Female Covers Mixtape... plus Eric Prydz "Call on Me" Live

This, you could say, is a completely inadvertent mixtape. I was just skimming through my music and came to the realization that I have tons of covers by female artists. I tried to siphon out the covers that sound like they should be background for some bad romcom, instead chosing to to pick, what I think, are at least minimally interesting covers that put a unique spin on the songs. Some will probably enjoy it, others will not. I guess that's the nature of the beast ("the beast" being music).

Just in case you listen to this mixtape and feel like you have an increased sensitivity to the feelings of others and/or crave dark chocolate.... I have also posted a live version of Eric Prydz's "Call on Me" -- which should snap you out of it and bring you back to manhood.

Noisettes - When You Were Young (Killers cover)
Sky Ferreira - Animal (Miike Snow Cover)
Ellie Goulding – The Wolves (Act I and II) (Bon Iver Cover)
Bat For Lashes - Use Somebody (Kings of Leon cover)
Sara Lov - My Body Is A Cage (Arcade Fire cover)
Jonna Lee - The District Sleeps Alone Tonight (Postal Service Cover)
Run Toto Run - Sleepyhead (Passion Pit Cover)
Anya Marina - Whatever You Like (T.I. Cover)
Dirty Mittens - White Winter Hymnal (Fleet Foxes cover)

MP3: Download the full Female Covers Mixtape (click here).

How to Make a Subtle and Not-So-Subtle Music Video

Since MTV doesn't play them anymore, I figured I'd post a couple noteworthy music videos every so often. Today's selections are Frightened Rabbit's Swim Until You Can't See Land and Bat for Lashes' Daniel (no, it's not a cover of Elton John's 1973 hit). Both are cool videos, with Frightened Rabbit taking a minimalistic approach, primarily showcasing the band surrounded by fans with flashlights, and Bat for Lashes' taking a more artistic (and kind of creepy) approach. Still-- both fit well for their respective songs.

Swim Until You Can't See Land is a 7' single to hold us over until the band's 3rd studio effort, The Winter of Mixed Drinks hits stores in March 2010. Daniel was nominated for MTVs Best Breakthrough Video this year, and is featured on Bat for Lashes' Two Suns.

Check em out.

Ahh covers...

One of the greatest thing about indie-ish music is that everyone seems to unabashedly cover each other within weeks, sometimes days, of new material being released. Along with mash-ups and remixes, we will try to pick and chose some of the most unique sounding covers that are circulating around.

Here are a few for your listening pleasure:

The Killers - Four Winds (Bright Eyes cover) (link removed)

Very cool cover that replaces violin/fiddle country sound of the Bright Eyes' original with The Killers' own 80's synthesizer sound. Still not as good as the original, but awesome.
Buy the Bright Eyes EP here.

Bat for Lashes - Use Somebody (Kings of Leon cover) (link removed)

Bat for Lashes (aka Natasha Khan) puts together a smooth slow version of Use Somebody during a BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge session.
Buy the Kings of Leon album here.

Ian McGlynn - Mistaken for Strangers (The National cover) (link removed)

It's a very weird thing to listen to a song by the National without Matt Berninger's unbelievably deep baritone voice-- but New Jersey's Ian McGlynn pulls off Mistaken for Strangers by reaching into the ol' falsetto playbook.
Buy The National album here.
Knatterjack - Time to Pretend (MGMT cover) (link removed)
No idea who/what Knatterjack is... but he/they does an above decent job of converting a jam into a chill piece of music. Definitely different... but definitely worth a listen.
Buy MGMT's album here.