Best covers by indie/alt artists

estariol

After reading the Placebo/Kate Bush - running up that hill thread, thought it might be interesting to hear what other cover versions people have heard, (probably best to limit it to released recordings and not include live shows) and to see what the consensus regarding better/worse than the original.

indiewindy

Cold as Ice (foriegner) covered by sebadoh would be one of my top coversThe flaming lips can't get you out of my head was pretty good too

iFight

Jeff Buckley- Hallejujah
Jose Gonzalez- Heartbeats

Creamy Goodness

anything touched by biffy clyro they may not be the best sounding covers ever, but at least they make the song different and make it sound like their own.

and to me that's what makes a good cover.

John

More of an indie song being covered by another type of artist but there's an electronic version of "There is a Light..." by The Smiths called "The Light 3000" by Schneider TM and it is one of the best covers I've heard ever.

Mr Marenghi

Kings of Convenience - free falling

estariol

recommend the smiths is dead......a great cover alnum......or maybe where is my mind the pixies tribute album.

bogmanfan

I've got a huge soft spot for Ben Folds Five's version of She Don't Use Jelly and Cap'n Jazz's version of Take On Me by A-Ha

Nimrod's Son

estariol wrote:

or maybe where is my mind the pixies tribute album.

Gotta love Reel Big Fish's version of Gigantic!.. Actually, Pixies cover of Warren Zevon's 'Ain't That Pretty At All' from last year is deadly.

flynnduism

dinosaur jr - just like heaven (cure cover, big wall of guitar noise added)

pavement - the killing moon (echo & the bunnymen cover, strung out vocals and great jams throughout the song)

cake - i will survive (gloria gaynor cover, a very danceable jivetastic version where they rework the song into an entirely different structure)

jimi hendrix - all along the watchtower (bob dylan cover, a complete overhaul of the original, one of hendrix's finest)

josé gonzalez - heartbeats (the knife, as mentioned by iFight - a great stripped down version of the electronic original)

John

Actually, just seeing Pavement mentioned, I love Tindersticks' cover of "Here". The original is probably my favourite Pavement song but Tindersticks own it in my ears.

Serbian

I think this cover of Hey Ya by Outkast is excellent:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-8nkkOA_AM&eurl=

iFight

Serbian wrote:

I think this cover of Hey Ya by Outkast is excellent:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-8nkkOA_AM&eurl=

Been looking for that for ages, i saw it a while ago but the site moved

Great cover

Creamy Goodness

isn't the outkast version a cover aswell, i heard they didn't write it. trying to google it but coming up with nothing.

JC 2K3

Good Golly Miss Molly by Meat Puppets(Originally Little Richard)

listen to it live here

iFight

Cremo wrote:

isn't the outkast version a cover aswell, i heard they didn't write it. trying to google it but coming up with nothing.

I think it is their own, well Andre 3000's.

oceansize

Biffy Clyro - Take Me Out (Franz ferdinand cover. The word awesome isn't good enough for the it)

Biffy Clyro - Go your own way (Fleetwood mac, again mind blowing)

Xavi6

Muse - Can't Take My Eyes Off You

Fantastic song and Muse add their touch to it to make it even better.

Creamy Goodness

forgot to add

the futureheads - hounds of love
oceansize - walking in the air

estariol

flynnduism wrote:

dinosaur jr - just like heaven (cure cover, big wall of guitar noise added)

pavement - the killing moon (echo & the bunnymen cover, strung out vocals and great jams throughout the song)

cake - i will survive (gloria gaynor cover, a very danceable jivetastic version where they rework the song into an entirely different structure)

jimi hendrix - all along the watchtower (bob dylan cover, a complete overhaul of the original, one of hendrix's finest)

josé gonzalez - heartbeats (the knife, as mentioned by iFight - a great stripped down version of the electronic original)

aahhh man where can i get the bunnynen cover......

idlesupernova

MY Generation by Oasis, B-Side to Little By Little/She Is Love single from 2002. Liams vocals are mindblowing the jam at the end is awesome.

estariol

was thinking maybe posters could include where to get the tracks they tout....

pig on the wing

dave matthews - in my life (beatles)

treefingers

beck - everybody's gotta learn sometime

walrusgumble

idlesupernova wrote:

MY Generation by Oasis, B-Side to Little By Little/She Is Love single from 2002. Liams vocals are mindblowing the jam at the end is awesome.

here here, that song would have suited the boys when they were public enemy no 1 in the mid 90's

also check out oasis's version of the beatles song i am the walrus. mike flower's version of wonderwall is shamingly catchy.if your looking for a good jam at an end of a cover try out oasis/paul weller's version of th beatles day tripper.

some scottish band did a decent rock version of christine agularia's genie in a bottle. it got as far as no 11 in the uk charts.

slowhands

X.T.C's take on all along the watchtower,is pretty cool.
Ben Folds version of the postal service's such great heights.

flynnduism

estariol wrote:

aahhh man where can i get the bunnynen cover......

it was released on their Major Leagues EP

you can hear a preview of the song on Amazon and on the covers project.

