Track of the Day: 'Love' (Kendrick Lamar cover) by Gengahr

Today is the hardest day of Coronavirus lockdown so far for me. By now I should already have my Glastonbury wristband on and be in Pylon Field setting up camp. The first two days would then be spent exploring the site, seeing what was new, and catching the smaller bands before the big stuff kicks off on Friday. Kendrick Lamar was due to headline Friday night and was definitely going to be in the pit for that one *sad face*.

By way of some slight compensation Gengahr have given us this great cover of Lamar's 'Love', which is great for listening too in the sunshine while trying to to cry too much.

Here's to Glastonbury 2021 - only 365 days to go!

Christmas Rave of the Day: 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Airhorn' by Slugabed

What's better than an old-style Christmas carol? An old-style Christmas carol with beats and airhorn - that's what. Available as a free download, this is guaranteed to put the wind up your grandma over Christmas dinner.

Christmas Rave of the Day: 'Litmas' by Akira The Don

The festive season is upon us which means that, amongst the frenzy to get the Christmas no. 1, all sorts of people bring out all sorts of Christmas songs. Today's selection is a four track EP from LA's Akira The Don, which brings some warmth to the cool Christmas vibe. My personal favourite of these is his version of 'A Spaceman Came Traveling', which always had a good tune but thankfully is now devoid of the wailings of Irish short arse Chris de Burgh. Have a listen and grab yourself a copy below.

Surprising cover version of the day - The Hackney Colliery Band do David Bowie

There'll probably be a lot of Bowie cover versions over the coming months. This week alone Greg Dulli has released his version of 'Modern Love' (you can get that here) and rumours have emerged of a certain Mr K West planning an album's worth of covers (which could be genius). But you'll have to go a long way to find one that celebrates the life of the former David Jones with as much fun and enjoyment as this. Ironically they were planning to put this out to celebrate the release of 'Blackstar', but instead it's become a way to celebrate his whole life. This would've sounded great at that street parade Arcade Fire arranged in New York for Bowie this week.

Anyway, play it & download it - it's free in return for a donation to Cancer Research UK or Macmillan Cancer Support.

Video of the Day: 'Heard 'Em Say (Kanye West Cover)' by Loyle Carner

Check out this extremely laid-back cover of the Yeezy classic from my boy Loyle Carner. He puts his own spin on the lyrics over a stripped-bare piano accompaniment and a well-sung chorus. The track was recorded for Radio 1's Piano Sessions in London yesterday.

If you want to check Loyle out live you can catch him at Village Underground in London on February 16th next year - get your tickers here.

Recommended music: '1989' by Ryan Adams

Could this be the record Ryan Adams has secretly longed to make all of these years? Quite possibly - listen to not only how relaxed he sounds, and how much fun he's having on some of the tracks, but also how heartfelt they are too. Hear him strip himself bare on 'Blank Space', and then immediately follow that up with the widescreen road-trip rock of 'Style', and you'll realise that although he's pretty much doing this for his own enjoyment, that's a lot here for the rest of us to enjoy too.

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If you're not familiar with Swift's original material (and there are many who aren't, or at least won't admit to being) then you might be hard pressed to say whether some songs were hers or his. Even when you get to one of the biggest and most recognisable hits of the past decade 'Shake It Off' there are fair few bars at the beginning where you might not recognise it, and in fact it sounds more than a bit like 'I'm On Fire' by Bruce Springsteen.

If the lush, string laden version of 'Out Of The Woods' doesn't touch you then you really don't deserve to be alive. 'Wildest Dreams' is one that now sounds like a proper Americana track, ending with some gorgeous Byrds-esque guitar. But that's topped by the guitar on the outro to 'Clean' though, which sounds like a Smiths-era Johnny Marr has wandered into the studio to make his presence felt.

Meanwhile, in Ryan's hands, 'How You Get The Girl' sounds like the reminiscences of someone who tried many times to get the girl but failed miserably.

Am I praising him too much? Fair enough, he didn't write the melodies but there's such a skill in doing what he's done, taking them and shaping them to fit a different genre. In doing so he's undoubtedly opened them up to a whole new audience, while at the same time proving just what great songs they are.

This could've been the grandest of follies, self-indulgent and pretentious. Instead it's a huge success, and a credit to both Adams and Taylor Swift herself. Now, when can we expect her to return the favour?

