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Top 50 Cover Songs of 2014 (25-1)

My favourite 25 cover songs of 2014 (with original artist in parentheses);

25. Alt-j – Fitzpleasure (A cappella)

Not technically from 2014, but a beautiful cover nevertheless.

 

24. Sam Smith – How Will I Know (Whitney Houston)

Mr. Smith covered a bunch of tunes in 2014, and this was my favourite. He takes an already great pop song/melody, sung by a likewise preternaturally gifted singer, and makes it sound sensational in a way that only he can.

 

23. Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires – Born In The USA (Bruce Springsteen)

So, so different than the original. It actually sounds like a new song, such is its wayward exploration of one of The Boss’s best tunes.

 

22. Hot Chip – Atomic Bomb (William Onyeabor)

Hot Chip make everything they touch fun, including this cover.

 

21. Grouplove – Ways To Go/Spiderhead (Cover of their own song)/(Cage The Elephant)

I love that Grouplove spontaneously covered their own song before they tackled the Cage tune, for which they issue all kinds of justice. Grouplove imbed an alt-country soul to maybe the best song from Cage’s latest album, and it works out great.

 

20. The Cure – Hello Goodbye (The Beatles)

The Cure covering The Beatles? Yes please, I’ll have some of that.

 

19. London Grammar – Pure Shores (All Saints)

“Pure Shores” is one of the best pop songs of the late 90’s/early aughts. William Orbit’s production on the track is magical. It’s All Saints’ best song by a mile, and I love that it’s been given a new sound almost a decade and a half after its release. Hannah Reid’s pristine voice sounds great guiding this cover to its beach.

 

18. Sufjan Stevens – A Little Lost (Arthur Russell)

Sufjan for all of the feels. Always.

 

17. The Honey Ants – You Can Call Me Al (Paul Simon)

The most genuine and heart-warming this song has yet sounded. The harmonies in this version are gorgeous. Paul Simon, Al, and those wishing to be called Al should all be proud.

 

16. Capitol Chidlren’s Choir – Father Father (Lauren Mvula)

I really wish this troupe would do more covers, as everything they do is golden. But, I guess, you know, school and all.

 

15. Kiesza – What Is Love (Haddaway)

Wonderfully-sung, stripped down version of the untz-untz classic.

 

14. Foster The People – Hold On, We’re Going Home (Drake)

Really, really dig this brooding, auto-tune employing, synth-heavy cover that Mark Foster and his people have cooked up.

 

13. Henry Green – My Number (Foals)

Where the original is a jittery, ooh-laden alt-pop gem, the cover is a cavernous, deep breath of a song. I like the turn down. It’s peaceful here.

 

12. Local H – Team (Lorde)

If you’re wondering what a Lorde track would sound like with a hard rock facelift, here lies your answer. It works.

 

11. Avec Sans – Running Up That Hill (Kate Bush)

Running Up That Hill is a classic song. Placebo’s mid-aughts cover (featured most notably on The O.C.) is astounding(ly good). You’d think it’d be pointless for another act to have another go at it, right? Wrong. Whatever the motivation, I’m glad Avec Sans made this cover. The synth work on this cover is phenomenal.

 

10. Say Lou Lou – Instant Crush (Daft Punk)

A warmer, more personal take on one of the better songs from Daft Punk’s last album.

 

9. Arctic Monkeys – Feels Like We Only Go Backwards (Tame Impala)

I love the original. The lyrics, melody, and music are all fantastic. But when Alex Turner drops his signature croon on a track, he makes it his own, and that’s that. This is an amazing cover by a brilliant musician.

 

8. Nazca – Survivor (Destiny’s Child)

Jaw-dropping cover. Adds a healthy serving of emotional resonance that the original can’t touch. I know the original was a huge hit for Destiny’s Child, but it sounds kind of dated at this point. Frankly, this cover is better.

 

7. Red Hot Chilli Pipers – Wake Me Up (Avicii)

If you like bagpipes, this is your jam. When I first came across this tune, I thought the Red Hot Chilli Peppers had done the cover. Then I learned to read, and then I realized the tune’s by an aerophone-wielding collective of Scots. This instrumental cover is brilliant.

 

6. Les Claypool’s Duo De Twang – Stayin’ Alive (Bee Gees)

This cover is batshit crazy. It’s unlike anything I’d heard, cover or otherwise, in 2014. It’s incredible.

 

5. Chvrches – Do I Wanna Know? (Arctic Monkeys)

Chvrches’ more-than-two-years-hot-streak knows no bounds. And it doesn’t apply to just their own stuff, but everything they touch. This cover is sensational. The synth work by Iain Cook and Martin Doherty is sublime. No synth-based cover of this song could’ve been constructed in a better way.

