Little Cover Gems

 A cover song is a tricky little thing, is it better to depart so much from the original that it's almost unrecognisable to put your 'spin' on it or risk murdering it?
 A bad cover shows not only that you're a bit shit but that you think you're as talented as who you are covering and often this is proved not to be the case (Shakira- Back in Black... really?)

Nevertheless, a good cover can make a band- Nouvelle Vague produce albums almost entirely made up of covers and do it pretty well. Jimi Hendrix is most famous for his cover of Bob Dylan's 'All Along The Watchtower' and Alien Ant Farm pretty much just covered 'Smooth Criminal' by Michael Jackson and slipped back into anonymity (for me anyway... maybe they were very successful, meh).
By far the best album of Cover versions I've ever come across is the Stereogum edition of OK Computer by Radiohead. You can stream it here: http://stereogum.com/okx/

Stand Out Tracks: No Surprises by Marissa Nadler, Karma Police by John Vanderslice and Electioneering by Cold War Kids.

Incidentally if you like your favourite songs reinterpreted in the medium of smooth jazz(yazz flute), look no further... check out Smooth Jazz All Stars on Spotify for a whole evening of fun (it's actually pretty good, if not for their determination- they've whacked out about 60 albums of hip hop covers. Genius.)

Here are some good-un's...

Taken By Trees- Sweet Child 'O Mine (Guns & Roses)


God Guns'n'Roses are annoying, but this is a bearable version of a relatively hard song to cover without me wanting to claw my eyes out.



Hot Chip- Sexual Healing (Marvin Gaye)


They've gone for it and completely Hot Chip'ped it up... Much as I love the original, I think this pays off...



Ex Lovers- Wicked Game (Chris Isaak)


Just love this song.



Nouvelle Vague- Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division)


Good cover of a great song. Not as good as the original but a good shot.



CallmeKAT- The Lovecats (The Cure)
 Great original, nice little cover. Check her out on Spotify.




Klaxons- No Diggity (Blackstreet)


Niiiiice.





Arcade Fire- Maps (Yeah Yeah Yeahs)


Not the best cover in the world but it's my favourite band covering my favourite band...




White Stripes- I don't know what to do with myself (Burt Bacharach covered by Dusty Springfield)


Ace cover, ace video.