It's Over

So in response to Brandi Carlile's new album release 'Bear Creek' I thought I'd post her doing a cover. She has done a ton of covers, why I haven't posted one yet is beyond me. Maybe since it would be hard to choose? Brandi Carlile is one of my all-time favorite singers, if not my favorite, close 2nd behind Amy Lee of Evanescence. Anyway, as I was previewing songs from her new album on youtube I stumbled across a cover she did I hadn't seen before. I like Roy Orbison. He has a ton of songs I love. This one, 'It's Over' is no exception. Brandi does a great job (of course). Her voice and her style of singing is very comparable to Roy. They both go into that upper register and have many songs that incorporate it into their songs. With 'Its over' if you didn't know any better, it could very well be one of Brandi Carlile's original songs. Brandi Carlile doing Roy Orbison's It's Over:

You gotta Fight...

So one of the Co- Founders (Adam Yauch)of the Beastie Boys passed away a little bit ago. I liked and owned the "License to ill" cassette. I think only the 2nd song in history to mix rock & rap (Walk this way Aerosmith/Run DMC). Fight for your right to party was like an anthem to kids of that generation. I remember it, but back then I didn't really know what an anthem was. Anyway, great song, great bunch of white dude rappers, and great cover here by Coldplay. There was some tribute concert to the Beastie Boys recently because of Adam's death, and Cold Play did a totally Coldplay version of Fight for your right.

No Ordinary Love

So I was going through Spotify the other night, looking for song to put me to sleep. Started listening to some John Barry (movie soundtrack composer for Dances with wolves, somewhere in time, out of africa..ect). My favorite of his has been for the movie Indecent Proposal. So I was listening to it on repeat and remembered having the soundtrack as a teenager.
I didn't get the soundtrack for John Barry though. I got it for the other songs on it. It was a cassette, half was contemporary songs, the other side was John Barry 's instrumental suite. I remember seeing a music video (back when MTV played videos) and loved the song that was in the video for the movie. I didn't know the name of the song but figured it would be on the soundtrack, it wasn't :(
Still a good album though. After seeing the movie and staying through the credits to see the song it was Sade's "No Ordinary Love". See back in those days you pretty much had to buy a whole album to get a song, not like today where you can just download the one you want. So I did, still a good album though.
Anyways, which brings us to the cover. The duo group The civil Wars have been gaining popularity, and righfully so. They mesh very well together. They have a cover of Michael Jackson's Billy Jean thats way good too.
But I came across their cover of Sade's No Ordinary Love. The original is still way better in my opinion, but its cool to get a different take. Where Sade had a sensual R&B feel to it, Civil Wars brings it to acoustic harmonies.
Not going to make my own video, just reposting the video I saw on youtube.

Hip Hoppera

So I went to the vault for this one! I was listening to another cover of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, a softer more "meh" version. Then remembered back in the 90's I picked up a CD single of this version. It came from the movie 'High School High'.
The Braids gave this song what in my opinion was needed all along. Most of us know this song from the movie 'Wayne's World' where they jammed in the car. If you listen to the lyrics its pretty sad. Queen was once quoted as calling Bohemian Rhapsody an 'urban rock opera'. What they Braids did was turned it into a 'Hip Hoppera'. You got your 'urban/ghetto' lyrics with hip hop music. Thus completely changing the song. Queen has the Rock opera feel to it sung by a male rock band.
The Braids are a female hip hop duo. They do an amazing job! If you never heard the original you would think nothing of the comparison.

The Braids - Bohemian Rhapsody

Halo

I was hoping to at least get in a song a month, oh well, better late then never.
I think I kept putting it off because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. Too many covers out there to choose from. I've been working on a couple 80's cover CDs so I thought about doing that, but which song to choose then too?
Couple days ago my son Ben had been playing with an old phone. This old phone has a music player with some songs on it, mostly to entertain the baby, she likes music already :) Anyway Ben kept playing Beyonce's song Halo over & over. I think because it has the word Halo in it. If you know my boys its all about the video game Halo at my house. Halo is a ring like structure that was used by an ancient alien race to eradicate certain life forms. The game follows future soldiers to defeat a different alien race from controlling the Halo and wiping out the humans. With me?
In Beyonce's song she of course talks about the ring around someones head, indicating righteousness, heavenly or something.
I've heard way too many youtube covers of her song. I do have one in particular I liked, which I will share. A gal by the name of Lotte Kestner did a simple version. Almost too simple, too plain. In listening to the first verse I almost turned it off thinking "boring". But I endured, and was rewarded for it.
It's just her and a slow picking guitar. Like I said the song is pretty basic until she transitions into the chorus. Here she goes into the upper register with a sweet little bravado then just a slight produced melody. From then on she has you captivated in her sweet, little, "boring" rendition and interpretation.
So with the song Halo and the video game Halo I thought I would mix the two and see what we get. Slow sweet song mixed with fast alien fighting action.

Don't think twice its alright

Last cover song of the year, better make it good! We got a little preview for next years release of "chimes of freedom" Bob Dylan's 4 disc tribute. Adele of course contributes her cover of To Make You Feel My Love, which I could post, but we've all heard it before.
I'm going to post a song by an artist I don't really care for. I don't own any of her songs,which she sold alot, but just didn't hit a chord with me. She's a wanna be Lady Gaga I think, kind of a freak, not really a good voice for anything like that either... Until I heard this song...
Bob Dylan's original is of course just him, an acoustic guitar and a harmonica. Kesha's version is even more stripped down, almost acapella. I think the only other music is a low cello in the background. Which leaves room for Kesha to have to carry the song with only her voice. To my suprise she does, and does it greatly. I never knew she could sing, her songs are all pop and heavily produced.
Towards the end of the song its hard to tell, she either is sniffling from a cold or maybe she's emotionally involved and that brings on the tears n sniffles?
Either way sounds great I think. Here you go with Kesha's cover of Bob Dylan's "Dont think twice its all right".

I wish I had a River

So, its Christmas cover song time.
Everybody has their favorite Christmas song(s). When you listen to the radio you hear the same thing thats been played for 50+ years. Some people will tell you Nat King Cole's The Christmas song is their favorite, or Bing Crosby's White Christmas, ect...
Me personally, I like the less conventional songs, or the non traditional pieces.
Some of them may include Brandi Carlile's The Heartache Can Wait, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy's cover of Mr. Snow Miser or Ray Charles' That Spirit of Christmas to name a few.
If I had to choose a favorite though I think it would be River by Joni Mitchel. Which I believe I heard somewhere it really wasn't meant to be a Christmas song, but ended up being that way.
There are some good covers out there, there are some mediocre ones out there too.
Here are some of my favorite covers of Joni Mitchel's River:
Rosie Thomas, Amie Mann, Angus Stone and believe it or not Robert Downey Jr. Thats right Ironman himself sang the song on an episode of an Alley Mcbeal TV show. So they put it on a Christmas album.