Radio Free Chicago

Ok Go Covering Songs I Love

Most people know Ok Go for their music videos. When the band showed up on the Sasquatch! Music Festival lineup a couple years ago, I couldn’t contain my excitement, but a friend contested with (paraphrased) “but how great could their live show be when they can’t implement their video gimmickry?” I then went on to explain that, um, Ok Go is first and foremost about the music, and anyone who doesn’t realize that needs to listen to them.

It wasn’t until later I began listening to the band that I saw one of their videos, the treadmill one. “Here It Goes Again” is a fine song, but nowhere near Ok Go’s best work. So, understandably, people were more fixated on the extremely interesting and clever choreography. The band certainly has a knack for that, and it should be admired.

However, Ok Go’s self-titled debut album (2002) was a much better introduction. “Hello My Treacherous Friends” was daring and catchy, and “1000 Miles Per Hour” is like the Moody Blues meets Fountains of Wayne, which works out beautifully. The 2005 EP preceding Oh No, Ok Go’s second album, further won me over with a cover of one of my all-time favorite songs, “The Lovecats” by the Cure.

The Cure - The Lovecats

Ok Go’s rendition remains fairly faithful to the original, but delivers it in a smoother package. Drums, bass, keys, guitar and vocals all sound richer. Elementally speaking, the original is more metallic while the cover has a more woody quality. But they really master the Cure’s essence with the recording, which solidified Ok Go’s place in my heart.

Ok Go - The Lovecats

The band released the “Extra Nice Edition” of their third album, Of the Blue Colour of the Sky (2010) last November, which offered a ton of remixes and alternate versions of songs from the album, as well as a few other treats. One of these was a cover of the Pixies’ “Gigantic.”

The Pixies - Gigantic

Again, Ok Go refines the edges of the rock classic, but stays mostly true to its original style. Damian Kulash coos “Hey  Paul, hey Paul, hey Paul, let’s have a ball” with psychedelic flair and is a softer substitute for Kim Deal on the repetition of “a big, big love.”

Ok Go - Gigantic

What’s wonderful about Ok Go’s cover efforts is they sound distinctively like Ok Go while still honoring the integrity of those they emulate. They definitely make it worth it to shell out for the versions of their albums with bonus tracks. Never a disappointment; always a pleasure.

People Covering Songs I Love ... With MORE Taylor Swift!

So did you hear the one about how Taylor Swift covered "White Blank Page" by Mumford & Sons on BBC Radio and totally killed it? Not to knock the original, because M&S really brought the drama on this one.

Mumford & Sons - White Blank Page

But in all honesty, after hearing Swift sing it with her soft, quavering vocals over guitars and banjo, I'm inclined to say it sounds fit for her, and I think reveals a side of her musicianship that people haven't heard much of. Girl's got a lot more soul than she gets credit for.

 

Taylor Swift - White Blank Page

People Covering Songs I Love: Taylor Swift Edition

Alright, world, I'm ready to come clean. I love Taylor Swift. I mean, I really love Taylor Swift. In the past six months, I've listened to 751 Taylor Swift songs according to Last.fm. I've used her "The Story Of Us" music video as inspiration for my classy yet sexy summer wardrobe of knee highs and mini-skirts. I've bought a copy of Teen Vogue because she was on the cover. On a particularly good hair day, I tweeted that I was rockin' waves worthy of Swift herself. What is it about Swift that has me so enamored? Well, to be honest, Swift started out as the lesser of evils in my household. At the start of the year, I started my tenure as a live-in nanny and the biggest lifestyle adjustment I had to make (Other than curbing my rampant, intravenous drug use - JUST KIDDING!) was my music consumption. Sure, when I'm in my section of the house, it's all Okkervil River and Timber Timbre but when I'm not in my lair, everything has to be kid-friendly and, let's face it, I'm too nice of a person to tell the kids how I really feel about the likes of Bruno Mars and Jason Derulo, the latter of whom appears to have made a career out of using the most idiotic samples possible. Begrudgingly, I started requesting the kids turn on Swift just so I could escape "The Lazy Song" and thus, my unlikely love affair with the country-pop superstar began.

