Cover to cover

Cover your ears cause it's cover time. Aaand lame-joke play-on-words time, apparently.

So yeah, I got this other folder mischievously downloaded under the moonlight and quite straightforwardly entitled "99 Best Covers Ever". 99 songs, none of which I have heard before. Cool. I know more than half of the originals, but not these covers. And, for the most part, it's cool people doing covers of other cool people's cool stuff. Sure, they're not all the "best covers ever", it's statistically improbable for it to be so. For instance Kathryn Williams' cover of Cohen's "Hallelujah" is something of a drag, since it seems to take her forever and a half to get each word out. Or Moriarty's cover of "Enjoy The Silence". that voice is like I'm pulling my cat through the letter slot. No chance of enjoying the silence there. 

Other stuff:

Never heard Bob Dylan gone hip-hop? Here's your chance to skip that.

Wonder how Nirvana sounds without the angst and all dreamy? Hooverphonic's got that covered.

The Flaming Lips do Madonna. All of them! Un-know that if you can!

David Bowie takes a stab at "Across The Universe" and let me tell you, that song is bleeding. See, the funny thing about Bowie is that everybody would  stroke their beard and agree that "mhm, yes yes, Bowie, what a legend!", but I've never met a fan. I don't know anybody who actually listens to Bowie, knows the lyrics by heart, listens to an entire album in one go, you know, a fan. They all go, "oh yeah, Ziggy Stardust..major! Major! And speaking of major, my god, Space Oddity!" Just the hits. He's a little wonder, he is. I think it's his voice, don't ask me why.

Anyway, blah blah blah, there's tons more, but here's my pick.

1. Kristin Hersh's "Your Ghost", originally a duet with Michael Stipe, here sung by this guy Greg and no Michael Stipe: huge improvement.

Greg Laswell - Your Ghost (Kristin Hersh)

2. I love Mazzy Star, I wanna marry Hope Sandoval 10 times simultaneously if possible, and I've always loved this song, "Into Dust". This song made me continue to watch "House MD" - there's some really kick ass music in that show, including Hugh Laurie's. So here's 9 minutes of this song, lick your fingers (cause you probably can't reach your ears. But maybe you can get someone to do it for you)

Ashtar Command - Into Dust (Mazzy Star)

3. Now...this one I don't know. It says Beck, but there's a chick singing. Let me check. 

Oh, here we go, I'm just gonna copy/paste it: "In March or April 2009, Beck got together with his band (Brian, Joey and Bram), Nigel Godrich, Chris Holmes, and Icelandic singer, Thorunn Magnusdottir. They recorded the legendary album, Velvet Underground + Nico in its entirety. This is one of the songs from it." 

So Beck just plays some keyboards on this one. Sounds alright. Not as jadedly heroic as the original, but alright. One of the few VU songs I actually enjoy.

Beck - All Tomorrow's Parties (Velvet Underground)

4. It's weird. I don't know how this is possible, what with all of my loathing of high-pitched squeaking female voices, but I really like Kate Bush. Maybe because she is so much more than a - huge quotation marks - "singer-songwriter". She has this playfulness about her, but not in a cute way necessarily. I don't know. You get the feeling that her house is built on a wind somewhere, and she hangs from a cloud, and she's small, and brave, and fierce. Fuck it, I don't know how to describe it.

The Puppini Sisters - Wuthering Heights (Kate Bush)

5. This song has been covered over and over again. Again, "House MD" uses it as an intro. So here's yet another version. Not the most original one, but when it comes to covers that's actually not a bad thing. Most bands would so desperately attempt to give a song a "personal spin" that they would ultimately fuck up the whole thing. A good example on this here compilation is Hard Fi's version of "Seven Nation Army". Dude, it's not supposed to be space-reggae, that one.You don't just play it differently, you either keep the mood of the original somehow, or you switch to a different mood that adds something or gives a different meaning to the song (Sweet Dreams?). Otherwise, just shut up. Back to "Teardrop", Simple Minds kept the mood. Good for them.

Simple Minds - Teardrop (Massive Attack)

6. Now here's Beck, really Beck. I don't listen to Bob Dylan, so I don't know the original, but Beck's version rocks and...blueses? Feels good, feels good...

Beck - Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat (Bob Dylan)

7. And lastly. Now, I've never liked Bright Eyes much, especially this song. I'm pretty sure it's me, it pushes my buttons the wrong way. It's hedonistic and it's got that 21st century lazy masochism in it and it's...I don't know, oozing with cum and mean cocktails. It's very Placebo-y, okay? I'm against that. But, as I've said in the previous post, I have a soft spot for Bettie Serveert, so I'll close an eye and an ear and let this one slide.

Bettie Serveert - Lover I Don't Have To Love (Bright Eyes)


So thank you and good night. I has left the building.