DerekD Goldfish

Big black's cover of The Model by kraftwerk is deserving of a mention

pig on the wing

slowhands wrote:

X.T.C's take on all along the watchtower,is pretty cool.
Ben Folds version of the postal service's such great heights.

mentioning ben folds in a thread about cover versions automatically requires you to mention bitches ain't shit. please keep that in mind in the future

Colonel Kurtz

Johnny Cash - Hurt

Makaveli

Cremo wrote:

isn't the outkast version a cover aswell, i heard they didn't write it. trying to google it but coming up with nothing.

Andre Benjamin (Andre 3000) wrote it. I think he may have written the music himself too.

ZappaFrank

Here's sme you should check out
Bitches ain't **** - Ben Folds - orginal by Dr Dre
He Wants too Move - Vyvienne Long - orginal by Pharrell Williams
Stairway to Heaven - Frank Zappa - Zepplin. Zappa does the guitar solo with a Horn Section!
Roses - Hayseed Dixie - Outkast
Haunt Me - David kitt - Sade

loyatemu

Lambchop's cover of Curtis Mayfield's "Give me your love" is pretty cool
also
Saint Etienne doing "Only love can break your heart" (originally Neil Young).

selpher

Supergrass cover of the Smiths some girls are bigger than others.
Smashing pumpkins - landslide

funktastic

Galaxie 500 - 'Ceremony' (Joy Division), 'Listen the Snow is Falling' (Yoko Ono)

'You've Really got A Hold on me' (The Beatles, 'With the Beatles')

Decent version of 'Heroes' by Bowie on the 'D'you Know What I Mean' single by Oasis with Noel doing vocals.

REM 'Crazy' (Pylon) and 'Dream (All I Have To Do)' Everly Brothers - Clip - http://youtube.com/watch?v=3wCe244n6Xo and 'Moon river' into 'Pretty Persuasion' The merge is great- which is here - http://youtube.com/watch?v=lnhthxTrlSE

Ride covering the Pale Saints 'Sight of You' (on 'Waves' BBC recordings compilation)

Nirvana "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" (Leadbelly)

Rolling Stones covering 'Not Fade Away' (Buddy Holly)

****, overrated band but an imaginative cover - The Doors 'Alabama Song (Whisky Bar')

'Everlasting Love' - U2 covering Robert Knight

enda1

The Dan Band - Total Eclipse of the Heart

Kingsize

Sonic youth's Version of Beat on the Brat.

The Slits Heard it it through the Grapevine.

SligoBrewer

the arctic monkeys - love machine....

brilliant!!!

MadsL

A few eighties classics reworked

Sonic Youth - Like a Virgin
Sonic Youth - Ca Plane Pour Moi
Tori Amos - I'm on Fire
Gwen Stephani - Come on Eileen (not exactly indie but I love it)

JC 2K3

MadsL wrote:

Sonic Youth - Like a Virgin

!
I must hear this!

idlesupernova

walrusgumble wrote:

here here, that song would have suited the boys when they were public enemy no 1 in the mid 90's

also check out oasis's version of the beatles song i am the walrus. mike flower's version of wonderwall is shamingly catchy.if your looking for a good jam at an end of a cover try out oasis/paul weller's version of th beatles day tripper.

some scottish band did a decent rock version of christine agularia's genie in a bottle. it got as far as no 11 in the uk charts.

more Oasis cover's 'Need Your Love' Noel live with Burt Bacharach
Helter Skelter, Hey Hey My My by Neil Young Both Sung By Noel
Carnation by The Jam Sung By Liam with Steve Craddock From Ocean Color Scene

Strawberry Fields Forever - Noel
To Be Someone Jam cover sung by Noel

Heres a youtube vid of Liam doing Carnation great vox


http://youtube.com/watch?v=f_VQ5EvvURg

melekalikimaka

nina gordon - straight outta compton

doonothing

ben folds five - bitches aint **** (dr dre)

amazing!

Sam Hain

Flaming lips version of raindrops keep falling on my head by burt bacharach

John

JC 2K3 wrote:

!
I must hear this!

I know they've covered Madonna on the Ciccone Youth album but they didn't do "Like a Virgin"

catch--22

Has anyone heard the cover of Radiohead's "Just" by Mark Ronson? It featured on "Exit Music: Songs for Radio Heads"....not a great album of Radiohead covers by any standard but this one track was brilliant! He's got a great vocal and a wonderful brass section! I believe the video is up on youtube somewhere...shouldn't be too hard to find! Really good cover!

fourmations

hi all

radiohead: nobody does it better
(cant believe it wasnt mentioned ,class!)

i have heard that mark ronson just remix
it is really cool all right,

agree on futureheads, hounds of love
its a brilliant version and truly "their own"

jeff buckley: lilac wine, hallelujah, kick out the jams
what would you say, je ne reconnias.. (the sin-e french song)

dinosaur jr: quicksand (bowie cover)

the smiths: golden lights

head blurs after that

rgds

4

Andy-Pandy

Bonnie 'Prince' Billie And Tortoise's version of Thunder road by Springsteen Rocks.

Gary Numan

Happy Mondays - Step On
The Bad Plus - Smells Like Teen Sprit
Gary Numan - On Broadway

mr_angry

"Wuthering Heights", as covered by China Drum. Best cover ever, in my opinion.

Daemonic

Aztec Camera's cover of Van Halens Jump is a great version.