I wasn't immune to the hooks found in "You Belong With Me" and "Love Story" but it was Swift's non-single tracks that found me warming to her the most. "You're Not Sorry" managed to sum up a year of my love life in a three minute long piano ballad. "Haunted" perfectly encapsulated the long-gone love affair that I just can't get over, although my musician ex isn't nearly of Joe Jonas caliber. "Mean" was an anti-bullying anthem that I first heard when rumor mongering ran rampant in my life and it's chorus of "Why you gotta be so mean?" proved a cathartic listen. More than all of that, however, was the appeal of Swift herself: One of the few pop stars who actually has control over their own image and career, Swift writes her own songs, produces her own records, and shreds on the banjo like you would not believe. 

Even though I keep the fact that I'm a proud Swiftie no secret, I still consider Swift somewhat of a guilty pleasure lest all of my indie cred be erased. And who better than my favorite guilty pleasure artist to cover my favorite guilty pleasure song?

 

Taylor Swift - Viva La Vida (Acoustic)

 

Let's get something straight - Coldplay isn't all bad. They're just bland and douchey. If given the choice between Coldplay and death, I'd chose Coldplay, albeit begrudgingly, and hope that the god-awful X & Y album wasn't on my forced-listen list so I wouldn't have to hear Chris Martin whine about his longing to "fix" Gwenyth "I Have A Music Career Now, You Guys!" Paltrow. In their early days, however, Martin and co. had some pretty sweet songs on their hands. Nearly half of their first two releases are not only tolerable, but actually enjoyable and the Six Feet Under promo set to the band's "A Rush Of Blood To The Head" remains hauntingly memorable after all these years. (Seriously, am I the only one who remembers that commercial?) By the time the band released Viva La Vida or Death & All His Friends, however, their schtick had grown tiresome. The band had found their soft-rock niche and they stuck with it. After all, they were raking in the dough. Why should they bother changing their winning formula? 

Martin still has some talent left in him though, when he's not busy whinging about the Goopster, and that was made evident with Viva La Vida's title track, a haunting, soaring song about the pitfalls of power and fame. Something about "Viva La Vida" has always appealed to my better nature, perhaps because I'm a sucker for remembering the "glory days" and "Viva La Vida" is three and a half minutes of reminiscing about when King Martin's subjects didn't want his "head on a silver plate" before surmising his whole sorry existence: "Oh, who would ever want to be king?"

 

Coldplay - Viva La Vida

 

It's a great allegory and Swift's loyal, acoustic version is one of the more beautiful cover songs I've heard this year. Plus, the whole "king" allegory really reminds me of the Stark family but that just might be because the majority of my summer has been spent simultaneously reading and watching George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones so anything involving a crown, incest, giant puppies, boobs, or dwarves is apt to remind me of the epic series. Winter is coming, ya'll!

People Covering Songs I Love ... With Horse Feathers Honoring Nirvana

One of the coolest things about cover songs is having the chance to hear a song you love in a completely new light. It's easy to repeat a song in its own style, but there's something very impressive about an artist who can respect the song's essence while putting a different spin on its sound.

"Drain You" is quite possibly my favorite Nirvana song. It's rough and hard and heavy in all the right ways. Sometimes, it's exactly what I need to exorcise my demons.

 

That said, I'm a huge fan of folk music, as well. As much as rocking out is a very powerful catharsis for me, sometimes it takes something lighter to grab me where I need to be grabbed (not in a dirty way, EIC Amber Valentine!). And behold, no matter what mood I'm in, "Drain You" can still be my medicine of choice. Because Portland, Ore., folk quartet Horse Feathers has proven that Kurt Cobain's songwriting can't be pigeonholed.

 

Horse Feathers - Drain You

The band's cover of "Drain You" is soft and poignant in a way that can't be absorbed while rigorously banging one's head. Horse Feathers' translation feels strangely natural, and appropriately pays tribute to a truly amazing piece of work.