Surprising cover version of the day - Ewan McGregor does Catfish and The Bottlemen

Because it's Friday afternoon I'm feeling a bit more accepting and relaxed of stuff I might not normally like, and so I give you this. McGregor was recently in the official video for 'Hourglass' and now there's footage of him doing an acoustic cover of the song for you to contend with. He fits the role of an acoustic troubadour pretty well actually, playing the guitar, clearing his throat and slightly fucking up the last verse - in another world I reckon he'd have made a pretty good frontman for an indie band.

Here's the video.

Free mixtape - 2014's best cover versions

As you'll know if you're a regular reader, I do love a good cover version. Here's my pick of the five best from this year, with a wide range of acts covered there should be something in here to please you. They're all fairly downbeat and melancholy versions, so if you need a quite moment away from the world then this is the mix for you. Just right click on the cover below to download the mix

1. Hamilton Leithauser - All Or Nothing At All (Frank Sinatra cover)
2. Halls - The Greatest (Cat Power cover)
3. Maxïmo Park - Fade Into You (Mazzy Star cover)
4. Ásgeir - Heart-Shaped Box (Nirvana cover)
5. Todd Terje - Johnny and Mary (feat. Bryan Ferry) (Robert Palmer cover)

Here's the link again.

Cover version of the Day: 'Your Woman' by Token

The fact that this track, originally performed by White Town, is often called a 'lost classic' doesn't seem to stop it regularly being covered or sampled, hinting at the fact that a lot more people know about it than the hipsters would have you believe. This latest cover comes from Anne Douris a.k.a. Token, and is a follow up to her debut track 'Meteor' which came out a couple of months ago. I particularly like the bit 2 minutes and 45 seconds in where she picks up the riff from the original track before casually tossing it aside.

You can hear the track below and get it from Bandcamp on a 'pay what you like' deal.

Cover version of the Day: 'Tusk' by The Crystal Ark

Anyone who's ever got me talking on the subject of Fleetwood Mac will know that at best there's probably only 2 songs of theirs that I'll tolerate (for me, if the words 'Fleetwood Mac' aren't preceded by 'Peter Green's' then I don't really want to know). Fortunately 'Tusk' is one of the ones that I like, and on this new version Gavin Russom's The Crystal Ark succeed in making it sound like a completely contemporary song. It could absolutely be a new track by someone on DFA Records or similar - it's dark, weirdly danceable and engrossing stuff.



The track is from a new Fleetwood Mac covers album which also features the likes of The Kills, St Vincent, Lykke Li and many more, and is released on or around August 14th, depending where you live.

Track of the Day: 'Tugboat (Galaxie 500 cover)' by Meursault

This track is taken from the new album by Scottis indie mearchants Meursault, 'The Organ Grinder's Monkey', which has just been released on Song, By Toad records. The record was put together using crowd-funding, with money being raised for the specific purpose of funding a trip to this year's SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. As part of the process, those who pledged for the album were able to vote for 5 of the songs that would be included on the record, and one of the winners was this Galaxie 500 cover, which was duly included. The recording process started on 1st February and the whole things is now mixed, mastered, printed and packaged - not a bad work rate! It's a great cover too, well played and with just the right amount of emotion. You can listen and download the track below.

Surprising cover version of the day - Vancouver Sleep Clinic do Drake

This great cover comes by way of Vancouver Sleep Clinic, who I wrote about at the end of last year (see article here) and GXNXVS, who I know absolutely fuck-all about - I don't even have a clue how you'd pronounce their name. Anyway, between them they've produced this first-rate cover of the Drake song 'Hold On We're Going Home', which you can listen to below

New music: 'Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye' (Leonard Cohen cover) by Cloud

A nice little freebie for your Saturday morning, courtesy of Tyler Taormina (Cloud), the creator of one of my favourite albums of the year (see my review of 'Comfort Songs' here). It's a great version of one of Cohen's best-known tracks, with Tyler managing to inject some brittle emotion into the track - he really does sound like he's been badly wronged by someone.

You can listen to the track or download it below.

Surprising cover version of the day - Iceage do Sinead O'Connor

For their new 7", Danish punk miserablists Iceage have recorded a couple of cover versions, of which this is the choice cut. Full of swaggering menace, it owes more to Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds than Ms. O'Connor, endowing 'Jackie' with a sense of venom and creating a powerful, brooding track. You can pre-order the single here.

