that band so heavily that I should have been in that band—or at least a Pixies cover band. We used their sense of dynamics, being soft and quiet and then loud and hard.”
Surprisingly, the Pixies’ most famous superfan – the man who said he should be in a Pixies cover band – never covered the Pixies. Nirvana were rarely shy about covering their influences, from the Vaselines to the Velvet Underground, but maybe the Pixies were just too obvious. Every Nirvana song, Kurt might have thought, was just a Pixies cover a few degrees removed.
That line of thinking didn’t stop many other artists, though. Pixies covers abound, both from obvious acolytes in the ’90s alt-rock scene to musician fans in other genres who found a way to make Pixies songs sound like bossa nova or doo-wop. We’ve narrowed it down to the best thirty for our list, below. We hope you la la love it.
PS. The artist for this month’s list was selected by our Patreon supporters. To have a say in who we tackle next, sign up for our Patreon here.
Last night’s VMAs surprised many by omitting any sort of musical tribute to Aretha Franklin. You’d think if anyone could pull that together with a few days notice, MTV could – but honestly, I get it. There have been fewer memorial covers of Aretha Franklin than we saw for Tom Petty, Prince, Leonard Cohen, and many others. Even Chris Cornell earned more in-concert tributes, and Aretha’s career of hits goes back decades further than his.
Why is that? Certainly Aretha is no less beloved than these others; eloquent and moving tributes in other forms continue to pour in hourly. My guess: Aretha is first and foremost known as a singer, maybe the greatest ever (Rolling Stone said she was). Though certainly no songwriting slouch (pretty much every part you’d sing along to in “Respect,” she added herself), Aretha may simply be too daunting vocally for many musicians to attempt.
Luckily, not all musicians. Here are the best posthumous Aretha Franklin covers we’ve seen so far. Hopefully more are coming!Continue reading »
