Saint Etienne - Just Friends (Amy Winehouse Cover) (2012)

Amy Winehouse tune given 'Tiger Bay' reworking.

The original's spartan Stax-y treatment is replaced by a spartan folk-dub re-rub in the vein of Saint Etienne's classic 'Tiger Bay' album. Sarah Cracknell hasn't got Amy Winehouse's voice, obviously, but the clear, simple approach works well with acoustic guitar and vibes. Sweet.

Download Saint Etienne 'Just Friends' (Amy Winehouse cover, Back to Back to Black, mp3) (Divshare)

Smoke Fairies - She Sells Sanctuary (Co-Op/V2, 2012)

Arresting take on The Cult's classic.

Smoke Fairies' recent album is a delightful thing. Intertwining vocals recalling Fairport Convention and Sandy Denny, angular drums recalling something more Post Rock-y.

This shuffling, sweeping version of The Cult's 'She Sells Sanctuary' is available on a bonus CD (from all good independent stores, etc).

The Cribs - Back To Black (Amy Winehouse Cover) (Q Magazine, 2012)

Surprisingly good cover by The Cribs.

Opening with some 'Baby Love' xylophone augmented by angry-sounding guitar clang, The Cribs deliver a moody, desolate cover of Amy Winehouse's 'Back to Black' for music mag covermount.

Having never quite been taken in by The Cribs, this is a pleasant surprise. Phil Spector producing Babes In Toyland while Steve Albini abuses a guitar in the background.

Download The Cribs 'Back To Black' (Amy Winehouse cover mp3) (Divshare)

The Memory Band - Why? (Peacefrog, 2006)

Rustic re-setting of Chic's masterful songwriting

Chic's pneumatic Balearic classic songwriting and production for Carly Simon is a gem and deserves to be posted in its own right (maybe tomorrow...).

However, this rustic folk version reveals the genius of the original while creating a mood entirely of its own.

Download The Memory Band 'Why? (Carly Simon/Chic cover)' (Carly Simon, Chic, folk, mp3) (Divshare)

Afghan Whigs - My World Is Empty Without You (Sub Pop, 1991)

Jaw-dropping Motown cover.

Before turning their attention to 'Come See About Me', Afghan Whigs had dropped this frazzled, broken and pleading soul/grunge bomb.

The beat is a threatening rumble, the bass a low-slung metallic clang and Greg Dulli's vocal is one of tears and desolation. Periods of restraint and introversion are followed by the guitars cutting loose, creating a storm of emotional interference.

Splendid.

Download Afghan Whigs - My World Is Empty Without You (Motown, Sub Pop, mp3) (Divshare)

Neil Cowley Trio - Let's Go Away For A While (Beach Boys cover) (Mojo, 2012)

Yet another gem from the 'Pet Sounds Revisited' freebie.

It's obviously hard to ruin source material as amazing as 'Pet Sounds' but the Neil Cowley Trio turn this delicious instrumental into a gently post-rocking jazz masterpiece.

Waves of bright piano roll along over a twisty post-rock rhythm section, using the song's structure from some added tension-and-release dynamics.

Tasty.

Download Neil Cowley Trio - Let's Go Away For A While (Beach Boys cover, mp3 download, Mojo) (Divshare)

The Flaming Lips - God Only Knows (Beach Boys cover) (Mojo, 2012)

More delights from the Mojo 'Pet Sounds Revisited' tribute.

Fractured, radio-broadcasts-in-space version of one of the most beautiful songs/records ever made.

Wayne Coyne coos the song as he floats, untethered through space, watching Earth float away from him.

Download The Flaming Lips - God Only Knows (Beach Boys cover, mp3 download) (Divshare)

Saint Etienne - Wouldn't It Be Nice (Beach Boys Cover) (Mojo, 2012)

Lushly-vocalled tribute to The Beach Boys.

Opening with a long, lush acapella section, this is a cooler, less exultant take on 'Pet Sounds' opening track.

Sections of a layered choir of Sarah Cracknell are interspersed with gentle, dreamy dub pop sections - reminiscent of One Dove - that coo you to sleep before a burst based around what sounds like the Harpsichord Rock setting on their Casio.

Download Saint Etienne 'Wouldn't It Be Nice' (Beach Boys cover, mp3 download) (Divshare)

Cud - You Sexy Thing (Peel Session) (1987)

Lumpy seduction.

The Cud Band were something of an enigma, dealing around this time in a dragging, lumpy indie funk. They were soon to blossom into a period of gently whimsical, progressive lightness on the 'When In Rome, Kill Me' album. Possibly as they learnt to play their instruments.

