https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdE75ACTMRY
10. Layla by Scary Pockets. The Derek and Dominos anthem becomes a funky dance song. Love it!
9. Soul Meets Body (Death Cab for Cutie) by The Beths. A faithful cover of a beautiful song. Nothing complicated here, but a joy to listen to.
8. Deep River by Andrew Hendryx (Americana/Bluegrass album). Not purely a covers album—and the originals here are equally great—but one with the best cover of The Grateful Dead’s “They Love Each Other” and “Franklin’s Tower” that I’ve ever heard, as well as some excellent, folk/pop covers of Van Morrison and Cyndi Lauper. If you like the Grateful Dead, by the way, it’s worth checking out Matt Rae’s instrumental collection of Dead covers, “Crazy Fingers.”
7. Heaven is a Place on Earth (Belinda Carlisle) by KT Tunstall. From the Zoe Ball Breakfast Show. It seems there is no such thing as a KT cover that doesn’t obliterate the original.
6. Killing Me Softly by Jorga Smith. A cover of Roberta Flack, by way of the prior cover by the Fugees. Another Like a Version joint.
5. Same Drugs by Matt Nathanson and Patrick Stump. I almost like this acoustic, indie take on Chance The Rapper’s “sad rap” ballad better than the original. It’s off Nathanson’s covers EP “Postcards from Chicago,” which also has a slow, acoustic version of my favorite rock song of all time: Surrender by Cheap Trick.
4. I Need You Tonight (INXS) by Christine and the Queens. Another gift from BBC live, this one is nearly acapella, with a bassline and a few accents, highlighting both the earworm rhythm of the original version of this song and Christine’s own, amazing voice.
3. Tiny Changes: A Celebration of Frightened Rabbit’s, “The Midnight Organ Fight” (tribute album). A song-for-song cover of the classic album by indie artists—some big, some small—including Biffy Clyro, Daughter and Josh Ritter.
2. You’re All I’ve Got Tonight by Joseph Arthur. It’s criminal that Ric Ocasek’s death didn’t prompt a swarm of Cars covers. We only got a few–and this is the best of the bunch. A fitting tribute to a pop star who influenced an entire generation of performers. Need a few more solid Cars covers for an in memoriam? Check out Dwayne Gretzky’s power pop take on “Just What I Needed” and Mark “Blink 182” Hoppus’ take on the same tune. Hit next for my pick for the best cover of 2019!
