April 2012
1 post
frank ocean: Don henley('s label--Rhino) is... →
frankocean:
He (They) threatened to sue if I perform it again. I think that’s fuckin awesome. I guess if I play it at coachella it’ll cost me a couple hundred racks. If I don’t show up to court, it’ll be a judgement against me & will probably show up on my credit report. Oh well. I try to buy my shit cash…
November 2011
7 posts
7 tags
A Salute To: The Civil Wars - Disarm (Smashing...
The original version of Disarm is rather epic - a painful autobiography, gritty and deliberate. It would be hard to replicate Billy Corgan’s intensity in any cover of this, as the feeling is so specific: to be successful, you’ve gotta change it up.
Billie Jean, of course, is originally meant for ass shaking - Michael tells a great story and DARES you not to git on up and dance....
3 tags
James Vincent McMorrow - Higher Love (Steve...
Higher Love by James Vincent Mc Morrow on Grooveshark
I don’t really need to go into dissecting the original, we all know it very well: It’s a true-to-the-Decade, tinny, synthy, playful ditty that would loan itself well to a cheesy 80’s montage of shiny happy people dancing arms up to the sky, smiling while crying, and/or walking down a crowded street. Don’t...
4 tags
guestreview: Beatrice Martin - Wicked Games (The...
“So tell me you love me / only for tonight / even though you don’t love me / I’ll give you all of me / even though you don’t love me”
The original version of this song and the cover version are almost the same age, unleashed to the internet merely months from each other. The Weeknd’s “Wicked Games” pulls not only at the heart, but at the loins – that is, unless you’re dead inside. Throughout...
4 tags
Fiona Apple - I Want You (Elvis Costello)
This song is ridiculous. The original, by comparison, has a tameness - all the while competing with the song’s undoubted haunt-factor. His voice is smooth and perfect, he doesn’t lose control, meanwhile he’s speaking to helplessness and obsession. I think he was going for that juxtaposition when he recorded it, personally.
Fiona tears the thing apart. I love that this is...
6 tags
Karmin - Look at me Now (Chris Brown, Lil' Wayne,...
Busta reminds us that he’s still alive, and very much so. His verse is crazy, I’ll say that. But the song on the whole?… the chorus is sleepy, the verses are mostly uninspired and dead - the song just kinda sucks. I’m just bored to tears and hoping that new school hip hop figures itself out already…
THEN KARMIN HAPPENED TO IT and shit got real. I want to be...
4 tags
Maxwell - This Woman's Work (Kate Bush)
This Woman’s Work by Maxwell on Grooveshark
Again, one of my favorites. Kate’s original and Maxwell’s cover are so very different - Kate’s is hopeful and delicate. She doesn’t let her phrase endings linger, there’s a defensiveness about the original. This is such a strong song.
Maxwell fucking KILLS IT. Where there was so much soul before, he...
3 tags
Ray LaMontagne - Crazy (Gnarls Barkley)
Crazy by Ray LaMontagne on Grooveshark
I remember when I first heard the original by Gnarls Barkley, I was blown away. Cee-Lo and Dangermouse seemed to have concocted the most intoxicating mixture of frenetic energy, sincerity, innovation, and melody - nothing about the song felt unintentional, yet it remained wild and silly. Similar to when Outkast put out Hey-Ya, I felt reassured...
