Cover Me

* I am still "She of the Sluggish Internet" thus, zipping impossible, and individual links abound.*

Full Mix here (if you want all of them at once, just check all, and click "bulk download" from the sidebar- it's almost like it was in a zip file, I swear!)

For the record, I totally was going to shamelessly include the Hedwig cover but since Kyle saved me from it, I've decided to omit it from my own list. (But since the Richman cover itself is from a charity album, I feel obligated to link you to where you can purchase it, ya know if you're ever so inclined.)

1.) Metric- Don't Think Twice, It's Alright

2.) The Magic Numbers- Crazy in Love: Is it wrong for me to think Beyonce has some good messages?

3.) Klaxons- No Diggity: I'll admit it- I do like the way you work it. Carry on.

4.) Of Montreal- Jimmy: This might be one of those covers that I actually like better than the original. Though I love that M.I.A. can get throngs of Western kids to sing along "Jimmy Aja,*" the Of Montreal version really pushes it up a notch. From the introductory "Ahhhs" to the cheesy Casio-keyboard sounding instrumental arrangement, this version manages to embody a lot of the same notes in terms of Bollywood kitsch, while capturing the longing in the lyrics. Can't you just imagine some foreign lounge singers belting out a version like this? Or it being the sex music of choice for some Eastern Bloc gangsters?

*Oh and if you're wondering, it means "Jimmy, come."

5.) Goldspot- Float On

6.) Jeff Buckley- Yeh Jo Halka Halka Saroor Hae: Before it became synonymous with all-things-terrible, Pakistan enjoyed a prominent, (albeit brief) period of awesomeness when for some reason, 90s musicians really took a liking to the devotional music of Sufi mysticism called Qawaali. Mostly in the form of the music of an artist named Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Suddenly he was popping up on soundtracks for movies like Natural Born Killers, was totally BFF with Susan Sarandon, and having Jeff Buckley declare "Nusrat is my Elvis." Pretty bad ass right? Oh whither has destiny taken us?

7.) Xiu Xiu- Fast Car: File this under songs that make me want to kill myself, (in a good way.)

8) Joan Jett and the Blackhearts- Crimson and Clover: I love that this is a surprisingly faithful rendition of the 1960s original. It sounds like something you might hear played at some retro prom, (that is if all proms weren't by definition lame. So more like something you'd hear at a dance party were all the music is stuff you actually like to hear, and any and all meatheads are relagated to some cage in the back where they can listen to their favorite Jock Jamz).

9.)Opium Jukebox- You Spin Me Right Round: I actually had a tough time picking a song from this artist. Each of their "re-imaginings" of popular tunes cover a range of sounds, from hyper distorted industrial feels to sitar-heavy hippy trips. In the end I chose this one because it takes a light-hearted 80s dance jam and turns it into something a bit more sinister and foreign.

10.) José González- Heartbeats: It seriously took me a really long time to make a connection between the soft acoustic ballad in that one beautifully composed Sony Bravia commercial, (you remember the one, with the colorful rubber balls bouncing all through the streets of San Francisco), with the Knife's synth spectacular original. "Oh wait, this is that song?" Regardless, connection made, and I love this quieter take on the ditty.

11.) Violent Femmes- Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?: This makes me lolz. Especially the addition of nonesense lyrics, sung in the same pitiful begging tone of course- "In my mind my memory's burning/ What's your favorite color of your favorite car?"

12.) Radiohead- Sunday Bloody Sunday

13.) Johnny Cash- Hurt: Just like the Of Montreal selection above, I think my favorite cover songs are the ones where the artist manages to completely rework the original in a context that makes it uniquely their own. While on the surface NIN seems like an odd choice for the Man in Black, anyone listening to this rendition can see it shouldn't be any other way.

14.) Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers I Only Have Eyes for You (The Flamingos):

Bonus:

15.) Golimar, i.e. "Indian Thriller": You're welcome.