Covered: Selections From Radio 1's Live Lounge

The latest volume of the BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge series came out in the UK last week. As usual, there are hits and misses, with many of the better covers left out in favor of more established names. The idea of Live Lounge covers don't excite me that much anymore, to be honest, most artists just picked a current top hit and performed it acoustically while sounding bored and joyless. It has somewhat become obligatory buzz-generating promo chore. Fortunately, some still try to have fun and bring something new to their renditions. Here are my recent favorites.


Florence & The Machine - Halo (Beyoncé Cover)
The Noisettes - When You Were Young (The Killers Cover)
(available on Volume 4)

Basement Jaxx - New In Town (Little Boots Cover)
La Roux - Farewell To The Fairground (White Lies Cover)
Athlete - Bulletproof (La Roux Cover)


I've got a string of more cover posts drafted, so watch this space...

Cover Ahoy!

collage by Julien Pacaud

An assortment of covers for the weekend! 5 excellent ones, as per usual. They're not exactly new, but still on high rotation for me. Enjoy.

Lily Allen - Womanizer (Britney Spears)
Recorded live for KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic. I really like her acerbic take on this. 'It's Not Me, It's You' is a stunning follow-up, by the way.

Jonna Lee - Human (The Killers)
A lovely acoustic take from Swedish singer/songwriter/Razzia-signee Jonna Lee. She's got a newsingle coming out called 'My High'.

Jem - Yellow (Coldplay Cover)
This was on the Starbucks compilation Sweetheart. Her last album was a mess, bar about 3 good songs. Sigh.

Solange - Destiny (Zero 7)
It's the cool, hip Knowles! Her Twitter is quite entertaining, in between showing affection for her son, she also revealed her taste in music, mentioning acts such as Yeah Yeah Yeahs, MGMT, and Zero 7. This sweet performance was for the Spotlight Sessions, which you can watch here. When will she lend a few from her record collection to her big sister?

The Bird And The Bee - Don't Stop The Music (Rihanna)
A lush & playful cover. The Bird And The Bee can do no wrong in my eyes. Their new album 'Ray Guns Are Not Only Just The Future' is an absolute delight, a step-up from their debut, combining Greg Kurstin's slick production skills with Inara's gorgeous vocals. Do check out 'Love Letter To Japan', possibly their most accessible, poppiest track to date.


It's been such a long week for me. May next week come with some good news, I can be so impatient sometimes...

Because Your Grandpas Are Hip Too

Get ready to cringe.



Okay, so what we have here is two sixtysomething veteran singers attempting to connect to 'the kids' today (and gain some quick publicity), and what better way to do that than covering popular, edgy rock hits, their way?
I'll reserve further judgements to you. They might be the type of covers you play once out of curiousity and then hit 'delete', but at least it's interesting to...um...listen.


Tom Jones - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor (Arctic Monkeys Cover)
(Live at Wembley Stadium, for the Princess Diana Concert a couple of months ago)

Paul Anka - Mr. Brightside (The Killers Cover)
(from his forthcoming cover album 'Classic Songs, My Way'! The tracklist might be a little cringeworthy. He will also cover Daniel Powter's 'Bad Day'! Somehow I'm a bit drawn in to hearing a swing version of that.)




Tomorrow: More cover versions of 'Umbrella', 'The Scientist' & 'Seven Nation Army'! Told you it's a coveriffic weekend!

Covers from Novi Split, Matt Pond PA & Astrid Swan

I notice that as the poll suggests, you guys really love covers. So here are three nice covers to help you get through the day. They should be able to put a smile on your face.

Novi Split - Crazy In Love (Beyonce Cover)
An indie-pop cover version. This song just keeps giving. Can be found on his 2007 album 'Pink In The Sink'.

Matt Pond PA - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea (Neutral Milk Hotel Cover)
Found this surpisingly pleasant cover the other day. What they did is rounding the edges of the original and make it sound more accessible (or adult-contemporary-station-friendly). Hear this, and then go hug someone. From Winter Days EP, 2005.

Astrid Swan - When You Were Young (The Killers Cover)
Finnish songstress' acoustic live take of The Killers' hit. I think she did a quite good job.

