Wednesday, June 3, 2015

3 June 2015 - Bastille - Blue Jeans

I don't often post for my kids.

But Juliana, my 14-year-old daughter, requested that I post some Bastille.  So here it is.  Here is Bastille, covering Lana Del Rey.  And really, although I am generally not a big fan of Bastille, I have to admit, this is a really good cover.


Tuesday, April 21, 2015

21 April 2015 - Body Count - Institutionalized

It's not a faithful cover, lyrically.   But Ice-T does a great job capturing the spirit of Suicidal Tendencies, translating it into adulthood.   It might even be JUST A LITTLE ANGRIER than the original......

Monday, March 30, 2015

30 March 2015 - Tyler Ward & Lindsey Stirling - Thrift Shop

I admit it.

I've been looking for an excuse to post the very talented violinist Lindsey Stirling for weeks.  I really had no reason to include Tyler Ward, who does hold up the swagger of Macklemore very well.... I mean, he's really talented, and does have his own album out.

....but I'm all about the hip hop violin here.  That's what steals the show.  And I chose this song because it's not a song where you would expect violin to work well....... and yet it does.




Wednesday, March 25, 2015

25 March 2015 - Lennon and Maisy - Boom Clap

As many of you are aware (if you read my other blog), I am a little bit of a Charli XCX fan.  But not everything she does is gold, even if I write a post about it.

So, when I stumble upon a cover that makes me like the original more, I am going to pay attention.  The best parts of Nashville, the Stella sisters have taken an EDM-heavy song and made it into a beautiful masterpiece of harmony.  They've done it before.   I'm glad they still do.

And, to answer your question, Charli sent them heart-shaped suckers, so I think she's a fan.

Monday, February 16, 2015

16 February 2015 - Eve's Plum - If I Can't Have You

Did you know this song was written by the Bee Gees?  Made famous in the 70's by Yvonne Elliman, but she didn't write it either.

I always liked Eve's Plum's version. As far as I can tell, it's the last thing they did together before the current VP of Music at Nickelodeon, Colleen Fitzpatrick, left to be a pop star as Vitamin C. 

(That whole VP thing is true, by the way)


Monday, February 9, 2015

9 February 2015 - Five Seconds of Summer - What I Like About You

I have to admit, I was a little surprised by this cover.  I didn't expect these guys to understand 80's music so well.  Were any of them born in the 80s? 

And yet this cover is spot-on.  Far more energy than the Romantics original..... and, in a bit of an ironic twist, a bigger US hit. 


Thursday, February 5, 2015

5 February 2015 - The Vaccines - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

I never intended this comeback for this blog to be Taylor Swift city.

And yet here we are.  Two days in a row.

However, this pop-rock cover is more homage than reworking.  Why mess with perfection, they seem to be saying.

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

4 February 2014 - Jessie J - I Knew You Were Trouble

The original version of this song was following me around a little bit last week.

Jessie J takes Taylor Swift's foray into EDM and turns it into a torch song.  Should any of us be surprised that she did an absolutely sublime job at covering this?  And yet it's completely surprising.
 

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

3 February 2015 - Mandy Moore - Have A Little Faith In Me

OK, we get it.

She's not John Hiatt.

What she is, is an underrated singer with a huge voice that is more than enough to handle this understated song.  So enjoy it (and curse Scott that we can't post her brilliant "Senses Working Overtime" here.)

Monday, February 2, 2015

2 February 2015 - James Newton Chadwick - Oblivion

I don't know who James Newton Chadwick is, but after hearing how well he covered Grimes's "Oblivion", I want to know more.  The original is very much a keyboard song, an electronic masterpiece.  Chadwick turned it into a folk music classic, without resorting to cheap Grimes impersonation, which would have been the easy route.

I expect to explore more of his music in the coming weeks.

Friday, January 30, 2015

30 January 2015 - Lorde - Hold My Liquor

And we're back!

Kanye West's words have a way of making anyone sound like a douchebag.

Except for Lorde.  Heavily influenced by American hip-hop (and clearly not a fan of tigers on gold leashes), this almost seems like homage.  And for a New Zealand girl, she really gets the genre.