Antony and the Johnsons Play Beyoncé
I hate cover bands, but I love a good cover by a great original artist. The Dismemberment Plan used to close their shows with an extremely long, ambling, and totally amazing improv-driven version of “OK, Joke’s Over” (which is frankly one of their weaker songs on CD) that would occasionally segue into various covers, often of hip-hop acts (over the roughly dozen times I saw them play, I’m pretty sure I recall hearing partial covers of Missy Elliot, Juvenile, and Ludacris). It was always one of the highlights of any Plan show. One of my favorite covers is the Foo Fighters’ awesome rendition of Baker Street. And I still remember seeing Death Cab for Cutie play a lovely version of “Sweet Home Alabama” in Louisville, Kentucky more than a few years ago. For me, at least, the trick with a cover isn’t to replicate the original — it’s to remake it, to reimagine it as something entirely new. A great cover (or remix, for that matter), ought to reveal something in the song that you never heard before. Naturally, I find this haunting, elegant Antony and the Johnsons cover of Beyoncé‘s “Crazy in Love” pretty remarkable.
I like The Fray’s cover of Heartless
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgnFKNvmV7o
— Dero · Jul 18, 04:14 AM · #
I didn’t think I would like that, but wow
— paul h. · Jul 18, 04:27 AM · #
this whole album is amazing and quite of a piece with the method of covers you like. a taste: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8orMC5p6BrU
— Max Socol · Jul 18, 04:42 AM · #
that was fantastic! Antony is such an artist, I saw him perform live a couple of years ago in Sydney. He does great Leonard Cohen too
— nursemyra · Jul 18, 09:07 AM · #
Before their descent into self-parody (and for part of the downhill slide) the Afghan Whigs were the reigning kings of the arch cover song.
I saw them in ’91 or ’92, and they played a soulful, quiet little medley including “Touch Me I’m Sick” and “In the Mouth a Desert.”
I’ve also heard them doing “How Soon Is Now,” “When Doves Cry,” etc.
— Matt Frost · Jul 18, 12:54 PM · #
I have to put in a word for Devo’s cover of “Satisfaction.” Simultaneously audacious and faithful, it interprets the song in a pre-apocalyptic framework the Stones could not have imagined. My favorite cover ever.
— colin · Jul 20, 04:31 AM · #
Cover bands, maybe not. Tribute bands, hell yes. And if you disagree then you’ve yet to indulge in the world’s great (only?) metal tribute to the Beegees: the face-melting shredmasters known only as Tragedy. They, sirs, rock too hard.
http://www.letsmaketragedyhappen.com/
— Christian L. · Jul 20, 02:52 PM · #
Nickelcreek used to do an awesome version of Britney Spear’s Toxic which translated very well to the violin/mandolin format.
— BrianF · Jul 20, 10:00 PM · #
Peter, I trust you’ve seen/heard the Obadiah Parker version of “Hey Ya”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c745E7T_Wvg
— Scott H. Payne · Jul 20, 10:10 PM · #