Guest blogger Scott writes: It’s always a little weird when famous people die. The level of emotional outpouring from people who have attached a piece of themselves to this person they’ve never met is somewhat foreign to me. But it’s different when I can see the specific ways in which someone benefited from the celebrity’s […]
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Coverage: Commissions at Cover Me
March 23, 2009Guest blogger Scott writes: Cover Me, a cover song blog, has begun commissioning covers from independent artists. In blogger Ray’s words: Here’s the gist. Every month we will present to you an artist, one who’s probably showed up on the blog before, one whom I feel has a lot to offer cover-wise. Said artist has […]
Coverage: Nightmare Revisited
February 6, 2009[extended trailer for Coraline on YouTube; if you can’t watch it, click here] Guest blogger Scott writes: Coraline opens today and, while debcha might be most excited about the production of a favored author’s work, I have multiple reasons to be excited. I like gothic spooky, but can’t stomach horror (at least until a Hollywood […]
Coverage: The Motion Sick at Influenza
January 28, 2009Tomorrow night (Thursday, January 29) is the premiere of “Influenza,” a new Boston-based monthly show that features local artists playing a mix of their original material and covers of songs that influenced them (hence the title). I think this is a great idea – one of the things that makes it a little tough to […]
Coverage: Buffetlibre’s Rewinded and Rewind2
January 12, 2009Guest blogger Scott writes: Buffetlibre has just released the second half of their epic compilation of new artists (many of whom I’ve never heard of) covering 70s, 80s, and 90s (but mostly 80s) songs. I had a few tracks from the first half, but hadn’t sat down and dug through it carefully. This release gave […]
Coverage: “Hallelujah” on the UK charts
December 22, 2008Last week guest blogger Scott posted about the Jeff Buckley cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” describing it as ‘insipid’ compared to the original. Well, as he pointed out, apparently all of the UK is conspiring against him. This week, the number one song on the British charts is a cover of “Hallelujah” by Alexandra Burke, […]
Coverage: The danger of lists
December 15, 2008Guest blogger Scott writes: As the end of the year approaches, music blogs everywhere will be producing lists; best of ’08, most anticipated of ’09, biggest letdowns of ’08. And for every list, there is someone like me who has nothing better to do than to poke holes in it. I was recently directed to […]
Coverage: Guilt by Association Vol 2
November 19, 2008Speaking of The Bloodsugars, they have not one but two tracks on Guilt By Association 2 (it is their record label, after all). As the name suggests, it’s all about guilty pleasures – indie bands covering decidedly un-indie songs: The Bloodsugars cover Chris de Burgh’s ‘Lady in Red‘ and Laura Branigan’s ‘Self Control,’ for example. […]
Coverage: “Video Killed the Radio Star”
November 5, 2008Following up on the previous post, guest blogger Scott adds: As any trivia geek knows, MTV’s first aired video was Video Killed the Radio Star, by The Buggles. and he sent along three covers for your enjoyment. MP3: Erasure – Video Killed the Radio Star MP3: Ben Folds – Video Killed the Radio Star MP3: […]
Coverage: Built to Spill does MIA
October 31, 2008[embedded YouTube video; if you can’t see it, click here] Wait, that headline sounds a little more NSFW than I intended… Built to Spill covered MIA‘s ‘Paper Planes’ at a recent concert in Rome. I’ve heard mixed responses to it, but I quite like Doug Martsch’s ringing guitar. Check it out for yourself.
Coverage: Holy Fuck/Foals split 12″
October 13, 2008Last year I wrote about Holy Fuck doing a split 7″ with their tourmates Celebration – each of them covered a song by the other band. They handed out the vinyl at the concerts, and also made the songs available for digital download. They must have been pretty happy about it, because they are doing […]
Coverage: China Drum, “Wuthering Heights”
October 10, 2008Following up on the Kate Bush post, here’s a 1995 cover of her song “Wuthering Heights” by British punk band China Drum. MP3: China Drum – Wuthering Heights (Kate Bush cover)
Coverage: Johnny Cash, “If You Could Read My Mind”
October 1, 2008In keeping with this week’s de facto celebration of Canadian music, here’s a Johnny Cash cover of Gordon Lightfoot‘s 1970 hit, “If You Could Read My Mind.” If you’ve never heard the song before, and part of it sounds familiar, you might be familiar with Whitney Houston’s “Greatest Love of All.” Lightfoot sued its songwriter, […]
Coverage: Ted Leo, “Since U Been Gone”
September 26, 2008Speaking of Ted Leo, here’s his cover of Kelly Clarkson‘s “Since You Been Gone,” with a bonus bit of the Yeah Yeah Yeah‘s “Maps” thrown in. Enjoy! MP3: Ted Leo – Since U Been Gone (Kelly Clarkson cover)
Coverage: CSS, “Cannonball”
September 19, 2008Here at z=z, we love covers. So when I read that CSS was covering the Breeders‘ 1993 hit “Cannonball” for a UK-only single B side, I went in search of it. One of the characteristics of a good cover is that it makes you reconsider the original – it’s a restatement, not a recapitulation. The […]
Coverage: Alkaline Trio, “Wake Up Exhausted”
September 10, 2008Is it still a cover when one of the principals of the original is participating? Tegan Quin joined Alkaline Trio on AOL’s “The Interface.” Together, they performed a number of Alkaline Trio songs and covered Tegan and Sara‘s “Wake Up Exhausted.” You can download the whole performance, or watch the videos, here. MP3: Alkaline Trio […]
Coverage: The Mekons, “Folsom Prison Blues”
August 30, 2008The Mekons were one of the early British punk bands (along with the Damned and the Buzzcocks), but their music evolved into post-punk and then began to incorporate country influences like Hank Williams. This song pulls those disparate styles together in one terrific Johnny Cash cover. More Mekons: myspace website MP3: The Mekons – Folsom […]
Coverage: Amanda Palmer, “I Google You”
August 20, 2008I’m still fairly thrilled that one of my favourite authors, Neil Gaiman, is collaborating with one of my favourite Boston artists, Amanda Palmer (of the Dresden Dolls). Palmer’s solo CD, Who Killed Amanda Palmer?, is scheduled for release in early September. A companion book of photographs is in preparation, and Gaiman is contributing the text […]
Coverage: Ted Leo, “The Spirit of Radio”
July 17, 2008In honour of Rush’s appearance yesterday on the Colbert Report, and Ted Leo’s appearance this morning on the soon-to-be-defunct Bryant Park Project on NPR, here’s Ted Leo’s cover of Rush’s “The Spirit of Radio.” The story is that this song was inspired by CFNY, Toronto’s independent/alternative radio station, which was a formative musical influence on […]
Coverage: worst cover ever?
June 27, 2008“ UK-based magazine Total Guitar recently published its lists of the 30 best and the 20 worst covers of all time. They chose Celine Dion’s version of AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long” in the latter category, which is definitely a worthy contender (that’s AC/DC, above). The BBC World News has a 36-second excerpt, […]
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