Sounding like Stump's trendy younger brothers, they blarted out this Peel Session Hot Chocolate cover with only a passing nod to notions of tuning and timekeeping, spiralling into the sort of faster-faster-faster coda beloved of garage indie bands everywhere. Nice with it, though.

Download Cud - You Sexy Thing (Peel Session) (1987) (Divshare)

Memoryhouse - Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic (The Police go Shoegaze)

Classic Police chirpiness given Shoegaze makeover

Oddly, I was actually thinking of posting the original, which is a earworm that marries ponderous, slightly melancholy verses with a bright, sunsplash of a chorus. Bee-Oh-Oh.

Instead, I stumbled on this version that majors on the chord progression of the versions and maxes out the moodiness, remininscent of arch slowcorers Low. It rolls along on a massive reverbed-up semi-acoustic with rolling toms and sweet, simple female vocals, building with some plaintive organ and exploding into the chorus with a slapdash indie-rocking guitar before busting the old, backwards echo, mooding-up to a close.

Lovely stuff.

Download Memoryhouse - Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic (Police cover, Shoegaze mp3) (Divshare)

Acid Brass - Let's Get Brutal (Blast First, 1997)

Classic early House given a roughing up in West Yorkshire.

Oh, now this is special.

There's probably a whole dissertation online somewhere about the parallels between urban dance music pioneers in the 1980s and colliery employees in the 1930s. Or maybe not...

Whatever, the fusion works perfectly on the 'Acid Brass' album and rocks particularly hard on Nitro Deluxe's 'Let's Get Brutal'.

It breaks into life, low and brooding, with real, live handclaps that are a revelation of effective simplicity. Rolling toms and xylophone mark out a twilight zone where majorettes march out of t'pit, grime smeared across their faces, uniforms dirtied and torn. Then the melody comes in crisp and clear and you reach for the fluorescent lights.

NB. Please note that this post was published at 8:08 as a tribute to the pioneers of Acid House.

Download Acid Brass 'Let's Get Brutal' (Brass Band, Acid House, mp3) (Rapidshare)

Spiritualized - Why Don't You Smile Now? (Alternate Mix) (1990)

Gorgeously, mellifluous Velvet Underground cover from the 'Lazer Guided Melodies' era.

It's possible to view Spiritualized as something of a one-trick pony. They arrived fully-formed with their brand of blissed-out Gospel Blues Spacerock fantasia. It was present and correct from their earliest releases - like this Velvet Underground cover - and then refined the blueprint through a sequence of albums over the next twenty years.

This is beautiful though.

Download Spiritualized 'Why Don't You Smile Now? (Alt Mix)' (indie, alternative, Spiritualized mp3) (Box.net)

Trespassers Williams - Vapour Trail (Bella Union, 2003)

Languid version of the Ride shoegaze classic.

Now, let's be honest, it couldn't be better than the original. However, Trespassers William's slow, soft version of the closing track on Ride's perfect debut album is a joy.

The jangling, ringing guitars of the original are replaced with a steady piano line and yearning, male Shoegaze vocals are replaced with a blissed-out female take and heavenly backing vox. Beautiful.

Download Trespassers Williams 'Vapour Trail' (shoegaze mp3, Ride cover, mp3) (Mediafire)

Palace Songs - Winter Lady (Leonard Cohen Cover) (Mojo, 2012)

Leonard Cohen covered in the unique Palace style.

Mr Bonnie Prince Billy made this Leonard Cohen song his own on a 1994 Palace Songs EP. An almost drunken shuffle backs up his unique singing style sounding like a backroom band playing for the love it.

Download Palace Songs 'Winter Lady' (Mojo Presents Leonard Cohen Covered, mp3) (Rapidshare)

The Telescopes - Candy Says (Velvet Underground cover) (Imaginary, 1990)

Lovely, splindly but rolling version by The Telescopes.

Admittedly, it's not much of a stretch for The Telescopes to attempt a Velvet Underground cover but this works really well.

The moment the Shoegaze-y guitar solo bursts over the track is really nice, strafing off into the stratosphere after the strung-out stroll of the rest of the track.


Download The Telescopes 'Candy Says' (Velvet Underground cover, mp3) (Mediafire)

Diagrams - Famous Blue Raincoat (Leonard Cohen Cover) (Mojo, 2012)

The voice of Tunng takes on classic Leonard Cohen cover.

