The internet revitalized the cover song. Ten to 15 years ago, a band would be marked and scarred forever if they led with a cover (Alien Ant Farm, Orgy, et al.), and unless you have some serious major label money, bands wouldn’t be able to pay for the rights to release a cover on an album anyway. But in 2011, a cover can be a timely defibrillator for a band whose limelight has long since faded. Is it still as cheap as it once was? Possibly, but covers strike a good balance between business and pleasure for a band, and tend to drum up heaping portions of nostalgia for listeners who can now deepen their connection with a band. Or hell, maybe Tennis just really likes The Zombies.
-Jeremy D Larson Content Director
Teebs – “Everyone Alive Wants Answers”
LA’s Brainfeeder collective puts down beats that are heavy in the head but light in the feet. Teebs here does a reworking of an early Colleen song, “Your Heat On Your Sleeve“, off their first album Everyone Alive Wants Answers. The sound is pristine, and the groove is deep. -JL
Nas feat. Rick Ross – “It’s A Tower Heist
Don’t know if you’ve seen the preview for the movie Tower Heist, but it’s a shit show. This song, however, is not — and Nas has been in the habit of shooting to kill with his tracks. Special help from The Bawse gives this gun a diamond-encrusted grip, to be sure. -JL
Tennis – “Tell Her No” (The Zombies cover)
This is just a really good cover from Tennis. Faithful, plucky, and there’s especially good production on this that both honors The Zombies and lifts Tennis back up with this year’s bumble-gum pop contemporaries. -JL
Kate Bush is gracefully sliding into the third decade of her career and is still creating music true to her established persona and music with deference to the fast-changing music scene. This being the first listen off her newest album in six years, 50 Words for Snow, it’s mysterious and beautiful, and a cunning sample of what’s to come. -JL
Jay Electronica feat. Mobb Deep – “Call of Duty (Modern Warfare 3)”
Mark this moment as the first of many times Jay Electronica will tout the Roc Nation flag, calling for you to “Put your diamonds in the sky.” Jay released the track earlier this week, and unless he’s got some major premonition power, he recorded his verse this week as well, as he mentions the passing of Steve Jobs. Certainly doesn’t sound like he recorded it in a week. And Mobb Deep? Hardcore as ever. -WR
Lykke Li – “Unchained Melody”
I’m confident the Swedish starlet could have belted out a great big karaoke version of “Unchained Melody” for Australia’s Triple J Radio, but she keeps it simple, which is exactly what makes this track so palatable. -WR
Delving back into the genre’s Jamaican roots, the dub producers put down another banger that doesn’t need a killer hook or a dry humping tutorial to get you moving. We can say with relative certainty that this is the only dubstep track this year that will get you excited about the coming season of Mad Men. Oh wait. -WR
Oneohtrix Point Never – “Replica”
With drone music, you usually think of a singular object lumbering toward something. Daniel Lopatin, a.k.a. Oneohtrix Point Never, is plural drone comprised of many swatches of music that orbit around the spine of the song. The effect evokes any variety of trance states from sleep to psychedelic, and the title track to his forthcoming album is a fine display of his unique style. -JL
Surfer Blood – “Miranda” (School of Seven Bells)
You know when you see that one of your favorite bands has remixed a track, and you’re like, “Sweet!”? Possibly the only better feeling is when one of your favorite bands remixes another one of your favorite bands, and this is exactly what we have here. School of Seven Bells shrink wrap their hazy, ethereal pop over Surfer Blood’s surf-rock capabilities, and the result is blissful. -WR
Abel’s at it again! Presumably the first track from part three of the Toronto crooner’s 2011 trilogy, “Initiation” sees slight deviation with vocal tweaks here and there, but the subject matter certainly hasn’t changed, and neither has the kid’s obvious knack for destroying the world with his smooth, sexy tenor. Pardon my french (mom), but holy shit, this kid is out of control good. -WR