 

People Covering Songs I Love ... With Thao & Mirah

In the early 1980s, when Pat Benatar released the heartbreak anthem "Love is a Battlefield," I was too young to care or understand. At the time, the only heartache I may have felt was when Mom took the pacifier out of my mouth or wouldn't let me have a cookie.

Benatar's video is basically a montage of negative encounters with men, starting with her being forbidden from seeing her jailbait boyfriend (or little brother? or kid she tutors?), after which she runs off to the city, only to be bumped in the arm by a burly dude coming up an escalator, accept a dance with a creepy mustache man, throw water in a guido's face and finally assert her independence by shimmying out of a bar with a bunch of women. But at least the whole thing ends in hugs.

 

A couple of months ago, Thao Nguyen and Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn (who released an album together in April) recorded a stripped-down version of the hit during a live studio session in Oakland. With Mirah on the mic, the song takes on a more soothing veneer. It's not so much a fervid catharsis as it is a casual assertion, backed only by xylophone and soft drum thuds.

 

Thao & Mirah - Love Is a Battlefield

In my youth, I connected to Benatar's intensity regarding relationships. But now, Thao & Mirah's relaxed rendition is a far better reflection of how I regard this particular warzone. Instead of going down in a blaze of glory, we wave our white flags and say, "Fuck it. Somebody get me a pacifier and a cookie."

 

People (Sorta) Covering Songs I Love with... Florence and En Vogue!

Anyone whose heard even a bit of a Florence song can tell that she's got Godpipes but she still manages to surprise with the things she uses her magnificent voice for! Her performance on the 2011 Grammys singing Aretha Franklin songs with the likes of Yolanda Adams, Martina McBride, Christina Aguilera, and Jennifer Hudson is probably the best example I can think of for that. I mean, of course Florence's voice is soulful, but  I never thought of it as soulful. But the more you know, the more exciting life is!

A few days ago, for whatever reason En Vogue's "Don't Let Go" bogarted its way into my brain (a couple days before that, the uninvited visitor was "Semi-Charmed Life" so let's say it was an upgrade. At the very least because I knew more than ten words to "Don't Let Go"). I went furiously YouTubing on my futurephone and came across this video from the advertising graveyard formerly known as Myspace.

 

It's Florence barely able to physically contain herself while held in the grips of this wonderful song. Her passion is contagious (and certainly swoonworthy), and it's really dope to see her giving the stank face to a song so worthy of it. While it's not really a cover, you do get to see bursts of Florence going full R&B, bringing out a new dynamic both in her image and extending the power and reach of the song. I feel like "Don't Let Go" is a kind of song that hovers in the background of pop culture, waiting for the right movie or a TV show to resurrect it and remind the world of its perfection. Well, here's me doing my little part!:

 

People Covering Daniel Johnston Songs I Love.

 

Daniel Johnston - True Love Will Find You in the End

Beck -  True Love Will Find You in the End

M. Ward -  Story of an Artist

 

Bright Eyes -  Devil Town

 

People Covering Songs I Love: Stacy Dupree Breaks Hearts With Stevie Nicks

This is a story that could be told in one of two ways. The first way is to talk about the song professionally and the back story behind the cover version, to spare the more emotional part and keep it pro. The second way, however, to tackle this is more interesting and I think that the first part can wait, that I can insert all necessary details into the story of how Fleetwood Mac's "Silver Springs" means so much to me.

I was never the kind of girl to fall in love. I always dreamed about it but in reality, it just wasn't for me. In theory, I was a sweet girl who was witty and cute and fun to talk to and had any number of gentlemen pursuing me at any given time. In actuality, however, I was a sweet girl who was witty and cute and fun to talk to and had any number of gentlemen pursuing me at any given time who broke the hearts of every boy who ever asked her out. I didn't mean to and it wasn't fun but I couldn't help myself - I just didn't want to be in love. Then, suddenly, one day, I fell in love. It doesn't matter with whom or why or how it happened. The point is that it did happen and it was shocking but what was more shocking was that he didn't love me back. Coming to terms with that fact and what it meant has taken up the majority of my life since it became glaringly obvious, in the worst break up that I pretended I was fine with of all time. I've been waiting, anxiously, for the day when I finally no longer feel the spark of heat inside of me when I see him, for when I don't inadvertently smile when he texts me, for when I stop getting that unmistakable face when I'm watching him from across a room, a face which the vast majority of my (mostly male) pals seem to be mercifully oblivious to.

