If you haven’t yet heard ANR’s cover of Kelis’ “Millionaire,” you really should – it’s one of the best covers of the year to date. Now the Miami duo draw from the same R&B well in Usher’s “Climax,” a soaring electropop dance jam. Continue reading »
There is a definite safety in covering top 40 pop songs these days, and it becomes pretty obvious when scanning through the endless Gaga, Britney and Rihanna covers. However, this doesn’t always mean that the cover artist has to play it safe. In the case of singer-songwriter Sarah Winters‘ Find Restless Cover EP, audiences are lucky enough to get some refreshing covers of Kanye West‘s endlessly covered hit “Runaway,” Rihanna‘s risque “S&M,” as well as covers of Usher and Frank Ocean. Continue reading »
Every Wednesday, our resident Gleek Eric Garneau gives his take on last night’s Glee covers.
In “New York,” the McKinley High glee club travels to Nationals in the Big Apple to compete with the top 50 groups in the nation. While the group tries to hunker down and write some killer original songs, Finn looks to win back Rachel’s love, and Will has to decide whether to leave Lima behind for a career on Broadway.
It occurs to me that there’s very little non-sports television that revolves around winning and losing. Normally, television characters just exist; though they certainly have aspirations and goals, few are the shows that spend entire seasons building to a climactic win/lose decision that alters everything that follows. Glee, honestly, is the only show I can think of that’s structured that way. For better or worse, as an audience we’re really invested in how these characters fare in competition, even though — or perhaps because — whether they win or lose sometimes seems fickle and unfair. In fact, it’s probably that notion of losing that most makes Glee resonate emotionally. Continue reading »
The back end of December’s usually a pretty quiet time for television, unless you enjoy reruns and holiday specials. But for the second year in a row, NBC’s snuck a three-week competition-style reality show into its lineup at precisely this time of year with little fanfare. It’s the peacock network’s answer to Fox’s American Idol and Glee, and it’s called The Sing-Off.
The Sing-Off features ten of America’s best vocal groups vying for dual grand prizes: $100,000 and a Sony recording contract. No instruments come into play here, just lots and lots of voices performing songs we all know and – sometimes – love. To sweeten the pot for music fans, the groups are judged by industry royalty: Ben Folds, Nicole Scherzinger of Pussycat Dolls and Shawn Stockman of Boys II Men. Oh, and Nick Lachey hosts, if that’s your bag. Continue reading »
Quick, name a classic Jerry Lee Lewis album. Okay, now try Chuck Berry. Little Richard? Bo Diddley? Fats Domino?
How’d you do? Bet you came up empty. Don’t feel bad. After all, these artists didn’t make albums; they made singles. Sure, labels collected those singles on any number of mix-and-match LPs, but the artist never intended them for that medium. Singles mean to grab you by the lapel for two minutes before the disc jockey switches to someone else. The end result: artists recycled proven formulas. But who cares if “Johnny B. Goode” is basically a “Roll Over Beethoven” rewrite? They weren’t meant to be listened to together.
On The Baseballs Strike! Back, the expanded re-release of their 2009 debut Strike!, the nostalgic trio rips off Domino, Jerry Lee, and all their Brylcreem-slick peers. Their sound isn’t particularly innovate, but that’s the whole idea. These guys adapt that early rock and roll style to current pop hits. Ever wonder what Beyoncé’s “Crazy in Love” would sound like as skiffle? Probably not, but they’ll show you anyway. Continue reading »