 

4. Manchester Orchestra – Escape (Jimmy Buffett)

Do you like pina coladas? Do you like cover songs that come from the deepest part of left field that they have to climb over the wall, into the bleachers, out of the stadium, down the street, and into another area code? Do you like getting caught in the rain? Do you have half a brain? If you find yourself answering yes to any of these queries, you’ll probably like this song. Hell, if you just listen to this song, you’ll probably like it. And I’ll like you. Life is simple sometimes.

 

3. Sturgill Simpson – The Promise (When In Rome)

What do I hear when I listen to this Sturgill Simpson cover? A beautiful fucking song. The original is a slinky synth-pop ditty in the vain of Erasure or Pet Shop Boys. It’s a really cool track. This cover couldn’t give two shits about cool. It’s a grassroots promise, and it conveys the gravity of that commitment in a profound, heart-rattling way. Extremely impressive.

 

2. Todd Terje f. Bryan Ferry – Johnny and Mary (Robert Palmer)

Bryan Ferry is a fucking force on this cover. Not because he’s yelling at the top of this lungs, but because his vocal is stranded on an island of pain, where life’s experiences — the tumult of reflecting on those experiences in particular — is the only hope of getting off. If a man is wise with no one to share his wisdom with, is he still wise?

All that power and I haven’t even touched on Todd Terje’s awesome track. The vibe he’s constructed is a perfect match for Ferry’s pensive, aching vocal. It’s sparse when it needs to be, filling when it should be. “Johnny and Mary” is a classic song. I feel like this cover can already be called that too. Mighty, mighty stuff.

 

1. The Tea Party – The Maker (Daniel Lanois)

Hands down, my favourite cover of the year. It’s the ode to deep water. It’s Daniel Lanois’ melody and lyric. It’s Jeff Martin’s typically teflon-strong vocal. It’s reminiscing about the fields of Abraham. It’s the cymbal. That purposeful, perfectly timed cymbal. It’s The Maker.

Whose maker? Mine, yours, this song’s, all song’s, all things.

It’s the guitar. It’s the best song on The Tea Party’s latest and long-awaited new record. It’s that one of the best bands in Canadian history is back together. It’s that all three of them are brilliant musicians.

All of it, moving.

Usually, I’m taken aback by covers that alter the source material in very obvious ways. That’s what makes a cover stand out. Why do it if you can’t bring something something fresh and original to the project.

What touches me and astounds me so much about this cover is that The Tea Party don’t really change things that much. It’s not a dance version of a country song. It’s not a rock version of an a cappella tune. The melody is unchanged.

The original is — although I only discovered it in 2014 — one of the best songs a Canadian band or artist has ever produced. Of this I’m sure.

And yet, I’m completely transfixed and transported. At their best, The Tea Party have always had that power. They’ve proven that on songs like “Psychopomp”, “Fire In The Head”, “Release”, and “Save Me”.

For a band that have issued some of the best and most original rock music of the last 20 years to produce a cover this affecting is a fucking marvel.

It had been 10 long years since The Tea Party last released new music. If it proves to be a one off, and they never make another record again, they should find solace in this cover.

They took a piece of art that already, wonderfully, gracefully, existed in the artistic consciousness. They didn’t make it better. They didn’t make it fresher. They made it their own. They gave us a reminder. Of what music is capable of. Isn’t that the point of it all?

Top 20 Songs of March 2014

Here’s my list of the songs I played and enjoyed most in March. It was a sensational month for new music.

20. Trust – Capitol

 

19. Babymetal – Gimme Chocolate

Thanks for the heads up on this one Marc. It was only a matter of time until someone culled together (K)-Pop and Metal.

 

18. Isle of Rhodes – Oceans

 

17. Lily Allen – Air Balloon

Immeasurably better than “Sheezus”.

 

16. Lykke Li – Love Me Like I’m Not Made of Stone

I love this tune, her voice, that she may be the Swedish Lady Gaga, or actually Lady Gaga (google it; the resemblance is uncanny).

 

15. Foals – Providence

Yes, “Providence” has been out for quite some time, and yes, it wasn’t an early favourite — nothing grabbed me quite like “My Number” and “Inhaler” did at first. But the more I listened to this tune, the more I loved it. There’s a chance it’s the best song from their Holy Fire album. The build-up is absolutely stunning.

 

14. Beyonce – XO

Another tune that’s been out for a little while. I listened to “XO” quite a bit in March, and it never got old. On the short list of best songs B has ever done.

 

13. Chvrches – Do I Wanna Know?

This is a thrilling cover. It’s wildly different that Arctic Monkeys’ original, which puts it in a different class from most covers that play things safe. It’s the best of the plethora of covers Chvrches have released in the past year or so, and I think it’ll go down as one of my favourite covers of 2014. Chvrches show no signs of letting their dominant pop grip go.

 

12. Maximo Park – Brain Cells

I gave several other songs on Maximo Park’s latest album more time than “Brain Cells”. It was a mistake to overlook it. It’s so, so slick, and I really dig it.