It wasn't until I was listening to Fleetwood Mac late one night that "Silver Springs" came on and it hit me: My biggest fear is being Stevie Nicks. My biggest fear is that this fellow I fell for would be my Lindsey Buckingham, that I would never really fall in love again, and I would spend the rest of my life alone. This, of course, is not completely fair on my part to Stevie Nicks. I'm assuming that she still loves Buckingham, or that at least part of her does, and that the words she sang in "Silver Springs" still ring true. "I could have loved you but you would not let me."

 

Fleetwood Mac - Silver Springs

See, the thing is that I'm not a good girlfriend. I drink too much, I cheat, I'm distant, and I just all around suck at telling people how I feel about them. I don't say what I want because I don't know what I want and even if I do, it's all too likely that what I want will change drastically in ten minutes time. That being said, what kills me is the fact that I know I could have loved this boy, had he let me, and I know I would have been the best damn girl he ever had.

 

Stacy Dupree - Silver Springs

It's hard to take a song as fantastically beautiful as "Silver Springs" and cover it. The original is just about perfect, be it the version that never made it on to Rumors or the live take of the track that eventually saw the light of day on Fleetwood Mac's big "reunion" cd, 1997's The Dance. Couple the fact that musically, the song is impeccable and the overtones of heartache are palpable with the fact that Nicks's voice is an instrument in and of itself, forcing the listener to take the anger and longing she feels and feels it too, and you have a song that most musicians shouldn't touch. That being said, Stacy Dupree of the band Eisley's version of "Silver Springs" is just as hauntingly beautiful as the original, even if at the end of the day, Nicks's version is still the one that sticks with you.

People Covering Songs I Love... With MGMT Doing The '80s!

I gotta say, when I saw MGMT at the Voodoo Experience in New Orleans last year, I had a hard time concentrating on the music. Besides the fact I’d seen them in concert earlier that year at the Sasquatch! Music Festival, their Voodoo set was on Halloween … and they came out on stage dressed as Mystery Inc. Andrew Vanwyngarden made a fetching Daphne, as the sunset glinted from the synthetic strands of his orange wig. Ben Goldwasser and James Richardson stood at either side as Velma and Scooby Doo, with Matt Asti and Will Berman to the rear as Shaggy and Fred. You’ll forgive me if I was a little distracted.

But when I heard the band’s recent Daytrotter session, I was reminded of something. They had played a song I recognized at that show, but not from their albums. One I’d surely heard before, but knew not where. All I was certain of was that the tune was from the 1980s. Sometimes there’s really no debating such things. Was it the Cure? The opening guitar and bass parts suggested it might be, but I know my Cure well enough that by the time the chorus came along, it was out of the question. I was stumped.

MGMT - Only A Shadow

It was time to consult the Google machine. A short search led me to learn the original version of “Only a Shadow” was by a fairly obscure English '80s band The Cleaners From Venus. (They don't have their own Wikipedia entry; they MUST be obscure.)

Cleaners From Venus - Only A Shadow

What the search didn’t tell me is why I’d recognized the song. Perhaps it was just because I’d heard MGMT perform it live just months ago, or perhaps it’s because it so closely resembles other such music from its era. The really important thing to note here, however, is that now there’s a decent recording of MGMT’s cover version for download. Once again, I find myself humbly indebted to Daytrotter for its unrelenting awesomeness.

Jon Brion Covering Songs I Love... With Cheap Trick! Katy Perry! And More!

