Covers » Turntablr

On Dan’s Turntable: Lovely Rita / Easy Star All-Stars

Jun 052012

As a disclaimer, from the start I am susceptible to Beatles covers. I thoroughly enjoyed the soundtrack to Across the Universe, the Beatles-based rock-opera film that some Beatles purists (and general movie critics) hated on pretty hard. Perhaps it’s because I never grew up listening to The Beatles, a band many consider the greatest ever… and maybe duly so. I just don’t know the guys well enough, haven’t learned a deep appreciation for them, and so, in my mind, they’re malleable.

All that being said, the Easy Star All-Stars deserve some credit. A lot of it. The reggae band has tackled covers by other great artists such as Radiohead, Pink Floyd (with albums Radiodread and Dub Side of the Moon, respectively), as well as three original albums (which I have not yet heard). (I can, however, personally attest to Dub Side’s dopeness.) With sweet, beating bass and creative reimagining’s, Easy Star is always somewhere between mellow and Mars.

For example, the Rita from Easy Star’s Lonely Hearts Dub Band doesn’t take tea, she smokes it. Herein lies the reason why Easy Star’s version is being posted in place of The Beatles. Where The Beatle’s rendition of Rita is bouncy, limp with kazoo, and boring, Easy Star grooves the song into an underwater funk fest, full of energetic saxophone. Reverb turns Bunny Rugs’ catcalls into interstellar invitations; an anchor of buoyant baseline ensures a highly sensual experience. I’m sure Lovely Rita fits Sgt. Pepper’s ascetic perfectly, but as a song standing alone, Easy Star easily wins the day.

On Jack’s Turntable: Sexual Healing / Hot 8 Brass Band

Posted by Jack McManus No Responses »

May 072012

Sexual Healing, The Hot 8 Brass Band
I love ridiculous covers, and this one is about as ridiculous as they come. On this radical re-interpretation, the Hot 8 Brass Band turns Marvin Gaye’s seminal classic completely upside-down, contrasting the original in every possible way like Bizarro and Superman. On “Sexual Healing,” Marvin is liquid smooth, intimate, gentle, delicate and tender; the Hot 8 Band are lively, boisterous, bold, excited and loud. Despite this seeming paradox, the cover actually succeeds in its own unique ways. The iconic bass line takes a more prominent position, played by the tubas, while an army of trumpets blast out the vocal melody during the head. The vocal section has a freewheeling, polyrhythmic feel to it, borrowing musical conventions from African-American spirituals. A few ripping solos come after that, keeping the energy up throughout. This track was the perfect pick-me-up last week when I was up late studying, and now it has become an ideal victory anthem having finished the semester. Hopefully anyone still toiling will find it as helpful as I did.

On Jack’s Turntable: All Through The Night / Tyler Ramsey

Posted by Jack McManus No Responses »

Feb 132012

All Through The Night, Tyler Ramsey
In September I wrote about this song for Cover Me (you can check out the post here), and ever since then it has haunted me- never getting boring no matter how often I listen to it. There’s something astonishing about how Tyler’s guitar picking follows the core melody while simultaneously picking the bass line and adding pretty little flourishes, especially since this attached version was recorded live. His voice has a roughness to it that gives the performance a tear-jerking sense of emotional sincerity, making the romantic situation believable and real-sounding. The tempo and nocturnal imagery in the lyrics fit Tyler’s understated style perfectly, capturing the essence of the tune far better than Cyndi Lauper did on her more famous cover of this track. For all of its other merits, though, this song just has a gorgeous chorus. The melodic building and lyrical desperation captivate both the listener and performer, gripping our attention and provoking beautifully-strained wails from Ramsey. Also, even though the performance overshadows them for the most part, the lyrics of this track have a serene elegence to them that I really like.

We have no past, we won’t reach back, stay with me forward on through the night

On Zach’s Turntable: Last Nite / Adele

Posted by Zach Bernstein No Responses »

