Six Pack of the Week - Covers (Vol. II)

Ah, it's covers. I love covers. I'm not sure why I have such a fascination with one band playing another's music, but it always has (and always will) intrigue me. Sometimes they bring something new to the song or emphasize it in a way you never thought of it. Sometimes it's just really, really shitty. We'll try to avoid those ones. To start things off, I (Kraig) will take you out to Africa for my selections.

Mysterious Ways - Angelique Kidjo (originally by U2)

Both of the tracks I'm posting come from the album In the Name of Love, which is more or less a tribute to U2. All of the tracks on the album are U2 songs performed by African bands/artists. As you can imagine, these often take off in directions you wouldn't normally find in your "typical" cover.

I'm not going to pretend to be all knowing when it comes to the music you'll find on the album, but I recommend picking it up if you're into covers and/or if you're into U2. You'll certainly dig it if you listen to a bit of "world" music (whatever that means today).

Anyways, this first track caught my ear and got my interest in the album. You'll recognize it as a cover, but it takes off with some different beats and splits out of English during the verses.

[mp3] Mysterious Ways

Buy her music online: Amazon | iTunes
Visit her online: Official | Myspace

Pride (In the Name of Love) - Soweto Gospel Choir (originally by U2)

...and here we have another take on a U2 classic. Not much in the instrumental department, but it probably delivers the message at the heart of the song better than Bono could with his mates.

[mp3] Pride (In the Name of Love)

Buy some of their music online: Amazon | iTunes
Visit them online: Official | Myspace

Hard Sun - Eddie Vedder (Originally by Indio)

I'm sure you all heard this blaring through sunroofs and fancy cars with tops down last summer/fall. It's still a regular on my playlists. I highly recommend listening to this one in headphones if you haven't yet.

[mp3] Hard Sun

Buy some Pearl Jam online: Amazon | iTunes
Visit PJ/Eddie online: Official | Myspace


Back to the album - I recommend picking it up if for nothing else than to expose yourself to some music you wouldn't normally listen to. Since it's a cover album it's a bit easier to step into the "world" music genre because you'll already know the songs. Check it out here on Amazon, visit the official page (with streams) here.

Stu's:

Africa - Howie Day (Toto cover)(Live)

Speaking of Africa...Howie Day does a pretty awesome cover of Africa. This version is from his 4-21-01 show, and you should probably go pick up the whole show for FREE from archive.org. You can't argue with free!

[mp3] Howie Day - Africa

All Along the Watchtower - Howie Day (Bob Dylan cover)(Live)

Back in the days before Stop All The World Now, it used to be a pretty popular thing to go to Howie Day shows and yell, "FORTY-ONE!!!" at him. I'm not sure why, I've heard his cover of #41 (originally by the Dave Matthews Band) and it never really jumped out at me. At least it didn't jump out at me like this cover of a cover (supposedly Howie covers this like DMB covers it, therefore cover-of-a-cover). Truth be told, this is the first Howie Day song I ever heard. It's an interesting first song to hear, mostly because you aren't expecting the raw emotion and passion (or the excellent screaming). This one's from his 7-20-99 show, which is also free at archive.org.

[mp3] Howie Day - All Along the Watchtower

Buy some Howie Day: Amazon | iTunes
Visit him online: Official | Myspace | theHDTB

Splendid Isolation - Pete Yorn (Warren Zevon cover)

This cover comes straight from Petey's most recent album, Nightcrawler. Originally by Warren Zevon, Pete's take on Splendid Isolation is very well done (I'm a fan of the harmonica work myself). Incidentally, splendid isolation is also a foreign policy pursued by Britain during the late 19th century. So ya, now you know that.

[mp3] Pete Yorn - Splendid Isolation

Buy some Pete Yorn: Amazon | iTunes
Visit him online: Official | Myspace

No picks from Brock this week kiddies, he's internet-less right now (hence the lack of Brockness lately). Hopefully he'll get that resolved soon. We're missing a certain dash of Lurp 'round these parts...