If I had to choose one artist to call a genius, it would doubtlessly be Jon Brion. Best known for his scores for such instant-hipster classics as I Heart Huckabees, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Stepbrothers (Find me a hipster that can't quote John C. Reilly and Will Ferrel's "Did we just become best friends?!" speech and I'll show you a phony). I don't like to throw around the word "genuis" because, quite frankly, I think it gets way overused these days, diluting the meaning, much the way I have qualms with the constant use of "awesome" and "old school", but it's just about inarguable that Brion is deserving of such an accolade as "genius". For evidence, you need look no further than any one of his brilliant scores or any odditie-riddled track he lended his deft production values to. Kanye West's "Golddigger"? That was Brion. Fiona Apple's Extraordinary Machine? That was him, too.

What often goes underappreciated, however, is Brion's amazing solo album, Meaningless. Filled with melodies that stick in your head ("Her Ghost"), eccentric instrumentation ("Walking Through Walls"), and all the clever wordplay that Brion is known for ("Meaningless"), Meaningless is not only one of my favorite cds of the past decade, but one of the best pop albums of all time. Why don't more people adore it? Well, I'll save that for a Wiping Off The Dust, because what's important here is the fact that Brion ends his solo debut brilliantly, with an almost unrecognizably beautiful take on Cheap Trick's "Voices".

Jon Brion - Voices

Cheap Trick is a band I grew up loving, thanks to my dad's amazing taste in rock and roll, so "Voices" was a track I was anything but unfamiliar with by the time I discovered Jon Brion. Even so, I didn't recognize Brion's take on "Voices" until I read an article in which Brion said it was a Cheap Trick cover. At first, I have to admit I was disappointed that the The power ballad bombast and layered vocals of the original have been replaced with a tenderness, exposing the tenderness of the original that was overpowered by heavy handed production before.

Cheap Trick - Voices

Cheap Trick, naturally, isn't the only band Brion has put his fingerprints all over. Recently, a video of Brion turning Katy Perry's "I Kissed A Girl" has been making the rounds on the internet and, true to form, Brion turns the schlocky pop hit into a beautifully quirky tune that wouldn't be out of place in any one of the films Brion's scored over the years.

People Covering Songs I Love... With The-Dream and jj!

jj is an entity so zeitgeist-y that they could have been concocted in a Pitchfork buzz band machine. They're a dreamy, nostalgia-inducing balearic pop duo from Sweden that sometimes cover R&B/hip-hop songs, had a hotly reviewed debut album, followed by a critically panned sophomore release. They even hid their identities at one point! Some times things just feel inevitable. But those are just silly labels; most importantly jj have put out some really gorgeous music.

The-Dream's Love vs Money is my favorite album of 2009, and is secured my top three favorite R&B albums of all time. "Right Side of My Brain" always struck me as having the potential of a hit single as massive as any of the anthems The-Dream has written for Beyonce or Rihanna. Alas, it was not to be. But!: We do have this beautiful, sparse cover from jj that should warm your hollow heart right up.

 

The original:

 The-Dream - Right Side Of My Brain

People Covering Songs I Love: Wye Oak covers the Kinks' Strangers

I’ll be the first to admit, it took me awhile to get The Kinks.

Actually, let’s amend that: I always “got” The Kinks. They were one of those heady influence bands, the kind the musicians you really admire would namedrop or cover b-sides. They stood as pop-rock iconoclasts; smarter than the Stones, looser than the Beatles, less pretentious than the Who.

And they were innovators: “You Really Got Me,” with its distorted guitar riff apparently invented and mumbled, gruff vocals apparently invented heavy metal and punk. Village Green Preservation Society is of great pop importance. Wes Anderson uses them in his movies to great effect. That song with the Caribbean steel drum.

That is to say: I understood them from an intellectual perspective. I comprehended their importance and found no reason to argue with it.

Still, The Kinks have long eluded me as a band I really felt. I’ve listened to a far bit of ‘em and never particularly enjoyed much. Village Green has some fairly fun moments and those early singles are solid, but songs like “Lola,” “Plastic Man,” “Celluloid Heroes,” and the aforementioned “Come Dancing” blur the line between earnest rock and novelty songs. Not bad, per se, just a bit too silly for a stoic young man such as yours truly.

