It's quite nippy noodles out today which is one way of saying it is vair vair chilly and even my reiss polo neck cashmere wool sweater isn't keeping my nipples soft and flaccid. Which may be the biggest TMI this blog has ever witnessed so I will rapidly move on. I was talking about how marv the Live Lounge is over on the spinoff blog (it's no Frasier, but I'm hoping it's better than Joey) t'other day, when it got me to thinking, there have been some other mighty fine cover version floating around this very year. Just because artists can! Here are some of my 5 fave non-live loungey covers:
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~ G4-The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore: a b-side to some Mother's Day EP (what about gay sons day I once asked MamaZapping. "Every day is Gay Sons Day"she mysteriously yet sagely replied), it's a pop-operatic, vocally harmonised to within an inch of it's life cover version of The Walker Brothers classic. Quite morose, it works well under the bombastic production values here. And in my eyes and to my ears, every song G4 "re-interpret" is either sheer brilliance or inspired comedy lunacy. So you can't really lose…
~ Paolo Nutini-Daydream: Remember when Ani DiFranco recorded "Wishin and Hopin" for the "My Best Friends Wedding" soundtrack? No? sigh. Anyway, it was a million miles away from her "f*ck you and your untouchable face" style songs. Paolo's rather lovely meandering through Daydream isn't quite as shocking a departure from his normal style as that, but it does see him less growl-y than usual and brings a quite charming, innocent quality to the tune that almost makes it a predecessor to his bittersweet masterpiece, These Streets.
~ Jamelia-Take your Mama Out: Ok a bit of a cheat on this one as this was from a recent live lounge the lovely Jams did. (Sidebar: there are hundreds and hundreds of songs in the world, yet most recent live loungers have covered songs already done – in this case, The Zutons did this back in 05). Still, Jamelia is Britain's most exciting female solo singer at present so her cover of the Scissters classic is obviously a doozy. I still kinda wish she'd done the Veronica Mars theme tune though and dedicated it to Leona :)
~ Will Young-I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know: Ah, my lovely (and stroppy according to recent now evil Heat articles) William has done some stellar covers in his time and this, b-side to Heat Readers Single of the Year, All Time Love is one of his most serene. Classed as boring by Mama Zapping at the concert last year (she just wanted to throw her knickers onto the stage during Switch It On), it's a very relaxed, slow tempo ballad and William's voice is perfectly controlled with just the right amount of emotion. A perfect companion piece to ATL…
~ Maroon5-War Is Over: Thought I'd round up this little sesh with a festive fave of mine. Recorded last year for some Best Buy freebie, this kept me happy while I am still waiting for their bound to be brilliant sophomore album. A gorgeous piano version sees Adam's (RAR) voice at it's most vulnerable sounding and rather restrained. Resisting the temptation to go all out serves the tune well and it's a worthy addition to the M5 canon.