Feb 072012

Last Nite, Adele
A big thank you to Jack for bringing this cover to my attention. Simply put, if I were forced to name one song as my favorite song of all time, I would probably have to say the Strokes’ 2001 garage-punk gem “Last Nite,” off their marvelous debut Is This It (also probably my favorite album of all time). I was therefore thrilled to discover that the biggest and most talented breakout star of last year, Adele Laurie Blue Adkins, had covered the song nearly four years ago for a BBC radio session. Who would have thought that Adele had such great taste in early millennial indie rock? By now, we’ve come to expect big, heart-on-sleeve power ballads and torch songs from the British soul star. “Last Nite” is something different entirely – a bare-bones, no-frills rock and roll song. Adele, however, gives the vocals of bluesy, soulful quality not present in Julian Casablancas’ wonderfully nasal delivery. She sounds completely at home on this cover and her R&B wail fits perfectly into the spots where Casablancas’ throat-lacerating screams used to be. Plus, they keep the chugging guitar and pounding drums of the original. For me, nothing will ever top the original, but Adele’s cover is fun and fresh, with the original sneer behind the song still intact. [via Indieshuffle]

On Jack’s Turntable: Mahna Mahna / Cake

Posted by Jack McManus No Responses »

Nov 232011

Mahna Mahna, Cake
I’ve been waiting for a long time for today. That’s right, its the opening day of The Muppets, Jason Segel’s revival of my favorite old TV show, the Muppet Show. In honor of this very exciting day I’m sharing with all of you Cake’s fantastically funky cover of the iconic Mahna Mahna, which originally aired as a skit on the very first episode of The Muppet Show. Originally performed by a character (appropriately) named Mahna Mahna and his backup singers The Snowths, Cake replaces some of the television silliness with their own brand of white-guy funk. The lead guitar tone in this song knocks me out every time, starting out crystal clear in the intro and getting progressively rauchier and more experimental as the track develops. Covering a song like this takes a certain amount of playfulness and lightheartedness, and Cake certainly includes that with background laughter and whooping, traffic whistles and a loose, fun atmosphere. From a more musically legitimate side though, the simple melody and call-and-response form offer tons of room for creativity, and Cake takes full advantage of that.

In short, go see The Muppets.

On Jack’s Turntable: You Really Got a Hold On Me / She & Him

Posted by Jack McManus No Responses »

Sep 222011

You Really Got a Hold On Me, She & Him
Last night I wrote a short essay about this song for my medieval history class (which I’m now realizing might not make as much sense to my professor as it does to me) and after listening to Smokey Robinson’s original a few times for the paper I found myself aching for this cover. The original is a masterpeice of songwriting and features some wonderful vocal work, but the production on this She & Him cover just fits the song so much better thematically. Its one of those rare covers that surpasses the original, and it’s only possible because Zooey and M. Ward have so much respect for 60′s pop.

For my medieval class we we just read a poem written 800 years ago that had almost exactly the same message and topic as this song, which got me thinking about how the nature of romantic relationships is so engrained in the human condition that two men living in different millenia could hypothetically sit down together at a bar and talk about their relationship issues just as easily as two currently living men. Even in the Middle Ages the problems, complications and stresses have been the same. Its a bit mind-boggling, but fascinating at the same time.

This song describes the emotional torture chamber of being unable to stop loving someone even though you hate them. The lyrics use simple but heartbreaking contradictions to convey the conflict central to the song. It becomes immediatly clear that “you really got a hold on me” is a lament rather than a celebration. The blend of Ms. Deschanel and Mr. Ward’s voices carries a sense of cold emptiness that also comes through in Ward’s understated guitar strums. The pain and sadness of the song are captured just perfectly.

On Jack’s Turntable: As Told by Ginger (Theme Song) / Unouomedude

Posted by Jack McManus 1 Response »

Aug 262011

As Told by Ginger (Theme Song Cover), Unouomedude
I just discovered this short compilation of mostly 90′s kids show theme songs by Unouomedude, and I couldn’t help but post it here immediately. Being theme songs, the entire 7-song album (which you can download from this very link) is less than 7 minutes long, and it includes covers of the theme songs from Malcolm In the Middle, Pepper Ann, the Disney Channel classic Lizzie McGuire and this version of the theme from the underrated Nickelodeon cartoon As Told by Ginger, originally by Macy Gray. For those of you who don’t remember, the show was about a charming but socially outcast middle schooler with curly hair, which I suspect Macy can relate to. Like many of her songs, its simple and relatable, fitting the show perfectly. Musically, all of the covers have a distinctly low-fi, fuzzy Pavement-y feel to them that just reeks of hipster irony. Maybe this is some awesome nostalgia, maybe its the ultimate act of hipsterdom or maybe its a little bit weird, but I think its awesome regardless.

On Pete’s Lollapalooza: Higher Love / Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.