That in mind, the one song by the Kinks I remember my father playing for me as a kid which I have a fondness for to this day is “Strangers.” Figures it’d be a Dave Davies song (as opposed to his more prolific brother Ray), but the emotion in it simply slays me. You listen to it and you can’t help but ache when he yowls, “If I live too long, I’m afraid I’ll die.” Its simple and mournful, yet oddly optimistic: the idea that you go through life mostly alone and the people walking beside are as strangers to you, but really, you’re never alone since you’re walking it together. It’s a “Footsteps in the Sand” type sentiment, but subtly and expertly done.

 

Thus, when I saw that Wye Oak, a band I was vaguely aware of but wasn’t terribly familiar with was doing a cover of it for the AV Club’s Undercover series (a font of great bands doing wonderful covers), I was intrigued to say the least. They seemed to have all the right elements to perk my interest: comely female guitar player/singer, drummer who plays keyboards while drumming, rootsy + noise feel.

This… I legitimately wasn’t prepared for this. Honestly. Jenn Wasner’s voice just enthralls me. By the end of the first chorus, she’s got me drafting marriage proposals on the back of cocktail napkins. By the time she launches in to a freewheeling, shambling guitar solo, I’ve named our children Mortimer and Bettina and have started a college fund. The harmonies, the simplicity of that noisy shimmering guitar, it’s the sound of absolute conviction and a band performing to their strengths. Listen to it, I feel blissfully buzzed, one and a half Long Island Iced Teas in (as opposed my usual 3) and just feeling the sway.

 

Check it out and feel momentarily hopeful you wont die alone and unloved. 

Editor's note: Hey! Wye Oak will be at The Riv with The Decemberists on February 4th! That's neat! Maybe you should go!

People Covering Songs I Love ... With Netherfriends!

In the early ’90s, well-known rapper Ice-T made a foray into hard-driving rock music with his band Body Count. While this move never overshadowed his rap career (though arguably his stab at acting sort of has) it did stir up a lot of controversy that nobody's ever really forgotten. "Cop Killer" was originally part of the band's self-titled debut album but rapidly became the target of many a protest for its violent sentiments, the "Mortal Kombat" of the music industry.

The lyrics are a first-person account of a character enraged by police brutality who's hellbent on getting even, though some thought it incriminated Ice-T as homicidal. People were offended by lines such as "Tonight'll be your night/ I got this long-ass knife/ and your neck looks just right," and boycotted the song for being hostile towards law enforcment. As referenced on Wikipedia, T defended the track with the statement, "If you believe that I'm a cop killer, you believe David Bowie is an astronaut."

 

Body Count - Cop Killer

 

He was so upset by the attacks, that the song was later removed from the album in its 1992 re-release. But if history tells us anything, it's those things that cause controversy that stand the test of time. Haters and supporters alike give it more attention to counter one another and it can grow legs that surpass entire bodies of work. Even people who don't care to know the song know the song.

Well, the words are still the same, but Netherfriends (namely Shawn Rosenblatt) softens the blow with its own rendition of the much-malaised tune. For The Glorification of Gangster, a "compilation of remixes, mash-ups, and cover songs that exemplify the media's celebration of organized crime throughout history," Rosenblatt provides a shoegazey psych-pop version that is almost hypnotic.

 

Netherfriends - Cop Killer

 

With a Marc Bianchi sweetness to his voice, Rosenblatt sings "Die, Die, Die Pig, Die," and throws in a chipper whistle after the first chorus that almost makes you forget you're listening to a song about vengeful murder.

People Covering Songs I Love: Sparklehorse covers Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here

With the exception of Revolver, Pink Floyd’s 1967 debut album Piper At The Gates Of Dawn is the single most influential psychedelic rock album ever recorded. Syd Barret is the man responsible for Piper’s genius, but unfortunately Syd was a paranoid schizophrenic, and his massive hallucinogen abuse exasperated his condition. Barret left Pink Floyd in 1968 and lived in self-imposed exile as a mere shell of his former self until his death in 2006.

