Staff Picks – Ben’s top ten musical covers discovered this year

Top Ten Musical Covers I Discovered This Year

Some people collect physical objects, I collect unusual cover songs. A good cover can completely change the way you view a song. Sometimes it highlights aspects of the harmonies that get lost in the original like Obadiah Parker’s cover of Hey Ya by Outkast. Sometimes it highlights the deep emotional content of the piece like Johnny Cash’s cover of Hurt by Nine Inch Nails. Sometimes, it’s just fun like Jake Shimabukuro’s ukulele cover of the Beatles’ While My Guitar Gently Weeps. But a good cover is like art.

These are the ten covers that I ran across this year that meet my criteria for great Musical Covers.
10. Heroes- Great Elk
David Bowie makes very good cover material. His songs are brilliant and have staying power. Great Elk’s cover of Heroes slows down the build up of the original and builds up the crescendo in a way that makes the song more haunting and dynamic.

9. All Along the Watchtower – Lisa Gerrard
All Along the Watchtower is an incredibly famous cover already. The Hendrix version long ago eclipsed the Dylan original. Lisa Gerrard is one half of Dead Can Dance and adds a haunting note to the poetics of the original. Her version feels much more mythic than Hendrix, Dylan or even Bear McCreary’s off of the Battlestar Galactica soundtrack.

8. Blister in the Sun – Nouvelle Vague
Sometimes, you stumble across a cover that’s good enough to make you buy an entire movie soundtrack. This fun version of the Violent Femmes by Nouvelle Vague brings their trademark retro airiness to the song. It’s peppy rather than angsty, but keeps the upbeat joy of the original.

7. Everybody Wants to Rule the World – Lorde
Lorde’s version of Everybody Wants to Rule the World takes the original and really darkens it. Her version is creepy in a way the original doesn’t approach, which highlights the big difference in context. The original was the waning era of the cold war, the cover is the dark reality of the war on terror.

6. Drops of Jupiter – Taylor Swift
Sometimes a cover can bring you to an artist you don’t normally listen to. I’m not a Taylor Swift fan, but she puts her considerable singing voice behind this cover of a song that I love. I worry about my musical taste being questioned, but I almost like Swift’s cover more than the original. That’s part of a great cover, it can completely change your mind.

5. (and they) Say It Ain’t So – Yeezer
Are Mashups covers? I get to make the rules for this list, so I say yes. A complete album of mashups between Kanye West and Weezer entirely based on a pun? That’s worth a look in. And this is my favorite from the album, it combines Kanye’s lyrical flexibility and Weezer’s crowd pleasing guitar riffs.

4. Over the Rainbow – Eva Cassidy
Eva Cassidy had come across my radar before, but I hadn’t heard her heartbreaking Over the Rainbow until this fall. This gets onto the list from context. Eva’s tragic young death makes her plaintive wishing song feel very sad. It’s hard not to let the song get to you.

3. Waterfalls – Steve Poltz
I love acoustic versions of hip-hop. I think the stripped down guitar based rhythm highlights the rhythmic creativity in the piece. This version of TLC’s Waterfalls gets both the deep emotional content and the fun rhythm.

2. I Want You Back – Lake Street Dive
I love this cover so much. The original is much more energetic, but this one slows it down and really highlights the nuances of the melody. Also, the bass line goes from athletic to slinky and that just highlights how good it is. I really like the live version of this especially, the raw vocals are much more immediate.

1. When The Levee Breaks – Yat Kha
Led Zeppelin and Tuvan throat-singing. Two things you never knew you needed together.

Bonus – Everything by Postmodern Jukebox
I would be completely remiss if I didn’t mention Scott Bradlee’s wonderful performing ensemble. I could easily have filled half the slots of this list with their work.