An alarming number of interesting Fleetwood Mac covers have accumulated in my inbox by all sorts of artists. These are just a few of my favorites including Vampire Weekend doing a bouncy cover of Everywhere and Cat Power with an acoustic cover of Dreams. Dreams was of course also covered by The Morning Benders in their cover album the bedroom covers. These accomplished covers all provide a fresh take on the 70s flavor Fleetwood established and is still representing to this day (for better or worse).

Vampire Weekend – Everywhere [Fleetwood Mac cover]

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The Morning Benders – Dreams [Fleetwood Mac cover]

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Cat Power – Dreams [Fleetwood Mac cover]

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When he’s not setting world records for performance lengths and challenging Andrew WK to piano battles, Gonzales has been known to take electronic songs and transpose them beautifully onto the piano. This recent rework of the Erol Alkan and Boys Noize track Waves is no exception. It takes the original digital experience and gives it the analog soul it deserves. Full disclosure: I like this piano version a lot better than the original song.

Gonzales – Waves [Erol Alkan & Boys Noize Remake] removed by request

Erol Alkan & Boys Noize – Waves removed by request

I can’t help but be tickled every time a folksy female singer songwriter covers a gangster rap. The last good one I remember was by Kendra Morris who covered the Kanye West track Can’t Tell Me Nothing. Normally I keep these indulgences to myself but in the case of Anya Marina, her original work on the new album Slow & Steady Seduction: Phase II is well worth the mention.

Marina’s soft whispering way of singing is mistakenly reminiscent of some the styles Emily Haines has perfected with Metric and her solo project. Apparently, there is an empirical medical reason for the style of singing, according to her bio,

her doctor once told her she had the larynx of a “very young adolescent.” When asked what that meant for her singing career, he replied, “Well, it’s not like you’re ever going to be singing at the Met.”

Who knew having any body part of a very young adolescent could be a good thing? Of course having one of your songs featured on Grey’s Anatomy also helps. The song in question “Move You” is one of the more up tempo songs on the album and sounds a lot more like the cutesy conversational singing style of Lykke Li.

Anya Marina – Vertigo

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Anya Marina – Whatever You Like [T.I. Cover]

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Summer easy listening gravitates us towards the classics. Here we have two classics, the original Islands in the Stream duet by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton as well as the cover Ghetto Superstar by Mya, Pras and ODB popularized the 1998 film Bulworth.

Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton – Islands in the Stream (zshare)

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Pras [feat. Mya & ODB] – Ghetto Superstar (zshare)

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Jonathan Davis has been rapping from almost as long as I’ve been alive and his career is currently in it’s 21st year. Two decades of relevance is no small feat in the rap world, and Q Tip has pretty much done it all. Hell, he even dropped a verse in that Deee-lite song “Groove is in the heart” although that might not be what he’d like to be remembered by.

He also converted to Islam sometime in the 90’s and changed his name to Kamaal Ibn John Fareed. I know right? This track called Move is a perfect example of how Q Tip has both changed and stayed the same since his days with A Tribe called Quest and I just love those horn beats. I found this great picture of Q tip and Erykah Badu so I just had to throw in a Badu related song as well. Granted it’s a cover done by My Morning Jacket but she is much better to look at.

Q Tip – Move (zshare)

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My Morning Jacket – Tyrone [Erykah Badu Cover] (zshare)

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Here’s a cover The Roots did of A Milli in at a Miami show which is bittersweet to me because it’s something I know we won’t be seeing too much of when they start putting in 5 days a week playing as Jimmy Fallon’s (shudder) back up band when he takes over for Conan O’Brien. Almost every Roots fan I’ve talked to has reacted to this with a mixture of shock, disbelief and disappointment but I’ve finally come to terms with it. I read an interview with them that said they were conflicted on the decision too and went that way so that they could avoid the rigors of touring and enjoy the stable lifestyle in one city. I suppose they’ve earned it, but Jimmy Fallon just leaves me unsettled. Enjoy one of your last root-flavoured suppers.

The Roots – A Milli [Lil Wayne Cover] (zshare)

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This cover is admittedly yesterdays news to many people, but because it’s so good and the timing is right (post christmas) here it is. I hope nobody gave away your heart last christmas and if they did, pour yourself a drink and take solice in the fact that both Wham! and Erlend Øye feel your pain.

Erlend Øye – Last Christmas [Wham! Cover] (zshare)

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Who is Richard Cheese? A fictional character? A real character? Mass hysteria? Yes and No, he’s a lounge singer from that city of cities, Las Vegas. Self proclaimed hardest working dick in show business, the man has taken a great lounge act and turned into a great lounge act people will listen to outside of a Vegas cocktail bar.

He even hosted a short lived Karaoke themed MTV show. Wait, MTV Karaoke show = Flop, American Idol = Global ratings sensation? If there’s a difference I can’t see it. Mr. Cheese and his band even played at Travis Barker’s (first) wedding.

It seems that he’s also made quite a name for himself pissing people off and has earned the nickname Dick in the minds of some individuals. Like this one, this one and this one. Apparently Richard Cheese has a clause in his contracts which specify absolutely no unauthorized video recordings of his performances and when this isn’t enforced he likes to spit on people and smash their cameras.

These tracks are from the album Lounge Against the Machine, I think there are others…whatever.

Richard Cheese – Creep [Radiohead Cover] (zshare)

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Richard Cheese – Rape me [Nirvana Cover] (zshare)

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Should contemporary bluegrass counterculture become a new category on this website? Let me know. Here’s some Strokes covers by a bluegrass band called Sidekicks featured on a comp cd of bluegrass covers to help you make your mind up.

Sidekicks – 12:51 [The Strokes Cover] (zshare)

Sidekicks – Someday [The Strokes Cover] (zshare)

This Blackstreet cover by The Klaxons has been circulating around the usual suspects – shout out missing toof – and I can’t get enough of it. First Greg Gillis mixes blackstreet over the flashing lights instrumentals and now this!
The Klaxons – No Diggity [Blackstreet Cover] (zshare)