| matkojapan |
 Posted: February 19, 2009 - 4:39am |
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Joined: 13 Feb 2009
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You had to include Ben Folds Five's version of Dr.Dre's Bitches aint Shit!
The Piano playing, Lounge singer tone with the Dre lyrics makes me laugh still! even after listening to it a thousand times!
And the arrangement was actually cool!!
BEST COVER EVER!
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| Scott Baio |
| Posted: February 19, 2009 - 8:05am |
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Joined: 05 Mar 2008
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Some of my favorites:
The Futureheads cover Kate Bush's "Hounds of Love" - A barbershop punk cover of a new wave goddess that arguably eclipses the original. The Futureheads' manic vocal hiccups and straight ahead post-punk power provide an energy that makes this song irresistible.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZH1h9l0w84
Jose Gonzalez covers The Knife's "Heartbeats" - Gonzalez's cover of “Heartbeats” adds an unexpected depth and striking beauty to a song that beforehand was just a fun dance tune. In Gonzalez’s version, the song is transformed into an aching love song hinting at infidelity and the release of forgiveness. While I am a huge fan of The Knife’s version, José Gonzalez has taken this song an infused so much emotion into it that he truly made it his own.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4_4abCWw-w
Lyle Lovett covers the Grateful Dead's "Friend of the Devil" - Using acoustic guitar and bass, lightly tapped bongos, and an understated cello, Lovett adds his incomparable singing voice to coax out the sweet melody and emotion of one of the Dead’s best and most endearing songs. The end result is an impeccably gorgeous cover, one that stands right up there with the original.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-LKkaJQkqo
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| a_patrick |
| Posted: February 19, 2009 - 9:20am |
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Joined: 07 May 2008
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Ok, I know most country music sucks but my husband has taken a liking to the Zac Brown Band ("Chicken Fried") and he made me listen to a cd that he burned of theirs. Oddly enough there was an interesting cover that definitely caught my attention. Even with it being country, I felt it was entertaining and definitely a good cover.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S71Pa9M-SOc
"Gin and Juice"
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| FenderBender |
| Posted: February 19, 2009 - 9:48am |
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Joined: 20 Mar 2007
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You'll laugh at this, but I loved HERE COMES MY BABY by Cat Stevens, from the RUSHMORE soundtrack. Music doesn't have to be complex to be entertaining.
Any local-level rock band doing a gig in a different city should do at least two covers, and they should be catchy. A good cover brings attention to a band that's performing in unfamiliar territory.
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ROCK TIL DEATH!!!
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| StormD |
| Posted: February 19, 2009 - 10:29am |
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Joined: 13 Feb 2009
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In 1987, Pet Shop Boys performed a thoughtful new-wave version of "Always on My Mind" on Love Me Tender, an ITV network television special commemorating the tenth anniversary of Presley's death, in which various popular contemporary acts performed cover versions of his hits. Their performance was so well-received that the group decided to record the song and release it as a single. This version became the U.K.'s Christmas number one single that year, beating "Fairytale of New York" by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl, and topping the charts for four weeks in total. It also reached number one in Germany in 1988, and peaked at number four in the United States on the Billboard Hot 100 the same year, becoming the duo's fifth and last Top 10 hit there.
In November 2004, The Daily Telegraph newspaper placed the version at number two in a list of the fifty greatest cover versions of all time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2pNF_IXfyI
Despite a sizable amount of original material, the Gourds are probably best known for a song they did not write, and for which they initially did not receive credit (many internet tracks of their brilliant cover are still falsely labelled "Phish"). A full twelve years after its live debut, fans can still be heard calling out for the band's cover version of Snoop Dogg's "Gin and Juice", often before they have even taken the stage. This has led some to consider it an albatross, but the band continues to play the crowd pleaser on occasion, adding various impromptu covers to its mid-section as a way of maintaining its appeal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCAM3C3dpIA
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| Scott Baio |
| Posted: February 19, 2009 - 11:04am |
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Joined: 05 Mar 2008
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Can't believe I fogot to include this, as it's one of my favorite covers ever:
Dr. Dog covers Architecture In Helsinki's "Heart It Races" - The original is a fine example of AIH's manic, kindergartener-on-acid vibe, but my jaw dropped when I first heard the Dr. Dog version. For a little backstory, AIH recruited four other artists to remix/re-record their single "Heart It Races," and then they released them all together in a little EP. The absolute stand out of all of the versions (including the original!) was Dr. Dog's laid back, So-Cal groove. Replacing the steel drums of the original with a trippy slide guitar, distant background vocals, and some handclaps, Dr. Dog have produced the best cover I've heard in a long time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QvJ3dXqmvw
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http://notbaio.wordpress.com
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| gaziza |
| Posted: February 19, 2009 - 11:09am |
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Joined: 12 Mar 2008
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I like What Difference Does it Make by Bobby Bare Jr. (Original by the Smiths)
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| parker |
| Posted: February 19, 2009 - 1:27pm |
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Joined: 13 Feb 2009
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Great Call.
