Christian Scott – No Church In The Wild – jazz #coverversion Friday

Today’s cover version is a jazz inspired mind trip. Picture Miles Davis, Frank Ocean and The Roots all having a jam session, and you’ll get to where this track is at.

Christian Scott – No Church In The Wild

Trumpeter Christian Scott delivers a trumpet driven, jazz version of No Church In The Wild that would make Charles Mingus smile, and is perfect for this week’s #coverversion Friday selection.

Considering the inherent similarities between the origin and spirit Hip Hop and Jazz Music, I really shouldn’t be as surpised as I am. But damn son, I didn’t see this coming…

I didn’t want to pick something that people could already envision a jazz version of; I picked a song that had such a different vibe. I want people to be like, “Damn, I didn’t even know you could do a jazz version of that!” – Christian Scott

As ‘No Church In The Wild’ is one of my Top Ten Track of 2012, I had high expectations of this cover, and Christian Scott delivers. The only way this gets any more awesome is if The Throne decide to record a version of their verses over this

Watch The Throne – No Church In The Wild

Jessie Ware – Do For Love (Bobby Caldwell #coverversion)

I grew up with ‘Do For Love’. My father had the Bobby Caldwell OG version in pretty frequent rotation on the old Blaupunkt turntable, and when I discovered the Tupac version as a teenager I played it to death., cos I was hardcore like that homie. This is a special song to me. Suffice to say, I’m sufficiently skeptical of covers of a song so near and dear to me. Jessie Ware treats the track with respect, leaving in enough of the original to allow some reminiscence while still adding enough of her own signature to make the version refreshing.

The sparse but never empty production complements the tone and emotion of the vocal track, resulting in a pleasing and thoroughly listenable record.

Jessie Ware Do For Love Cover Version — ]Img credit: Jamie McKelvie

Ellie Goulding High For This – The Weeknd cover version

I love Ellie Goulding. Her tone and style bring to mind what would happen if Imogen Heap and Bjork morphed in to one person. Lately though, I think I almost appreciate her cover versions more than her original work. This girl is a work horse, covering everyone from Bon Iver to Elton John and many more in between.

This glitchy, laid back cover of ‘High For This’ originally performed by The Weeknd on House of Balloons is a #coverversion Friday treat to listen to.

Ellie Goulding High For This. The Weeknd Cover Version

I originally found this over on The Hype Machine, but it’s been a while since I listened to it. Hearing it again last night made it sound fresh all over.

In addition to being a fun cover version, Monsieur Adi (he of the killer Lana Del Rey Summertime Sadness Remix)delivers a smooth, string loaded Ellie Goulding High For This Remix.

Ellie Goudling High For This Monsieur Adi Remix

Ellie Goulding High For This is a cover of a song by The Weeknd. Listen to the original version below

Jimi Hendrix All Allong The Watchtower (Bob Dylan Cover) #coverversion Friday

It’s Friday, which means it’s time for another killer cover version. In some respects, they don’t get any bigger than this – Jimi Hendrix covering Bob Dylan.

For a long time I didn’t know that this was a cover version, I thought that it was a Hendrix original. Dylan penned the original in 1967 and the Hendrix Experience started recording his version just one year later and released it on the seminal Electric Ladyland, pretty weird for a cover version.

Jimi Hendrix – All Along The Watchtower

It seems that one of the biggest fans of the cover version was Bob Dylan. He praised the the Jimi Hendrix Experience version on on a number of occasions

It overwhelmed me, really. He had such talent, he could find things inside a song and vigorously develop them. He found things that other people wouldn’t think of finding in there. He probably improved upon it by the spaces he was using. I took license with the song from his version, actually, and continue to do it to this day.”

“I liked Jimi Hendrix’s record of this and ever since he died I’ve been doing it that way… Strange how when I sing it, I always feel it’s a tribute to him in some kind of way. – Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan – All Along The Watchtower

Moonchild – Party (Beyonce Cover) #coverversion Friday

For me, the best way to watch a Beyonce music video is on a big screen TV with the sound off. It just makes more sense that way. Now, thanks to one of my new favourite Neo Soul bands ‘Moonchild’ I can even play a cover of one of her songs while I ~~perv~~ watch.

This is a cover version of Beyonce’s “Party” by Moonchild, and hot damn it if that keyboard bass doesn’t get me every time. I recently bought ‘Be Free’, Moonchild’s debut album, and you should too, it’s worth the tenner.

Buy Moonchild's Album

Who Is She (And What Is She To You) – #coverversion Friday

Let me start by saying that Bill Withers is the man. His ‘Greatest Hits’ compilation gets a helluva workout on my iPod on a regular basis. So it’s with this in mind that I can appreciate a tastefully done cover version of my favourite of Withers’ tracks – ‘Who Is He And What Is He To You’. Madelaine lends some Big Band flavour to one of the funkiest tracks I know and despite how cheesy the concepy sounds, it actually comes off pretty well.

For those who don’t know the OG version, here it is. Billy is a bad, band man on this track Dag gummit. Look out now!

Civil Twilight – Teardrop #coverversion Friday

This week’s Cover Version is courtesy of my friend Danille Moult who shared it with me a few weeks back. The song being covered is Massive Attack’s classic ‘Teardrop’ from the 1998 album Mezzanine. I must admit that after hearing so many disappointing attempts, I didn’t expect to find a Massive Attack cover that I actually enjoy. I’m a huge fan of the band and their sound, so their original material is almost ‘sacred’ if you will.

