Hot Covers

So initially, I had planned for today's update to cover the VMAs in some way, whether it be trying to find half-decent songs that the nominees or performers were involved with, or even coming up with an "Anti-VMA" post filled with the best videos of the year, along with their mp3s. After catching the show this morning, however, I can honestly say I have no desire to dedicate shit to MTV. Other than a couple of good Russell Brand moments, the show topped every previous VMA in both irrelevance and inanity. In fact, at this point, the quality seems to get exponentially worse each year. An obvious factor is the network's growing distance from playing, well, you know, music, thus finding itself woefully out of touch the one night a year it's supposed to put music on a pedestal, but when the show can't even wrangle decent surprises or show-stoppers from the mediocre talent it actually books, you know there's something greater at work. EX: The most talked about moments of the show 6 years ago were Madonna making out with Britney Spears and Guns n Roses reuniting (kind of). The most talked about moments of this year's show are Russell Brand offending teenage virgins, and fucking PINK delivering the only decent performance of the show (go figure). Figure your shit out, MTV. The youth needs you.

With that rant aside, I'm too lazy to come up with another theme today, so I'll simply hit the proverbial snooze button and throw a bunch of cool covers your way, since everyone likes those....

"Hospital Beds" is by far my favorite song from Cold War Kids' debut LP, and one of my favorite songs of the past several years. It's haunting, angry, and remorseful, with bizarre sexual undertones running through it. New "one woman band" from the UK, Florence and the Machine, has gone and covered it, and it's something to behold. Nathan Willet's piano chords may be gone, but Florence's voice makes up for it, and the song remains as powerful as ever. In fact, had she included my favorite segment ("Vietnam......Fishing Trips, Italian Op-er-aaah!"), I might have put this right on par with the original. As it stands, however, it's at least the best cover I've heard this year, and a memorable debut for the band.
--------Song of the Week-------------


Florence and the Machine - "Hospital Beds" (Cold War Kids cover)


-------------------------------------

From a one-woman band to a one-man one, Thomas Söderlund aka Covex (the speech device thing attached to old computers), is a Swedish DJ who crafts "high energey, romantic Gameboy pop". In other words, he's on the 8-bit electro trend that's all the rage these days. His body of work is not incredibly distinct from other artists in the genre, but he put out a pretty bitchin' cover of Kraftwerk that really deserves a listen or three. And to answer the inevitable question that at least one person will pose, Coldplay sampled the original song, not vice versa.


Covex - "Computer Love" (Kraftwerk cover)

Honestly, I think acapella groups can be pretty retarded 80% of the time. Am I supposed to be impressed that a chorus of people going "badoo-bo-bop-e-doo" is replacing the guitar chords on "Living on a Prayer"? And what exactly leads these people to get on stage and do this in the first place? What purpose does it serve? All these questions aside, 20% of the time, you forget how stupid it is and just get swept away in the sheer goofy fun of it all. This song puts you squarely in that 20% zone. God bless the music nerds of U. Penn: Somehow they make Courtney Love's "Fuck you, LA" masterpiece even more brutal by making it even prettier.

Off the Beat - "Celebrity Skin" (Hole cover)

The Last Shadow Puppets is merely the side project of Arctic Monkeys' scary-talented lead singer, Alex Turner, but has carved nearly as much success as the Monkeys themselves over here, due to a well received LP and some savvy marketing. One of the group's best tracks, however, comes from their first EP. It's a David Bowie cover that's not only superior to the original, but sounds like it could came from the same time period. Clever trick from a clever band. You can buy both the band's EP and LP on i-tunes, and can actually catch them on their US tour this Fall.

The Last Shadow Puppets - "In the Heat of the Morning" (David Bowie cover)

And finally, something that would have been an unfunny disaster, had it been done with anything less than the upmost seriousness: The Kooks take on Ace of Base.


The Kooks - All That She Wants (Ace of Base cover)

........okay, fine. On the subject of the VMAs, here's one video that's superior to anything that was nominated last night......

M83 - "Kim and Jessie" from Saturdays = Youth