I'd also throw in Devo's cover of the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction."
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| licketysnicket |
| Posted: February 19, 2009 - 1:34pm |
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Joined: 17 Apr 2008
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Cibo Matto's version of Nirvana's 'About A Girl' is a good one
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Organized people are just too lazy to look for things...
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| Cleopatra2U |
| Posted: February 19, 2009 - 2:00pm |
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Joined: 27 Feb 2008
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But what makes a good cover song?
First and foremost: it has to stack up to the original, and unless you are covering Britney Spears this can be a formidable task. Posers are lame, so the second rule of a good cover song: put your own spin on it. If we wanted to hear an exact mimic of The Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses," we'd listen to the original. Good covers switch up genres, strip away instruments or utilize a singer of a different gender.
The following are just a few examples of excellent contemporary covers. Idols, pay attention! This is how it's done!
When Jello Biafra belts out the lyrics of "Too Drunk to F**k," it is a gritty, slapdash melee about rowdy punk drunkendom. But when the sexy French girls of Nouvelle Vague coo "Went to a party, I danced all night / I drank sixteen beers and started up a fight!" this song takes on a whole new meaning.
With theatrical live shows and sensuous singing Parisian filles, this is not your standard cover band. Nouvelle Vague performs 80s New Wave songs with a Brazilian Bossa Nova twist. You probably heard their cover of "Heart of Glass" tinkering in the background at your local Urban Outfitters... however, Nouvelle Vague is too cool to be relegated to ambience. Buy the album.
"The Last Beat of My Heart" by DeVotchKa
Most covers strip away instruments in an effort to pump more emotion into a song. The problem with "The Last Beat of My Heart" is you don't get much more stripped down than Siouxsie & the Banshees' original.
So DevotchKa, perhaps one of the best live bands in the U.S.A. today, took this cover suggestion from The Arcade Fire and vamped up their instrumentation. DeVotchKa brilliantly blends violins, accordians, drums and Nick Urata's soaring Mariachi vocals to turn what was an achingly sorrowful ode to heartbreak into a powerful anthem about undying love.
"Troubled So Hard" by Paolo Nutini
Paolo Nutini is one of those rare modern musicians who sounds a hundred times better live. Nutini's over-produced studio album just doesn't capture his appeal, an appeal rooted in his hunchbacked stage presence and churned-asphalt, gravelly voice.
In his live show, Nutini performs this cover of Moby's "Natural Blues," which in turn was a sample of Vera Hall and Dock Reed's little-known, super duper rare "Trouble So Hard." I'm sure Vera and Dock would be all a-twitter-pated if they saw their modest blues number being performed all over the world in front of thousands upon thousands of fans.
"Common People" by William Shatner
I've mentioned this song before, but it is so fan-friggin-tastic it gets an encore. Indie rock band Pulp performs the more-than-awesome original, yet somehow (inexplicably) Shatner's spoken-word version rocks even MORE. ?!?!?!?!?!
To be fair, Captain Kirk had some help. Ben Folds arranged the music, and Joe Jackson sings the rocked out chorus. The lyrics themselves are delectable, about a rich girl who slums it with the "common people," only to be torn down for being "a tourist" who thinks "poor is cool." *Writer's note: of my four suggestions, this is the only one I haven't seen performed live, ruining my music geek streak... damn you Shatner!
The Good Music Corner began after VFTW's infallible Dave noticed an inundation of pretentious music geeks visiting his site. This blog, in addition to countering the poor quality music marketed on American Idol, serves as a soapbox for self-proclaimed musicologists.
If you have a submission for the Suggestion Box, would like to talk music, or feel a need to complain about the likeness of the caricatured Idols adorning the banner of this site, you may email Laura at CaricaturesByLaura at Yahoo.com.
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