Despite sounding like a very polite vampire movie, the boys from Civil Twilight have done one helluva rendition – I’ve been listening to it on and off for a few weeks to see if it has staying power. I’m happy to report that the shine hasn’t faded, even after many repeats. And the best part is that now I have another quality band to listen to. The fact that the band is from my home town – Cape Town, South Africa – is just the icing on the cake. Thanks Danny 😉

BONUS – “Letters From The Sky”

After listening to their cover so many times, it seems wrong not to include one of their original compositions as well. “Letters From The Sky” is taken off the band’s album self titled album and was featured on the movie soundtrack to ‘I Am Number Four.’

The drumming on this track is hypnotic, and on the first listen I was instantly reminded of Live back when Ed Kowalczyk was still with the band. Definitely a good thing.

Emily Browning Sweet Dreams #coverversion Friday

Taken off the soundtrack to the hard nosed chick flick “Sucker Punch.”

It’s not often that you see the lead in a movie performing on the soundtrack (unless said lead is a used to be pop star *cough* Timberlake *cough*) and even less often that the result is actually something worth listening to.

Fortunately, this track is an exception. Emily Browning plays Baby Doll in the steam punk style flick but also delivers on the soundtrack, including this hauntingly beautiful rendition of The Eurythimics 1983 (!) cult hit “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)”

‘Sweet Dreams’ has been covered, remixed and sampled many times by everyone from Nas to Marilyn Manson, so I guess you could say that there’s a version to satisfy everyone’s taste.

‘Sucker Punch’ also has one of the best looking typographic posters I’ve seen in a while. Excellent work byt the designers.

Other cover versions

Soul Rebels Brass Band covered the song on their Rounder Records debut record, Unlock Your Mind, released on January 31, 2012, and they performed the song on Later with Jools Holland in 2011.[23]
Italian-based Croatian singer Sharon C. covered the song for her same-titled debut single released in 1997, and since then it has been featured on many compilations including Dancemania 8.[24]
Polish band Moonlight covered the song for their 1999 EP Flos.
French electroclash duo Miss Kittin & The Hacker covered the song for their 1999 EP Intimités.[25]
Actress Maria Bello performed the song in the movie Duets (2000), which is included on the soundtrack.
“Sweet Dreams” was partially covered by Geri Halliwell as a medley with her song, “Scream If You Wanna Go Faster” in late 2004.
Finnish a cappella group Club for Five recorded a cover of the song.[26]
Brazilian singer Badi Assad covered the song for her 2006 album Wonderland.
Brazilian singer Danni Carlos covered the song for her 2006 album Rock ´n´ Road Movies.
German singer Thomas Anders (formerly of Modern Talking) recorded a jazzy, lounge music cover of the song for his 2006 solo album Songs Forever.
Australian girlgroup Girlband recorded a cover of the song for their unreleased debut album.
Tanghetto, the neo-tango band based in Buenos Aires recorded and released the song as part of their El Miedo a la Libertad album in 2008. Their cover is an instrumental version, where the bandoneon takes the “role” of the lead voice.
American Christian rock singer Krystal Meyers covered the song on the 2008 Japanese release of her third album Make Some Noise.
Ukrainian pop/rock band Lama covered the song as “???? ????” (“World of Dreams”) for their 2008 album ?????? ? ???? (Light and Shadow).
The German Underground rapper Frauenarzt covered the sample of this song as “Feuchte Träume” on Feuchte Träume (Gastparts 3) in 2008.
The melody was featured in the U96 featuring Das Bo single “Mr. DJ, Put on the Red Light” and was sung by Tryna Loules, who released it in 2006.[27]
Sylvie Vartan covered it in French (1983) under the title “Déprime”, famous for its deep rhymes.
In a 2002 episode of The Simpsons, “Half-Decent Proposal”, at the end of the episode, Artie Ziff (Jon Lovitz) begins to sing the song through a speaker, culminating with the lyrics “I am watching you through a camera!”
Doctor Steel covered the chorus of “Sweet Dreams” in the end of his song “Lullaby Bye”.
French singer Emily Loizeau covered jazz version of “Sweet Dreams” on her album Pays Sauvage (Track 15).
The German/Greek a cappella band Five Live covered “Sweet Dreams” on their album Five Live live (track 4).[28]
Delta Goodrem covered ‘Sweet Dreams’ on her 2008 Believe Again Tour . The cover was later released on the CD/DVD release of the tour.
Tori Amos covered the song live in Boston, MA while on her Original Sinsuality Tour in 2005.[29]
The German pop-singer Judith Hildebrandt performed the song live on 23 April 2009 in the Ultimative Chart-Show.[30]
Japanese musician Tomoyasu Hotei covered it on his 2009 cover album Modern Times Rock’N’Roll.
Allison Crowe recorded a stripped-down acoustic version of “Sweet Dreams” for a Hollywood movie project in mid-2010
A Korean girl group Girls’ Generation made a cover of this song on a music TV show in 2010.
Singer Kitty Brucknell covered the song on the fourth live show in the Eighth series of the UK X Factor.
Grup Vitamin, was Turkish comedy band used the music of the song and sang as “Balta” (“Axe” in Turkish) in Yand?k Desene album in 1992.