i'm an out-of-the closet covers lover. i used to do a rad radio show where i found and played an excellent cover track each and every week. i don't think all cover songs are excellent by the way, in fact i think they get a bad wrap because a lot of them do suck the big one.
for me, it's all down to the covering artist taking someone else's song, and completely making it their own, so when you listen to it, it's kind of like an old, old friend coming to visit. sure, they've changed a bit on the outside, but give them a few minutes of your time and (hopefully) you're reminded of all the reasons you liked them in the first place. and maybe even the aesthetic differences go down ok in the end too.
for this reason, i usually go searching for an artist i like, rather than a song i think would make a good cover. because when a favourite song is done badly, it runs the risk of being spoiled for as long as your short-term memory lasts these days.
on the upside of this though, the most surprising cover delights can come from songs you'd never dig in their original incarnations, my case in point here is the bee gees being delivered by the similarly named the bird and the bee.
while momentarily on hiatus from my said rad radio show, my discovery of an awesome cover track hasn't been quite as fruitful as normal, but that just goes to make the gems that much more sparkly.
the apra 2009 awards shebang is happening tomorrow, june 23rd. when the nominees were announced at the end of may, kate miller-heidke and her husband slash band guitarist keir nuttall did a super beautiful version of empire of the sun's 'walking on a dream'. it's stripped and it's bare but rather than being a skeletal frame of one of the electro/pop hits of the summer, it gives kate's voice and keir's timing the chance to shine so brightly they burn, in an achingly good way. with only a few tambourine taps along the way, there's no powerbook in sight. check it. x
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