Posted by Peter Adelfio 1 Response »

Aug 082011

Higher Love (Live), Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.
Well the three day haze of musical rapture has come to an end, and Mother Earth made sure it went out with a bang. Yesterday Jack and I got sunburned, torrentially soaked through every layer of clothing and so muddy that I think my toenails may have permanently changed color. It was also the best day my ears have ever had; every single artist we saw was incredible, and we saw all or most of twelve acts. I’ve had a serious inner debate about what to post from yesterday, but Jack and I have decided to not limit ourselves and keep posting about Lolla for the rest of the week; so for my first post about Sunday, I give you a cover of Steve Winwood’s 1986 hit, Higher Love. This cover was pretty much the explicit reason Jack and I chose to see Jr. Jr., and while they delivered on every song in their set, their performance of this epic jam took the cake. The first immediately noticeable component of the song is the drumming. The band’s drummer is so fluid and graceful with his purposeful composition and establishes the snappy grove of the song immediately with his unique style. The incorporation of the sax is just as powerful, bringing the house down during the explosive crowd rocking chorus. Everything about this cover is built for a live audience, with catchy and relatable vocals, epic yet not overpowering instrumentals, and a couple of goofy looking, absurdly talented dudes getting entranced by the emotional power of the song. This song was placed perfectly in our musical journey this weekend, connecting the whole audience through the dance-inspiring rock and making them (including me) hungry for more.

On Zach’s Turntable: Make You Feel My Love / Adele

Posted by Zach Bernstein No Responses »

Jul 302011

Make You Feel My Love, Adele
In 2011, Adele Laurie Blue Adkins, better known by her mononym Adele, has become one of the biggest stars in the world. At this point, you can sing “Rolling In the Deep” in your sleep, and her sophomore album 21 has sat quite comfortably and consistently atop iTunes’ best-selling albums chart since its release in late February. And why shouldn’t she have all of this success? In this day and age, an incredibly talented, soulful singer who can hit the big time without flashy dance routines, tabloid antics, or outlandish shock tactics is refreshing. For those are still getting acquainted with Adele, you may not know know that back in 2009, she quietly captured the Grammy for Best New Artist, beating out then-kiddie pop sensations the Jonas Brothers, fellow Brit-soul singer Duffy, and country powerhouse trio Lady Antebellum. Her 2008 debut album, 19, boasts some of the most soulful songs of the past decade, and it doesn’t get much finer than her cover of Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love.” With all due respect to Mr. Dylan, especially for writing this song in the first place, this is not your song anymore; Adele takes it and absolutely kills it. It’s stunningly beautiful instrumentally, choosing a spare piano arrangement with strings to accentuate the song’s heartbreakingly good chord structure. However, the real star of the show here is Adele’s voice. Her small riffs and vocal touches here and there dramatically improve upon Dylan’s relatively flat gothic-country gravel. She can sing tenderly, as she does in the verses, before transitioning into a full-blown soul belt as she does in the chorus. And true to her self-professed genre of “heartbreak soul,” damn it if her interpretation doesn’t make you feel the pain behind this song’s lyrics. A stunningly gorgeous song, reinterpreted and repossessed by a rising star who so richly deserves her success.

On Dan’s Turntable: Drop It Like It’s Hot / Neon Hitch

Posted by Dan Kipp No Responses »

Jul 212011

Drop It Like It’s Hot (Cover), Neon Hitch

As you probably remember, the original “Drop It Like It’s Hot” is a mellow event, laden with that unforgettable “Snooooooooooo-OOOp!” and some fancy tongue-tapping. Accompanied by Pharrell, those background singers really know who they’re introducing: Da Big Boss Dogg, spitting “I keep a blue flag hanging out my backside, / But only on the left side, / Yeah that’s the Crip side.” Between it all, Snoop’s 2004 “Drop It Like It’s Hot” is the epitome of cool… and is certifiably gangster.

Almost all of that is lost in Neon Hitch’s cover. A new take on an old classic, beginning with bouncy piano and Neon Hitch’s alluring voice, it becomes clear early on that this is less of a cover and more of a reimagination. Yes, it is sad that the song has lost its classic-cool, but only until the snare drum kicks in after 52 seconds.

Neon Hitch, an English singer/songerwriter, takes Snoop Dogg’s hit, speeds it up, and adds some accordion that carries the song over a killer bass line. The end result is a song that is two minutes shorter than the original, and includes only Pharrell’s first verse. But what it lacks in length it makes up for in energy. Bursting from the seams with Neon Hitch’s high-pitched sass, snapping drums, and that snazzy accordion – who knew they could be so hip?! – this song quickly became the most played song in my iTunes library.

I’m happy, now, to introduce it to yours.