Cover me, Baby
I have a serious love for the cover song - remixes, revisions and reimaginings. Taking something, adding to it; changing it and making it into something new and great. Kinda like fanfic, with music.
I've been hooked since my first exposure to Me First and the Gimme Gimmes and their sped up pop-punk version of "Country Roads". I think it's the throw away WHOO's that sucked me in at the time.
I'm not a huge fan of the cover that is a note-for-note reproduction. They're well enough for drinking your face off in a shitty bar and getting silly on the dance floor (especially if Ween is involved somewhere along the way) but they're disposable versions of songs you already know. A good cover, to me, is one that shifts the sound and makes it mean something different entirely.
Leaving out the super obvious (Johnny Cash's AMAZING cover of NIN's "Hurt", for one... Or Placebo's Kate Bush cover), I have scoured the YouTubes to find some of my favourite cover songs.
Metric covering DFA - Black History Month
Death From Above 1979
Metric
Usually, I have a clear preference, but DFA's apocalyptic sound and Meric's fragile, more poignant version are both hitting all of my happy places. Emily Haines's voice is haunting in her version and the piano is the perfect counterpoint to her bittersweet interpretation.
Brian Posehn covering Kenny Rogers - The Gambler
Kenny Rogers
Brian Posehn
As much I love Kenny Rogers and the original song, I have to give this one to Brian Posehn, because even though he's doing this mostly as a joke, he made Kenny Rogers Metal. That deserves a laugh and hearty "Well, Done Sir". And then beer (Also, Brian Posehn is a stand up comedian whose Nerd Rage skit never fails to make me laugh).
JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound covering Wilco - I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
Wilco
JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound
The original sound is so bleak, beautiful and elegant too, but I hear this and I think heartbroken and drifting with it. A little lost and regretful. The JC Brooks version, on the other hand is pure funk energy. He's bouncing back fast and making swagger so the world knows about it. Love the swagger.
Pomplamoose covering Beyonce - Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)
Beyonce
Pomplamoose
Beyonce's version is one of those earworms that I dread hearing at the mall, because it will be stuck in my head until Europe's The Final Countdown chooses to reassert itself. Justin Timberlake's Saturday Night Live shenanigans went a long way towards me begrudgingly not trying to stab my brain when it does insinuate itself, but it's not my favourite.
Pomplamoose, on the other hand, IDK. I have such a thing for breathy, disembodied-sounding female vocalists. The neat thing about these guys is everything that was used to record this song appears in the video. And that section where she refuses to sing the section that's just awful makes me laugh every time.
Reel Big Fish covering A-HA - Take on Me
A-HA
Reel Big Fish
BONUS LITERAL VIDEO VERSION (AKA - Pipe Wrench Fight)
Pipe Wrench Fight is the hands down winner here, but will you guys still respect me if I tell you that I really love the original version of this song? IT'S MY CHILDHOOD OK? (and i remember watching this video when i was wee and thinking it was the coolest thing i'd ever seen)
A Perfect Mashup - Diary of a Lovesong
Ozzy - Diary of a Madman
The Cure - Lovesong
A Perfect Circle - Diary of a Lovesong
JHASKDLJHhhsjhsdfjhsf!!!
This is genius. One of my favourite songs, the best mashup I've ever heard (and that includes the Lazy Town/Lil Wayne mashup) and one of my favourite arguments when someone tries to tell me remixes are a creative-null. Maynard is a bloody genius and, even though I really like his wine, I wish he'd get on another Tool or APC album soon.
(Puscifer supposedly has a full-length due out soon. Maybe that can hold me for now.)
(I really miss Tool though.)
Right. Back to the mashup - what I love is how seamlessly they've combined these songs. I do not hear separate elements here, where it's like - "Oh, that's Ozzy" and "Oh that's the cure" - he's picked perfect lyrical and musical transitions and turned it into something new.
SO MUCH LOVE.
How about you guys? What are your favourite covers?
I've been hooked since my first exposure to Me First and the Gimme Gimmes and their sped up pop-punk version of "Country Roads". I think it's the throw away WHOO's that sucked me in at the time.
I'm not a huge fan of the cover that is a note-for-note reproduction. They're well enough for drinking your face off in a shitty bar and getting silly on the dance floor (especially if Ween is involved somewhere along the way) but they're disposable versions of songs you already know. A good cover, to me, is one that shifts the sound and makes it mean something different entirely.
Leaving out the super obvious (Johnny Cash's AMAZING cover of NIN's "Hurt", for one... Or Placebo's Kate Bush cover), I have scoured the YouTubes to find some of my favourite cover songs.
Metric covering DFA - Black History Month
Death From Above 1979
Click to viewMetric
Usually, I have a clear preference, but DFA's apocalyptic sound and Meric's fragile, more poignant version are both hitting all of my happy places. Emily Haines's voice is haunting in her version and the piano is the perfect counterpoint to her bittersweet interpretation.
Brian Posehn covering Kenny Rogers - The Gambler
Kenny Rogers
Brian Posehn
As much I love Kenny Rogers and the original song, I have to give this one to Brian Posehn, because even though he's doing this mostly as a joke, he made Kenny Rogers Metal. That deserves a laugh and hearty "Well, Done Sir". And then beer (Also, Brian Posehn is a stand up comedian whose Nerd Rage skit never fails to make me laugh).
JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound covering Wilco - I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
Wilco
JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound
The original sound is so bleak, beautiful and elegant too, but I hear this and I think heartbroken and drifting with it. A little lost and regretful. The JC Brooks version, on the other hand is pure funk energy. He's bouncing back fast and making swagger so the world knows about it. Love the swagger.
Pomplamoose covering Beyonce - Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)
Beyonce
Pomplamoose
Beyonce's version is one of those earworms that I dread hearing at the mall, because it will be stuck in my head until Europe's The Final Countdown chooses to reassert itself. Justin Timberlake's Saturday Night Live shenanigans went a long way towards me begrudgingly not trying to stab my brain when it does insinuate itself, but it's not my favourite.
Pomplamoose, on the other hand, IDK. I have such a thing for breathy, disembodied-sounding female vocalists. The neat thing about these guys is everything that was used to record this song appears in the video. And that section where she refuses to sing the section that's just awful makes me laugh every time.
Reel Big Fish covering A-HA - Take on Me
A-HA
Reel Big Fish
BONUS LITERAL VIDEO VERSION (AKA - Pipe Wrench Fight)
Pipe Wrench Fight is the hands down winner here, but will you guys still respect me if I tell you that I really love the original version of this song? IT'S MY CHILDHOOD OK? (and i remember watching this video when i was wee and thinking it was the coolest thing i'd ever seen)
A Perfect Mashup - Diary of a Lovesong
Ozzy - Diary of a Madman
The Cure - Lovesong
A Perfect Circle - Diary of a Lovesong
JHASKDLJHhhsjhsdfjhsf!!!
This is genius. One of my favourite songs, the best mashup I've ever heard (and that includes the Lazy Town/Lil Wayne mashup) and one of my favourite arguments when someone tries to tell me remixes are a creative-null. Maynard is a bloody genius and, even though I really like his wine, I wish he'd get on another Tool or APC album soon.
(Puscifer supposedly has a full-length due out soon. Maybe that can hold me for now.)
(I really miss Tool though.)
Right. Back to the mashup - what I love is how seamlessly they've combined these songs. I do not hear separate elements here, where it's like - "Oh, that's Ozzy" and "Oh that's the cure" - he's picked perfect lyrical and musical transitions and turned it into something new.
SO MUCH LOVE.
How about you guys? What are your favourite covers?