This week's Uncovered Covers features a pleasing confluence of unlikely musical sources courtesy of Brooklyn indie darlings The Dirty Projectors, their subject Usher, and Australian radio. I'm not particularly keen on Usher to be honest with you, but this indie minimalist electronica infused cover of his 2012 single "Climax" hits the spot thanks to David Longstreth's Princely falsetto and the sweet and soulful 60's girl band precision of Amber Coffman, Haley Dekle, and Olga Bell. It all comes together just right, and you should check it out because it will definitely make your Wednesday.

Black and Blue is one of the less heralded Rolling Stones albums. Oh sure, it has its defenders, but it's never been close to being part of the pantheon of Stones classics. Still, it does have one undeniable gem: the slow ballad "Fool To Cry." While the song was somewhat out of character the band - it's probably the farthest away from rock they've ever gotten, Mick Jagger delivers one of his best vocal performances ever, selling a song that Stones fans might have otherwise been averse to.

Tegan & Sara wouldn't seem like the most likely band to take on a song like this, as their folk-rock sound is a pretty far from the straightforward R&B of "Fool To Cry," but on this cut, from the soundtrack the HBO's Girls, the duo proves that they are more than capable of handling it, making it their own, while remembering what made the original great.
 

As it's been noted previously on this blog, Christmas music is rough for music lovers. The soulless corporate man loves that cheesy holiday treacle, and that is what we get bombarded with from Thanksgiving to Christmas. I don't know, maybe it's better for business. Of course there is plenty of wonderful Christmas music out there, but sadly it's not on the playlist ("More Manheim Steamroller! More country!"). Still... every now and again somebody sneaks in Donny Hathaway's "This Christmas" and for three minutes, everything is all right. This year Cee Lo Green gave us his faithful take on this soul Christmas classic as part of his enjoyable Christmas set Cee Lo's Magic Moment, and I for one love it. It's crystal clear and mightily soulful, and amidst all this soulless rubbish it's downright good for you. Enjoy.

“Ceremony” was originally a song written by Joy Division before tragic events befell the band when lead singer, Ian Curtis, committed suicide days after the song was played for the first and only time by the legendary post-punk group at their last show in Birmingham, UK in 1980. Remaining Joy Division members Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, and Stephen Morris later recorded the song and released it as their first single as New Order. This week, Portland synth-rockers Chromatics released their version of the classic new wave track and they’ve done a lovely job portraying its downcast, ethereal tone via sprawling ripples of guitar played by Ida No from Glass Candy and glossy vocals from lead singer Ruth Radelet and thus expanding the original track to a hazy 6 and a half minutes. 

Listen to Chromatics' cover of "Ceremony" below:

Back in August, Concord Music Group released Just Tell Me That You Want Me, a tribute album featuring seventeen different indie acts covering Fleetwood Mac. Notable contributions included MGMT, Best Coast, Lykke Li, Washed Out, and St. Vincent. The record thrives on what all good covers come down to; reinterpreting the original artist to see a song through a different musical point of view. One of the best examples of an artist putting their own vibe on a track on the album is Tame Impala doing a rendition of "That's All For Everyone" from the band's 1979 album Tusk. 

The track features the reverb soaked vocals and soaring keyboard lines the Perth psych-rock outfit has become known for and provides a spacey take on the Lindsey Buckingham gem. Sounding Lennon-esque as usual, Tame Impala singer Kevin Parker seemingly takes the track back about ten years and gives it an ambitious late sixties acid rock treatment. The band's album of the year candidate, Lonerism, shares the same sonic territory and it's clear that this track would have fit in comfortably along tracks like "Apocalypse Dreams" and "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards". As with most of this cover album, Tame Impala's reinterpretation reminds how good pop music can sound when quality songwriting isn't sacrificed at the expense of ambitious experimentation.

Brian Warren, frontman of angular indie-punks Weatherbox, might just be schizophrenic. Half of his songs are full of syncopated guitar blasts, impressive drums, and his scathing vocal assault. The other half is the exact opposite - beautiful, acoustic, and often mysterious. Warren's cover of Animal Collective's Fireworks is part of the latter; accompanied solely by an acoustic guitar, he takes the nearly seven-minute opus and turns it into two-and-a-half minutes of urgently strummed indie-folk. At times, despite a completely different musical approach, Warren's soaring vocals are actually startlingly similar to AC's Avey Tare.  Whereas Animal Collective's version of Fireworks is expansive and otherworldly, Warren's offering is quick and organic, but it doesn't lose any of it's charm.  You get the impression that Brian knows he's doing something out of the ordinary by taking such an impossibly unique song and making it his own - check out his facial expressions in the video below for proof.

Instantly recognized by most the moment the steady drum march begin, "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane is a track that has been played and covered repeatedly over the past few decades.  Since childhood, I've been collecting all things Alice in Wonderland.  The Lewis Carroll story is heavy-laden with dark themes of abandonment, confusion, and finding oneself.  Tiny Alice inspired treasures scatter my apartment and my bookshelf holds a collection of editions (my most prized being the story accompanied by Ralph Steadman illustrations.)  Like the Hello Kitty freaks, I find myself digging and trying to choose between a Mad Hatter tea-cup or a silver necklace with a Cheshire Cat smile.  Except not similar in that it's not as easy as diving into a $1 bin at a Target to find these things. 

Naturally, when my father began introducing me to music from the decade, "White Rabbit" became an anthem of mine and has remained so.  When I came across this gem of a cover, I was ecstatic.  I still haven't seen the movie so there's no need to worry about spoilers, but Sucker Punch released a motion picture soundtrack comprised of covers from amazing cult songs ranging from The Beatles, to the Pixies, to Iggy Pop.

The Icelandic singer, Emilíana Torrini, establishes a perfect tone for this cover.  The eerie guitar riffs have a slight more Arabian vibe and there are various background noises that fill in the more quiet and secretive doorways of the original.  

Have a listen.

Disco swallowed up everything in the late 70's.  Bands from every genre felt compelled to weigh in on the craze, some with varied results.  Led Zeppelin had a kickass number with "Trampled Underfoot", showcasing John Paul Jones on keys as the secret hero of the band.  On the other hand, the Rolling Stones rolled out "Miss You", a somewhat catchy hook soured by the realization that studio musicians were doing most of their heavy lifting (what else can you do when you leave Brian Jones floating in a pool?).  When the disco craze died down, or rather imploded in spectacular fashion, it took the world another 20 years to realize that disco didn't actually suck.  Some of the more famous dabblings from that era endure today, my favorite being The Grateful Dead's "Shakedown Street".  Mississippi based musician Dent May has released a rather faithful adaptation of the Dead classic, adding some light synths to complement one of the all time great bass lines.  Don't tell me you can't find a decent Grateful Dead cover, you just gotta poke around.

Not exactly the newest of covers for today's feature, but a good one non the less.  Back in 2008, Brooklyn three piece indie outfit the Antlers released their own version of "Apple Orchard", the lead single off Baltimore dream pop duo Beach House's self titled debut.  Antlers lead singer Peter Silberman's distant, quivering vocals sound as hurt as ever while band successfully delivers an equally as dreamy atmosphere.  As Beach House is set to drop it's forth LP Bloom next Tuesday, this is as good of a time as any to go back and appreciate the duo's earlier work.