An introduction:

Hello everybody and welcome to the new weekly segment here on MusicGoat.com. Covering a wide variety of music stylings by the modern cover artist.

But first let me introduce myself. My name is Oliver Barker and like any other driven teenager lounging around and doing nothing i am passionate for music. I grew up loving band’s like My Chemical Romance, 30 Second’s To Mars and now as my music tastes have expanded i find myself loving band’s such as Placebo and Muse.

A particular kind of music has been a developing interest for me for the last few years and that is the “Cover Artist”. The beginning of this interest came from the first time that i heard Muse’s “Feeling Good” a completely different take of an old classic.

From that moment on, the way that i listened and felt about that song had changed. The same lyrics played and sang differently can change the meaning of a song from that of Joy and illation to angst and misery.

Over the coming week’s i will talk about various topics of the cover artist from popular hit’s you didn’t know weren’t the bands own song, to rising star’s to check out before they make the big time.

This week’s topic is the: BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge.

The Live Lounge is a mid morning program that in the past was presented by the lovable Jo Wiley, unfortunately now a days it is hosted by Verne Cotten. As irritating as she is the music that is aired is alway’s something of interest. The show is based around big artists that are currently in the charts coming and and playing one of their own songs acoustically with is always followed by a cover of another artist.

As i am sure that you can guess this alway’s makes for a interesting result’s. The mix of acoustic vocal’s and live music is always phenomenal and artist’s always put out a great performance. However the song’s that a covered make for mixed result’s.

The Big Hit:

Haley William’s cover of “Use Somebody” was a massive hit and took the internet by storm:

The Flop:

Cheryl Tweedy’s cover of “Fire Flies” by Owl City was somewhat to be desired as her live vocals were lack luster and unimpressive:

I hope that i have given you a brief insight into the world of cover artistry and have opened your mind to the endless possibilities. Why not go and check out some of the live lounge covers and let me know witch one is your favorite?

Next Week: The Rising Cover Artist Of 2010

Until Then: I’m Ollie. Check Ya Later

Why not come check my other blog at: http://thekfm.blogspot.com

Rythms Del Mundo - Classics

What do you get when you throw classic rock, salsa music and artists like Jack Johnson, The Killers, John Mayer, Amy Winehouse, The Stones and Fall Out Boy – to name a few – into a giant blender? You get Rhythm Del Mundo’s “Classics” of course.

The compilation is a charity release with all of the proceeds going to a charity by the name of Artists Project Earth (APE). Overall it is pretty interesting listen. Here are my thoughts as I go track to track – skipping a few here and there. Read the rest of this entry

If you are a sucker for good (or at least interesting) cover songs, then check these out. Here are a few of the good – and not so good – that I’ve come across lately.

First, you’ll want to check out Prince doing “Crimson and Clover”. Even though I am a Prince fan and fellow resident of the great state of Minnesota, I still like Joan Jetts cover better.

Next, I’m not a huge Deftones guy but I thought this was pretty cool.  Here they are doing a cover of The Cars “Drive” on YouTube. 

And Finally, here’s a question for you. Read the rest of this entry