The loss of Syd Barret was a huge blow to Pink Floyd. Not only was he a close friend, but he was also the primary creative force behind Pink Floyd and responsible for most of their success. Pink Floyd’s next six albums would try in vain to replicate what made Piper At The Gates Of Dawn so wonderful, but failed miserably. It wasn’t until their eighth studio album, 1973s Dark Side Of The Moon, that Pink Floyd would cement themselves once more as an influential creative force in the modern day rock scene. Dark Side Of The Moon is one of the most critically acclaimed albums of all time and their biggest commercial success to date. Widely regarded as their magnum opus, the band asserts that its best album is 1975's Wish You Were Here.

Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here

Wish You Where Here is a loose concept album mainly centered around Syd Barret’s life. The title track is quite possibly the most haunting thing Pink Floyd’s ever written. Barret was still alive in 1975, but the band mourns him as if he was dead. It’s an incredibly emotional song, and one of Pink Floyd’s most overlooked. Recording the song "Wish You Were Here" was incredibly difficult for Pink Floyd, and they spend the song desperately trying to keep their composure instead of pouring that pain into their performance.

Flash forward to 2005, where Mark Linkous aka Sparklehorse recorded a cover of "Wish You Were Here" with Radiohead front-man Thom Yorke for the ending credits of skate movie Lords Of Dogtown. Aside from the production, both songs are nearly identical. What makes Sparklehorse’s version better is that Linkous’ vocals perfectly capture the emotion of the song. Linkous acts as the conduit for the raw emotion on "Wish You Were Here". I can’t listen to it without misting at the eyes a little.

Sparklehorse (feat. Thom Yorke) - Wish You Were Here

People Covering Songs I Love: The Morning Benders (And Justin Bieber) Get Toasty With The Cardigans

You may have noticed that Mylynda posted earlier today about the charming scamps in The Morning Benders and their infectious take on The Ronnettes. Now, here, readers, is where I could lie and say "That got me thinking about my favorite cover on The Benders' Bedroom Covers album..." but in actuality, I'd been planning a Morning Benders "People Covering Songs I Love" post for quite some time. In fact, I was almost disappointed when Indie College's EIC beat me to the punch but then I realized, heck, what's better to warm the cockles in the dead of winter than TWO Morning Benders posts in ONE day?! Nothing! Also, what's a cockle? No clue. But I suspect it bears a strong resemblance to this. Anyhow. Moving on...

The first concert I saw that counts was The Cardigans. Before that, I'd seen a Beatles cover band and The Monkees and a few shows my mom or grandma had taken me to but it wasn't until I was twelve that I really started developing my own taste and asking my mom to get me concert tickets for birthday and christmas gifts. The local rock station had yearly holiday blow outs that featured bands I tended to like and while I was always the youngest person in attendance, I always, despite my social anxiety and dislike of large crowds and strangers making eye contact with me, had a blast. But my first concert was The Cardigans. I was in seventh grade and their svelte, Aryan lead singer, Nina Persson, had me already doubting the sexuality I hadn't even fully developed yet. I mean, look at her! Girl's a fox. Of course, eventually, I realized I wasn't gay and many-a boys dreams were crushed because that meant the male world was robbed of ever seeing me "lez out".

Regardless of my sexual preference, however, The Cardigans are one band from my youth that hasn't grown stale, that I can still listen to at twenty six without having to preface it with "Oh, this is just a nostalgic guilty pleasure." Even the Swedish band's overplayed "one hit", "Lovefool" has withstood the test of time.

The Cardigans - Lovefool

What The Morning Benders do to "Lovefool" is nothing short of genius, weaving it's pop hooks and saccharine lyrics into a confessional tune of heartache and melancholy. Like always, I can't help but relate this tune to a scene in the film version of my life that'll probably never get made:

Interior. House. Sad girl sits alone on bed, daydreaming of the guy that just broke up with her. Why'd he break up with her? Because he has awful taste in women, clearly! But that's beside the point. The point is that this lovely, acoustic rendition of "Lovefool" would be playing and it would charmingly encapsulate all of my melancholy in the most perfect, adorable way.

The Monring Benders - Lovefool (Cardigans Cover)