A swirling, dreamy, layered version of the Leonard Cohen classic, creating a Shoegazey fairground feel.

One of the stand-outs from the recent Mojo magazine covermount collection and a good taster for the Diagrams album that sees Tunng's Sam Genders re-emerge with a lovely album.

Download Diagrams 'Famous Blue Raincoat (Leonard Cohen Cover)' (Mojo Presents Leonard Cohen Covered, Diagrams mp3) (Mediafire)

Tahiti 80 - A Love From Outer Space (Tore Johansson Mix) (Atmosphériques, 2001)

AR Kane given a machine pop makeover. 

Tore Johansson, producer of The Cardigans and Saint Etienne's fantastic 'Good Humor' amongst other things, gave French indie poppers Tahiti 80 a machine-tooled, almost Ace of Base makeover on this AR Kane cover.

Some of the airy mystery of the original is lost but it's still has a beguiling, swirling romance and sounds like it was spun from pure sugar.

Download Tahiti 80 'A Love From Outer Space (Tore Johansson Mix)' (indie mp3) (Mediafire)

Kings Of Convenience - The Eternal (Joy Division Cover) (Source, 2001)

Papa M-ish Joy Division cover. Perkily morose, if that's possible.

Kings Of Convenience bring out the drum kit to add a level of procession to this Joy Division cover. It has the feel of David Pajo's Papa M material, acoustic-based country post-rock gothic balladry. Quite a narrow genre really so it's nice to hear someone else rising to the challenge...

The song is based around a springy, cubic acoustic guitar pattern that takes on the main riff, set against the crisp, pure vocal. The drums and rolling bass add structure and some beautiful reverbed and distorted guitar make burst into life and make it a truly great cover. Sacrilege or otherwise.

Download Kings Of Convenience 'The Eternal (Joy Division Cover)' (indie, acoustic, mp3) (Badongo)

Mixtape - This Mortal Coil Original Versions

Top quality collection of tracks that were reborn across This Mortal Coil's classic albums.

Having recently forked for the ridiculously beautiful This Mortal Coil boxset (beautiful except for the price, actually) I've been reminded what a wonderful thing This Mortal Coil was. A combination of exquisite covers and original material, TMC leads the listener to some great albums from Gene Clark, Big Star, The Byrds, Chris Bell and, more recently, Gary Ogan and Bill Lamb.

It's inspired me to collect together some of the This Mortal Coil original versions into a mix. And quite a mix it is too.

Melancholy Country, psychedlic-tinged Folk Rock, decimated post-Powerpop melancholy and New Wave. All these were put through the TMC mixer and assimilated into Ivo Watts-Russell's vision (with the help of John Fryer and a cast of diverse musicians, of course). As a consequence, it's sometimes quite a shock to hear the originals which can be somewhat less ethereral. All these songs are beautiful though.

Enjoy.

'This Mortal Coil Original Versions - A Mixtape' tracklist:
1. Song To The Siren / Tim Buckley
2. Alone On Piano / Colin Newman
3. The Jeweller / Pearls Before Swine
4. I Am The Cosmos / Chris Bell
5. Strength Of Strings / Gene Clark
6. Drugs / Talking Heads
7. You And Your Sister / Chris Bell
8. With Tomorrow / Gene Clark
9. I Must Have Been Blind / Tim Buckley
10. Holocaust / Big Star
11. Kangaroo / Big Star
12. Til I Gain Control Again / Emmylou Harris
13. I Come And Stand At Every Door / The Byrds
14. Help Me Lift You Up / Mary Margaret O'Hara
15. Morning Glory / Tim Buckley
16. I Wanna Live / Gary Ogan & Bill Lamb

This Mortal Coil - The Inspirations by Occasional Rain on Mixcloud

Kings Of Convenience - Manhattan Skyline (A-ha Cover) (Source, 2001)

Great cover of the A-ha song in the sweet, intimate KoC style.

I re-discovered this when going through a box of CD singles in the loft over Christmas. Aside from being brilliant in their own songwriting, Kings Of Convenience did a nice line in b-side covers. More will surely appear here over the next few weeks...

I have to confess to loving the A-ha original - a guilty pleasure maybe, but great minor key pop nonetheless.

The interlinking of guitars and harmonies that Kings Of Convenience achieve is incredible. It's like they're whispering in your ear, so close and gentle is it. They turn the crunchy frustration of the original into a wistful soliloquy, drifting gently on the breeze.

Download Kings Of Convenience 'Manhattan Skyline (A-ha Cover)' (indie, acoustic, mp3) (Mediafire)