Awesomely Remixed

Another round of great new remixes I listened to lately. This wouldn't have been possible if not for the great music blogs I frequently visited, so props to them.

Amy Winehouse - Rehab (Eagle Desert Remix)
This new remix is hot! I imagine I would sound great blasting out of a car stereo. And Universal gives it away for free. So all's good.

Robyn - Konichiwa Bitches (Trentemoller Remix)
At last, a dance remix to such a fun song! It's nothing to special, but you see trendy remixer Trentemoller's name on it, so if you like his work, don't miss this one.

The Killers - Read My Mind (Pet Shop Boys Stars Are Blazing Mix)
Wow, good job. It runs for 7 minutes but feels like a 3 minutes. Maybe Pet Shop Boys should produce The Killers' next album, no?

Beyoncé - Imprescindible (Rudy Perez Nortena Remix)
Okay, another remix for 'Irreplaceable', but this time around it's the most interesting so far, with a Caribbean, ska-lite flavor, and the vocals are the Spanish version. Save it for the summer. It's supposed to be included in the 'Deluxe Version' of B'day.

Stefski - Say It Again (courtesy of Pitchfork)
A pretty odd, electro synth-heavy remix of Nelly Furtado's megahit 'Say It Right' by Swedish DJ Stefski. It's got renamed to 'Say It Again'.

Fall Out Boy - This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race (Kanye West Remix)
I didn't expect this to turn out great. But it did. Kanye lent the boys a pumping beat and a coll rapping verse, beginning with 'I don't know what the hell this song's about'. Well, me too, but that doesn't stop me from enjoying it. So nowadays even Kanye & Jay Z consider emo cool. Such a time we're living in.

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And now, the more left-field ones for the indie hipsters:

The Postmarks - Goodbye (James Iha Remix)
Their self-titled debut is an early contender for my 2007 favorites. The Postmarks makes delightful female-vocal dreampop, and this remix for the single added a nice upbeat electronic touch to an already beautiful song. I'll get back to them at another time.

My Brightest Diamond - Golden Star (Alias Remix)
My Brightest Diamond's music seems a little distant to me, but maybe what I need is a good remix like this one. Trip-hoppy with blips and bleeps. From her new remix album 'Tear It Down'.

Junior Boys - In The Morning (Hot Chip Remix)

From their new EP Dead Horse. It's more like a cover actually with added vocals from Hot Chip. If you're fan of Hot Chip and/or Junior Boys, this is a must-hear, but if you don't know much about them, think it through before clicking the mouse. It's almost 10 minutes.

Sights & Sounds #1

You know what, beside being a music geek, I also have a soft spot for ace music videos. Not so much for that kind of TRL flashy promo videos. But also for those experimental, lo-fi, obscure ones that you can only see thanks to the miracles of the internet since no music channels would give them airtime. So I decided to unleash more of that side here. Every week, you can 'tune in' here for 'Sights & Sounds', a new feature in which I share my raves and rants about recently released music videos. Most of them will have downloadable high quality Quicktime mov files if available, and sometimes I might throw in an mp3 or two. Okay, let's do this..thing!

Snow Patrol - Open Your Eyes (dir: Robert Hales)

The first ace music video of Snow Patrol since 'Chocolate'. It's an alt. version, and a 'homage' to a cult-classic short film made in Paris in 1976 called 'C'était un Rendezvous'. The concept is simple: a evening drive around the streets of Paris with the view from behind the windscreen, all shot beautifully in just one take. Sounds boring on paper, but actually it fits perfectly with the song, and I love how all the doves start to flap their wings off the ground as the song builds up to its climax. Unoriginally awesome.

Download the music video:Snow Patrol - Open Your Eyes (the links I provide will always be MOV)


The Bird And The Bee - Again & Again (dir: Autumn De Wilde)

The very first video from my new favorite group, directed by their photographer Autumn, who did Jenny Lewis' 'Rise Up With Fists' last year. It's quite adorable, sweet and chic, a suitable visual companion to the song, and it takes the song title quite literally. Plus I never notice that the song can be this upbeat before, and now it's stuck in my head all over again, and again, and again, and again...
I know I never really did a proper post about them, but seriously, I'm so head over heels in love with this duo (vocalist Inara George & producer Greg Kurstin, whose name you will see a lot this year), and their sugary '60s indie pop confection. Here, preview the song, highly recommended!