Surprising cover version of the day - Drenge do Arcade Fire

Either this is a weird case of synchronicity, or there's an international conspiracy afoot to flood the world with Arcade Fire covers. Exactly a month to the day after Tears For Fears posted their cover of 'Ready To Start' (see article here) Drenge have done the same thing, even covering the same song! The duo's version was recorded for Radio 1, and you can here it below. They certainly bring a bit more menace and aggression to the track than the wimpy Canadians do (in case you hadn't guessed, I'm not normally a fan of Arcade Fire, although I might have to revise that opinion now that James Murphy is producing them). See what you make of the track below.

Surprising cover version of the day - Tears For Fears do Arcade Fire

So I'm guessing quite a lot of younger readers might not even know who Tears For Fears are, but they were pretty massive back in the late 80s and early 90s. Apparently they're working on a new album but have decided to put this out in response to a number of cover versions and samples of their songs that have appeared recently.

If the choice of cover is surprising, then the way they perform it is even more so - electronic dance, with more than a touch of Hot Chip, and it's only when Roland Orzabal sings "now I'm ready to start" that you can hear echoes of the past. All in all a pretty good version, and one that hints at a very interesting return for the band.

Track of the Day: 'Disease Of Conceit (Bob Dylan cover)' by New Build

5 reasons why this is today's track of the day:

1. I love a good cover version
2. As well as entertaining you, it will educate you as well (see the description on the Soundcloud page about why New Build have put this out e.g politicians destroying the NHS)
3. The guitar reminds me of Dire Straits (in a good way)
4. It also reminds me of Leonard Cohen, for no specific reason
5. It's free to download

Grab it here:

Choice cuts #9 2013

DJ Cull's Choice Cuts #9 by Dj Cull on Mixcloud

Another selection of ten top tunes for you to listen to. Just click on the play button above to listen, here are the track details:

1. Vondelpark - California Analog Dream - from the new album 'Seabed'
2. Blaenavon - Denim Patches - click here for details
3. Zomes - Cave Mountain Stream - free download here
4. Junip - Your Life, Your Call - free download here
5. Small Black - Free At Dawn 
6. The Cyclist - Mangel - details here
7. Anika - I Go To Sleep - details here
8. Tessela - Hackney Parrot
9. Mount Kimbie - Made To Stray - free download here
10. James Holden - Gone Feral - free download here

Video of the Day: 'Sound and Vision' (David Bowie cover) by Beck

OK, so he made if for a car advert but still, respect to Beck for taking the corporate dollar and using it to make something creative, startling and brilliant. With his seemingly umlimited budget he recruited a 157-piece orchestra to dismantle, remodel and reassemble the Bowie classic into something slightly unhinged but ultimately beautiful. Almost makes you wish for a whole album of covers from him...

Free mixtape - 12 x 12 #6 - the cover versions

The week of mixtape giveaways comes to an end with this - my selection of the best cover versions to have come out this year. While some of these might not be surprising - Patti Smith covering Neil Young say, or Lana Del Rey doing Blue Velvet - there are some really unusual covers here. Who'd have thought that 2012 would see The Afghan Whigs covering Frank Ocean, or Oberhofer channelling Kanye West? The mix ends with a frankly astonishing version of The Low Anthem's Charlie Darwin by Tom Jones which proves that there's still life in the old dog yet. Just click on the mixtape above to listen to it, or right click to download it. Here's the tracklisting:

1. Chromatics - Into The Black (Neil Young cover)
2. Oberhofer - Runaway (Kanye West cover)
3. The Afghan Whigs - Lovecrimes (Frank Ocean cover)
4. The Rosebuds - No Ordinary Love (Sade cover)
5. Chet Faker - No Diggity (Blackstreet cover)
6. Gang Colours - Fill Me In (Craig David cover)
7. Sufjan Stevens - Alphabet Street (Prince cover)
8. Prince Fatty - Got Your Money (Ol' Dirty Bastard cover)
9. Hackney Colliery Band - Jericho / Out Of Space / No Good (Prodigy covers)
10. Lana Del Rey - Blue Velvet (Bobby Vinton cover)
11. Patti Smith - After The Goldrush (Neil Young cover)
12. Tom Jones - Charlie Darwin (The Low Anthem cover)