31 January 2014 - Mayer Hawthorne - Royals

I have to admit that I've never listened to Mayer Hawthorne before, but after hearing his soulful cover of Lorde's Royals I just may have to check out a couple of his records. This cover is just too cool.

30 January 2013 - RAC ft. Liz Anjos - Lovefool

The voice you hear is Liz Anjos. Her husband is André Allen Anjos, better known as RAC.  RAC used to be an artist's collective, but it's pretty much André now. Sometimes, wife and husband get together and do covers.  Here they are, doing The Cardigans.  Sorry there is no real video, but sharing this fun song was the greater priority.  More to the point, there is a free download of this song, available here.

29 January 2014 - Ed Sheeran - Baby One More Time

Well this is just all sorts of fun. Here's Ed Sheeran playing Britney Spears' Baby One More Time. It's safe to assume the rabid Taylor Swift fans enjoyed this performance during his opening slot on the Red tour.

28 January 2014 - Letters to Cleo - Cruel to Be Kind

From the movie 10 Things I Hate About You - which featured Letters to Cleo prominently - here are the house band, performing a happy - maybe too happy - cover of Nick Lowe's biggest hit.  The video is fan-made and not very good.  The song is peppy, though.

27 January 2014 - Lisa Loeb - Keep On Loving You

So one day I went on a search to find the most epic REO Speedwagon cover, if only so I could write, "most epic REO Speedwagon cover." Hell, I'm fairly certain no one has said "epic" and "REO Speedwagon" without a derogatory adjective tucked in between the two words in a long time. I could be wrong. But probably not. Anyway, I was hoping to find a boffo hard rock cover of Ridin' The Storm Out or an overwrought Can't Fight This Feeling, but no luck. Instead, we have Lisa Loeb (with guitar assistance by Dweezil Zappa) playing a true to the original cover of Keep On Loving You. It's good, but I'll still be on the lookout for a death metal version of Keep The Fire Burnin'.

23 January 2014 - Scott Weiland Band - Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle

I heard Heart-Shaped Box this morning and pretty much knew I had to find a Nirvana cover today. I wasn't feeling any of the Heart-Shaped Box covers that I heard, but I did like this live cover of Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle by former Stone Temple Pilot lead singer Scott Weiland. It's as straight-forward as they come and I have no problem with that as Scott does a pretty mean Kurt snarl.

22 January 2014 - Toad The Wet Sprocket and Grant Lee Phillips - Ziggy Stardust

Well this is a pretty cool live video for all you old-school alternative music types. Here's Toad The Wet Sprocket and Grant Lee Phillips playing a true to the original cover of David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust.

21 January 2014 - Kay Hanley - Slack Motherfucker

Wait, isn't that Letters to Cleo?????

No, not quite, but Kay Hanley was (is?) the lead vocalist of that great underrated Boston band who were really good live. Here she is, performing this radio friendly Superchunk classic song.

20 January 2014 - Ben Gibbard - Driveway to Driveway

Leave it to Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard to take the saddest Superchunk song and make it just a little bit sadder. Driveway to Driveway really works as a piano-driven song. Never thought I'd say that.

17 January 2014 - City and Colour - Nutshell

While watching this video of City and Colour playing a pretty fine version of Alice in Chains' Nutshell I couldn't help but think: "Who's this guy with the all tats? I wonder if he used to play in a punk band?" So I looked it up and City and Colour is Dallas Green formerly of post-hardcore band Alexisonfire. So then I wondered is it pronounced Alex Is On Fire or Alexis On Fire? It's Alexis On Fire. So yeah, I learned two things today. I think I need a nap now. Brain hurts.

15 January 2014 - Crystal Bowersox - Here's Where The Story Ends

So after six years of running my main "money" fantasy football league, I finally won this year. That championship brought me 11 CDs of my choosing (obviously, it's a real high stakes league). Among those 11 cds was All That For This by Season 9 American Idol runner-up Crystal Bowersox. I've only had a chance to listen to it a couple times, but I like it so far. What really surprised me was her unexpected and fantastic cover of one of my favorite songs by The Sundays. Here's a live version of Here's Where The Story Ends.

14 January 2014 - Miley Cyrus - Summertime Sadness.

Yesterday, Scott posted Bastille doing a Miley Cyrus Cover, from BBC Radio.

Today, I post Miley, doing a Lana Del Rey cover.  She does a faithful but still powerfully morose cover of this surprising hit song.

Will Scott keep the chain going?  We will see tomorrow!

13 January 2014 - Bastille - We Can't Stop

This Miley Cyrus cover by London synth-poppers Bastille is freaking brilliant. I think y'all will enjoy the tongue-in-cheek bridge they added which made an already awesome cover just a bit more awesomer.

10 January 2014 - Christina Perri - Hand in My Pocket

The follow-up to Christina Perri's breathtaking lovestrong album comes out in March. I can't wait to drown in her gorgeously expressive voice all over again. I heard Head or Heart's first single Human on the radio last week in my truck and I ended up sitting in my driveway, in the cold, until the song was over. The video was released a few days ago and it's stunning. But you'll have to go somewhere else to see that video because, well, it's not a cover. This video of Christina playing a solo acoustic version of Alanis Morissette's Hand in My Pocket will have to suffice.

9 January 2014 - Relient K - Motorcycle Drive By

Relient K tend to be a little irreverent, even in their Christianity.  So when they do such a reverential, lovely cover of a Third Eye Blind song, it's a little surprising.  This cover, which they pull out in their live shows, is surprisingly faithful, and not-so-surprisingly well done. 

8 January 2014 - The Lumineers - American Music

Here's Americana darlings The Lumineers playing American Music by the one and only Violent Femmes. As expected, the performance spirals into a big ol' freaking party. Just the way I like it.

7 January 2014 - Marina and the Diamonds - Boyfriend

It took me a long time to figure out what cover to post today.

And then I stumbled upon Marina Diamandis singing a Justin Bieber song.  Sure, it's a lot bigger when she sings it, and a much more emotional song..... but it's Bieber, no doubt.

Thank you, Marina and the Diamonds, for such a gift in this new year.

6 January 2014 - Jason Isbell and Dawes - Cortez The Killer

Jason Isbell was in my Top 10 Country Albums of 2013. Dawes SHOULD have been in my Best of 2013 - 10 Indie/Alternative Albums That I Liked List (let's say they came in at 10b). It got me thinking...I bet Jason and Dawes would sound really good together...maybe doing a Neil Young cover. Well what do we have here? Enjoy!

2 January 2014 - Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton & Cee-Lo Green - Crazy

To open 2014, let's look at a live collaboration by the four judges of The Voice.  Because it makes complete sense that four musicians working together on a TV show would collaborate at least sometimes! (We are told that Adam Levine is here somewhere, too, but he doesn't seem to be a vocalist on this song)

As part of Gnarls Barkley (along with Danger Mouse), Cee-Lo Green originated this song.  However, it's really Blake Shelton and Christina Aguilera that take the lead in this version, recorded live in 2012. And there's no Danger Mouse to be found.   Cee-Lo does, at times, show off his guitar skills, which impressed me.   Enjoy!