Worship & Tribute: A Covers Mix

Download it here and follow along.


1. John Cale - All My Friends [LCD Soundsystem]
I imagine that when members of the Velvet Underground are covering your songs, you've probably "made it."
2. Los Campesinos! - C Is the Heavenly Option [Heavenly]
Classic twee-pop song about girly magazine quizzes from Heavenly and Calvin Johnson updated (and gender-fucked) by your favorite Welsh septet.
3. Jacob Borshard - Kokomo [The Beach Boys]
Is it weird that I feel a strong undercurrent of sex in this dude's ukulele music? I'm not imaging that, right?
4. Yo La Tengo - Speeding Motorcycle [Daniel Johnston]
This project made me realize how many Danny J covers I have on my computer. Also: I have more than once considered getting a tattoo of Daniel's art of this song/lyrics. I will not do that. But I've thought about it.
5. Jens Lekman - You Can Call Me Al [Paul Simon]
Anyone who saw Mr. Lekman on his "Night Falls Over Kortedala" tour knows how rad this part was. (And we also enjoyed dancing to Janet Jackson in an near-empty Troubadour after the show was over. Thanks, DJ Viktor!)
6. Jonathan Richman - The Origin of Love (Reprise) [Hedwig & The Angry Inch]
I was concerned that Anam wouldn't put Hedwig on a mix for the third month in a row, so I did my best to make sure we were covered. GET IT?! COVERED!! (P.S. Thanks to Aiko for using this song to get me into J-Rich).
7. Man Man - I'd Rather Go Blind [Etta James]
Weirdo doowop.
8. The Polyphonic Spree - Five Years [David Bowie]
I figure there are two types of great covers. One where the band recontextualizes the song in their own style and makes it exciting and new, and the other is when a band finds a song that isn't a BIG POPULAR HIT that already fits their style. I think this track falls under "option two."
9. The Fall - Victoria [The Kinks]
I'll bet Mark E. Smith is unpleasant to be around.
10. The Feelies - Everybody's Got Something To Hide (Except for Me and My Monkey) [The Beatles]
Jitter-pop. GO!
11. Devo - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction [The Rolling Stones]
Mutant nerd-pop. GO!
12. Dinosaur Jr. - Just Like Heaven [The Cure]
Seriously. How good is this song? (Sidenote: Yeah. It really ends like that. Yeah. It's kind of annoying.)
13. Lou Reed - This Magic Moment [The Drifters]
Thanks, David Lynch. This song is good for what you do.
14. Stephen Malkmus & The Million Dollar Bashers - Maggie's Farm [Bob Dylan]
Do you have any idea how hard it was to limit myself to ONE Bob Dylan song on this fucking mix?
15. The Mountain Goats - The Sign [Ace of Base]
In the liner notes for the album on which this song appears, it says "All songs written by John Darnielle except 'The Sign' which was written by God and given to Ace of Base."
16. High Places - The Modern Things [Björk]
This little ditty is from Stereogum's "Enjoyed: A Tribute to Björk's 'Post'" which can be downloaded here.
17. Parenthetical Girls - Handsome Devil [The Smiths]
A) Sorry for the sound quality on this one, it's off a 7". B) Sorry for the weird sore-thumb sticking this song is on the mix, but I'm hoping that Zac Pennington would make out with me if I put it on here. Dude makes me feel deeply sexually confused.
18. !!! - Get Up [Nate Dogg]
I used to go to the same optometrist as Nate Dogg.
19. Spiritualized - Oh Happy Day [Traditional]
I really like songs about Jesus. What are you gonna do about it?

Bonus beats:
Built to Spill - Freebird [Lynyrd Skynyrd]
Built to Spill - Cortez the Killer [Neil Young]
I dig both of those covers, but considering that Neil Young cover is 20 minutes, it wouldn't really fit on a one-CD mix, now would it?