2011 saw a new phenomenon: Artists releasing entire albums of covers, and often by a single other artist. Here’s a brief guide to what came out this year:
- Thea Gilmore did Bob Dylan’s John Wesley Harding album (review).
- Chuck Prophet went on tour covering London Calling. anyone got a bootleg, ’cause I’m dying to hear the whole thing….
- Hussolonia took on Billy Joel’s Glass Houses in its entirety. It’s free, here.
- Doveman released his Footloose tribute. But don’t listen if you like the Footloose soundtrack, because it’s virtually unrecognizable.
- Clem Snide did Journey (although this was also a repackaging of several already-released covers) (six bucks on Bandcamp). Clem also did a “best of” album of covers chosen by fans, which they offer as a pay-what-you-want-even-zero-bucks. Of the two, I’d go with the latter–the cover of Neutral Milk Hotel alone is worth giving Eef and his buds six bucks.
- Kris Delhmost released an album of Cars covers and Shonen Knife busted out with a Ramones tribute. Both were good, but Kris’ was actually (gasp) great. I’m actually digging it more than the originals. Review of both albums here.
- Various artists covered U2’s Achtung Baby, which included The Killers doing a killer version of Ultraviolet (Baby Light My Way).
- And we got another round of Guilt By Association, this time with a focus on Heavy Metal.
- With Nirvana’s classic album having a milestone anniversary, just about everyone offered at least one Nevermind cover–but some dudes, like Deer Tick, took it one step further, branding themselves Deervana and playing the album at a series of live shows…Check the video:
Awesome, eh?
And it wasn’t all about album-or-artist tributes; more than ever, bands offered large cover offerings to entice new listeners to come on over to their camps:
- The Wooden Birds released an EP with covers of Kenny Rogers and Hall and Oates. (Hall and Oates are getting much appreciation-cover-love these days.)
- Marisa Nadler released an all-covers album for a couple bucks here. It’s worth getting, with interesting takes on a wide variety of artists like Clinci, Bob Dylan, and Magnetic Fields.
- Benjamin Francis Leftwich offered a free covers EP with Tom Petty and Arcade Fire, among others. Lots of folks covered Arcade Fire this year.
Even hip hop was affected:
- edubble, an up-and-coming genius from Baltimore sampled lots (and lots!) of recognizable artists for his “Written Thursdays” collection of free cuts. It’s free for the cost of an e-mail addy, and well worth getting. edub’s rap alone is intense, but his use of Tom Petty, Hanson, Lykke Li, Cold War Kids, Boston and more represents some of the best sampling since The Beastie Boys copped the riff from Led Zep’s The Ocean.
- Elzhi delivered Elmatic, a tribute to Nas’ Illmatic and easily one of the best mixtapes of the year. (It’s on my top 20 albums of the year…)
Some artists took it a little further. TV Girl deserves a special mention. First, they released an internet sensation song called “If You Want It,” which sampled Todd Rungren’s “Hello, It’s Me.” The song was so popular that the band was attacked by the RIAA and forced to shut it down. You can find the song if you dig around for it. As if in response, TV Girl’s next EP was titled “Benny and the Jets,” which featured not a cover but an original song about chick who listens to Elton John’s classic tune. Fucking brilliant guys. Check it out on Bandcamp and support this band–they’re phenomenal.
And there were the ubiquitous covers of pop songs: Just about everyone looking for attention took on Adele’s, “Rolling in the Deep,” “Pumped Up Kicks,” the viral sensation “Video Games,” or Kanye West’s monster hit from 2010, “Runaway.” All of this leaves me thinking: Is there even a market for original, complex music anymore, or has the requirement of instant accessibility made it impossible for creators to survive solely on their own merits?
But even more disturbing than the trend towards remaking, rather than making, music as a way to get known as a musician was the Congressional response. The RIAA, choking on its own failure to adapt and desperately trying to revive a business model that was failing long before the introduction of Napster, sponsored The Commercial Felony Streaming Act, S.978, turning Justin Beiber into a (gasp) political activist overnight. The bill makes 
unauthorized web streaming of copyrighted content a felony with a possible penalty of up to 5 years in prison, so long as the streaming has an “economic value” to either the copyright holder or the infringer, of at least $2,500. This means that an artist like Doveman, if he generates $2,500 in Bandcamp sales of his Footloose album, could be thrown in jail. It means that your dog, if it barks along to “Rolling in the Deep” and as a result you get him signed to a record deal, could get you locked up.
[VOTE AGAINST IT HERE]
Clearly, the target of 978 is not this blog. It’s youtube, who, I grant you, make craploads of money by hosting clips of content owned by others. And perhaps there should be a remedy when an entire business model is based on theft. If a local standup comic wants his routine shared on youtube, he should be allowed to submit it–no one else. But there are better ways to protect the rights of artists. And we all know this isn’t about protecting the rights of artists. It’s about protecting the record industry and the movie industry from competition. Youtube is more interesting than 99% of the movies out there. Music sites like Last FM are better for artists than, in some cases, even a record deal. S.978 is a blow to artistic freedom. It’s not a boon.
But I digress. We were talking about cover songs, right? Hit the break for the top 10.