MP3:The Bird and the Bee - Again And Again

Camera Obscura - If Looks Could Kill

It's amazing what a good editor what can do with a bunch of random touring footages. Trippy video for a fantastic song. This is their third single off 'Let's Get Out Of This Country', and it's their most danceable one yet. Sigh, yes, you heard it before on 'Grey's Anatomy'...Traceyanne Campbell's still got that cute I-smell-poos look on her face. Love these Glaswegians.

MP3:Camera Obscura - If Looks Could Kill

M.I.A. - Bird Flu

Oh look! She must have gone back to Sri Lanka to film this! Look at those kids! In tie-dye t-shirts! Breaking it down to the beats! They look so healthy and well-fed! Could it get any happier than this?
Musically, it's such a collage of different cultures that it sounds ace despite being quite tuneless. M.I.A. said she called it 'Bird Flu' because 'this beat's gon' kill everyone!'. Oh.

Download the music video:M.I.A. - Bird Flu

Klaxons - Golden Skans (dir: Saam Faramand)

Shame on me. I've had the song for quite a while, but just watched this last week. And wow, it's so, uhm, visually newrave! So many lights! It's a step up, since the last vid I saw from them, 'Magick', totally grossed me out!

The Killers - Read My Mind (dir: Diane Martel)

The first likeable single from 'Sam's Town', and also the most immediate track on it. This time, The Killers go 'Lost In Translation'. They do all kinds of things foreigners would do in Tokyo, like throwing dead leaves at local children, getting their face powdered up and donning geisha kimonos, and sleeping with a 'kawaii' green dinosaur. And not shaving a moustache.

Robyn - Konichiwa Bitches (dir: Johan Sandberg, Fredrik Skogkvist, Henrik Timonen)

It's so cheesy it's great! The first song from Robyn that I actually like! The vid takes the lyrics literally, and by that, we 've got a whole lot of costumes with karaoke subtitles! It sounds and looks like a 'poor man' version of a Missy Elliott song/video. Ba da boom boom.
Took 16 months to make from first meeting to post-production.

MP3:Robyn - Konichiwa Bitches (fun Swedish pop, y'all)
MOV:Robyn - Konichiwa Bitches
Bonus:Photos of all the costumes here!

Scissor Sisters - She's My Man

Could be the next viral video sensation, whatever that means. The treatment is fun though it has nothing to do with the song (and that's a good thing, the song's terrible). It's supposed to let you see the tricks, and what the hell is Ana Matronic wearing?

Justin Timberlake - What Goes Around...Comes Around (dir: Samuel Bayer)

Yawn. 9 minutes. Boring dialogue. An average song. The only thing interesting here is, ahem, Scarlett Johansson's boobs. Here's the plot [spoiler!]:girl meets boy. girl cheats boy. boy knows. girl crashes her car. girl's dead.
See, that's the message, cheat Justin and you're way dead.

Hilary Duff - With Love (dir: Matthew Rolston)

Is it just me that finds this quite disturbing? So Duff's all grown up, she wants to get her sexy on now, I get it. She spent all those years proving how nice and clean-cut she is, criticizing her famous peers in interviews and now she ends up doing just the same to sell records? Yeah. I was hoping that maybe the lyrics still have some Disney values (since that's what she's best at), but after watching this, it's clear she's singing about getting boned! I really do like this new catchy, refreshing electropop sound of her, but come on, why do it if you're gonna look so awkward doing it? It's like her publicist aims for 'anorexic cheap whore'. You know what's even more shameful than that fake orgasmic face of her in the elevator? That this whole thing is obviously just a cross-promotion for her crappy perfume. End of rant.
Besides, who the hell thinks they will have a good video by booking Matthew Rolston these days?

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Here are a few more cool videos that are not new, but deserve a download if you want more than just blurry YouTube clips:

Sophie Ellis Bextor - Catch You
Mika - Grace Kelly
Gwen Stefani - The Sweet Escape
Jarvis Cocker - Don't Let It Go To Waste
Muse - Knights Of Cydonia

Now applaud yourself for making it to the end of the post.