28 November 2021 - Limp Bizkit - Don't Change

When I heard this cover existed, I expected "Don't Change Your Nookie".

What I GOT was Fred Durst and a guitar, with minimal accompanyment, passionately singing the hell out of this song, doing INXS and Michael Hutchence proud.  It's beautifully arranged and meticulously performed.   

19 November 2021 - k-os - Just What I Needed

In what is the second least expected cover* of the year, the "Crabbuckit" guy did a cover of what is arguable the best known song by The Cars.  Adding some hip hop in for good measure, it is mostly a straight forward, yet fun cover by the Toronto native.  

And clearly, he doesn't mind you coming here and wasting all his time.  

* it still isn't as expected as The Wiggles covering Tame Impala

11 November 2021 - Ryan Adams - Wildest Dreams

My former co-author Scott would be proud.  You see, I'm discovering that Taylor Swift isn't actually a bad lyricist.  Ryan Adams brings a folkier feel to her most iconic album, 1989.  "Wildest Dreams" is one of her better known songs and, in fact, my favorite of hers - it was briliantly and heartbreakingly executed in its original form, and briliantly covered and given a melancholy gender swap in this form.

20 October 2021 - Cœur de Pirate - Slow Show

Why do I insist upon spelling it with the œ rather than the oe that YouTube uses?  

Maybe I'm just showing off my character map skills. 

Maybe I just want to accurately represent her name.

Maybe I just wanted to share this piece of a soundtrack album for the 5th season of the Canadian TV series Trauma, which was a bunch of covers, including this one originally done by The National, all by Cœur de Pirate.  

Maybe you should just enjoy this.   

22 September 2021 - The Jazz Band Rejects - Waiting Room

When you hear that a School of Rock is covering a Fugazi song, you probably think, "oh, pretty easy, pretty common jam band classic. This could be disrespectful."

I'm here to tell you that it is not.  I went into this expecting it to be a terrible trainwreck.  It is not.  It is excellent, and performed by musicians who absolutely understand the energy and feeling of the original, with the lead vocalist (who is identified in the comments as "Emma") bringing the stage presence and gravitas that rivals what Ian MacKaye brought to the original. 

This is a frequently covered song, by a lot of big time artists.   This is the best one I've heard.

16 September 2021 - Cats On Trees - Love You Like A Love Song

This cover of the Selena Gomez classic by French band Cats On Trees rethinks the song as a soulful, mournful ballad.  Sometimes this type of reimagining of a song makes it lose its soul - but not so much in this case. 

9 September 2021 - Weezer - Big Me

Weezer started performing this Foo Fighters classic live, after the Foo Fighters stopped performing it.  When they toured together, the Fighters were compelled to perform it themselves again.  

Still, this is a pretty great cover.