I’ll be writing quite a bit in subsequent posts, so without much ado, here is my list of the top 30 best cover songs of 2012:
30. Amanda Palmer – First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
29. The Maine – Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
28. The Knocks – Midnight City
27. Julio Bashmore – Troglodytes
26. Carly Rae Jepsen – Both Sides Now
25. Barricades Rise – Down Under
24. Walk Off The Earth – Roll Up
23. Yellowcard – Fix You
22. Easy Star All-Stars – Thriller
21. Antony Hegarty – Landslide
20. Azealia Banks – Slow Hands
19. Gavin Friday – The Fly
18. Mumford and Sons – Tessellate
17. GHXST – Dragula
16. Niia – Mad World
15. Active Child – Sweet Dreams
14. Brian Molko and Fiona Brice – West End Girls
13. Easy Star All-Stars – Beat It
12. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. – Like a Prayer
11. Red Hot Chili Peppers – I Get Around
10. Katja Petri – Candy
(What a serene, pretty take on a teflon-strong melody.)
9. Paper Crows – Disarm
(I really like the reshaping of this classic song.)
8. Paul Banks – I’m A Fool To Want You
(Paul Banks as Sinatra. The look suits him Plenti well.)
7. The Weeknd – DD (Dirty Diana)
(Wow. Does music get more emotionally-charged than this? Maybe the only contemporary artist who could hold a candle to MJ’s impeccable original.)
6. Walk Off The Earth – Somebody That I Used To Know
(The omni-present. A career launcher.)
5. John Mayer – Video Games
(This is maybe the most beautiful, restrained and graceful thing playboy Mayer has ever done.)
4. Ellie Goulding – Hanging On
(The original is a stunner, and here Ms. Goulding gives it a synthy, chic, vital redo. Well done.)
3. Easy Star All-Stars – Human Nature
(This version could not be any more perfect. It is miles apart from the original yet so similar, warm and smooth, like a ray of sunlight taking residence on a wave that’s leisurely travelling the world over. This is so good I think I might even like it more than MJ’s version.)
2. Matt Cardle – First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
(Song starts at 1:40. What a stunning, jaw-droppingly gorgeous voice. The best reality singing show song I’ve ever heard.)
1. The Killers – Ultra Violet (Light My Way)
(Technically from last year, this might be the best cover they’ve ever done, and that’s quite a sentiment, as I think they’re the best cover band of this generation. Propulsive and heart-rattling, not contained by this world.)
The Pun Is Sure 