 

11. Allie X – Prime

Pop music in the mainstream is hit or miss these days, as you’re just as likely to find a banger as you are a boring, rote tune. Residing on the periphery of the mainstream, though, are a bunch of exciting artists and songs that are yearning to break through and collect more ears. “Prime” is one such tune.

 

10. For BDK – What I Must Find

“What I Must Find” is another such tune. Dark, thoughtful pop done extremely well.

 

9. Hedley – Crazy For You

Simply, I think this is the best song Hedley have ever done. It’s super slick and eminently catchy. It’s Hedley gone Chromeo, and the vibe works wonders for the band.

 

8. Lorde – Team

“Team” beat me down with repeated listens. I thought “400 Lux” should’ve been Lorde’s follow-up single to her massive “Royals”, but after being bludgeoned over the head with “Team”, I can see why it was chosen as a single. It’s a bit more radio friendly, sunnier, safer than the darker “400 Lux”. ‘Tis a business after all.

 

7. Rudimental f. Emeli Sande – Free

Emeli Sande carries this slow-burning, electro-pop-soul song to the heavens. It gets better and better and better with each listen.

 

6. Jon Hopkins – We Disappear

This song is several months old, and one that I enjoyed last year. Only recently, however, have I truly experienced the depth, beauty, and soul-rattling feeling of “We Disappear”. It’s a rare occurrence for electronic music, especially a song with no vocals, to be doused with such emotion, colour, and humanity. That “We Disappear” so starkly accomplishes these things is testament to its wonder, to Jon Hopkins’ skill.

 

5. Coldplay – Magic

“Magic” is my favourite Coldplay song in many moons. Frankly, I didn’t think they had this type of tune in them. I’m wondering if this sets up a new era for the band; “Magic” has left me very intrigued with how their forthcoming album will sound. I love absolutely everything about “Magic”. The minimalist production (for the first three quarters of the song), the subtle aural tricks , and most of all, Chris Martin’s vocal — his best effort in eons — are all fabulous. Everything is so compelling here, I don’t even care how or why they chose this trick. Seeing is believing, but sometimes, listening makes sight a moot point.

 

4. Future Islands – Fall From Grace/A Dream of You And Me

I could write a kajillion words on how much I love Future Islands, how I think their new album, Singles, is absolutely brilliant, about what they make me think and feel, about Sam T. Herring, about how they’ve ensnared a whole legion of new fans, but for now, I offer, simply, the music…

Fall From Grace:

I dare you to not be mesmerized by this performance. Friendly advice: stick around after “Fall From Grace” to hear one of the best songs they’ve ever released, “Inch Of Dust” (another live powerhouse).

A Dream Of You And Me:

 

3. Tove Lo – Habits

“Habits” was number 20 song in my Top Songs of January list. I’ve played it ad nauseam since then, and I’m completely and utterly smitten. “Habits” is a massive, gargantuan hit. It’ll go down as one of the best (pop) songs of 2014. Sweden strikes, yet again.

 

2. Sam Smith – Nirvana

“Nirvana” is a song from the latter half of 2013 that I found a couple months ago and threw in a playlist, not remotely knowing what I hand in my hands, what the song had in store for me. I think “Nirvana” is just perfect. The melody, musically and vocally, is beyond top-flight. The lyrics are simple and extremely powerful. And then there’s the real bread winner, Sam Smith’s haunting, immense, voice. It took a few listens, but once I’d really, actually, listened to “Nirvana”, I knew that the world had been gifted its next superstar singer. I’m not sure I’ll ever love another Sam Smith song like I love this one, but the wonderful thing is, I’m not pulling anything off the table with this guy. He has the talent to concoct an album-of-the-decade type of release. My interest has been piqued by the voice of this freak.

 

1. Future Islands – A Song For Our Grandfathers/Sun In The Morning/Back In The Tall Grass

A Song For Our Grandfathers:

What can I say? How about this… Amidst the stunning, jaw-dropping, bunch of tunes Future Islands have released over their four albums, “A Song For Our Grandfathers” could be their most important. It’s a slow-jam rife with emotion, an ode to family, to the yin yang of reflection and action. The ideas within are always and fundamental, of and for life. This is a pantheon track, not just for Future Islands, but for 21st Century music. This is not post-wave, dad-rock, synth-pop, or Indie. This is art. The best of it.

Sun In The Morning:

This tune is absolutely gorgeous. I don’t want to be reductive about it, but it’s great enough to be a wedding song. I think it may be bigger than that. It’s about love. It’s elemental.

Back In The Tall Grass:

I think “Back In The Tall Grass” is the most immediate, singlely (new word alert) song on album that’s called, and filled with, Singles. I heard it live a few months back for the first time, and it had me weak-kneed from the jump. There is no type of sound or style that Future Islands can’t do, no type of banger they can’t create with aplomb or a plum. Seriously, at this point, I’m not sure how they do it. But then again, when you’re the best band in the world, you should retain some sense of mystery about how you conjure your spells. It’s not my job to question, it’s my job to get down and dance.