As an unabashed child of the 80s, Depeche Mode holds as much of a place in my heart as New Order; after all, so much of their material has managed to be part of my life’s soundtrack. More than enough ink has been spilled throughout the act’s influential career, so delving into their biography is largely unnecessary. Interestingly, over the past 20 years, an in impressive and growing number of artists have covered, remixed and reworked Depeche Mode including Smashing Pumpkins, Deftones, A-ha, Monster Magnet,Scott Weiland, The Cure (yes, seriously, The Cure!), Tori Amos, Nada Surf, Linkin Park‘s Mike Shinoda, Breaking Benjamin, Royskopp, Placebo and more.
Comprised of Paris-born and London-based duo Axel Basquiat (composer, vocals, bass) and Vincent T. (production, sound engineering and keys), The Penelopes are an indie electro pop act, production and DJ duo who have developed a reputation for propulsive, Giorgio Moroder-like remixes of Lana Del Ray, Pet Shop Boys, We Have Band, Night Drive, The Ting Tings, Alt J and a growing list of others, and for their own original material — which critics internationally have compared to Daft Punk, M83 and Air, among others. The Parisian-born, London-based duo add their names to a growing list of artists, who have covered Depeche Mode with their rendition of “Never Let Me Down Again,” which turns the slow-burning and moody industrial/goth song into a shimmering and anthemic, club-banger with a sinuous bass line and propulsive drum programming with Basquiat’s breathy baritone. And although The Penelopes uptempo rendition is warmer and dance floor friendly, it retains the original’s sense of longing and desire.
Check out how The Penelopes cover compares to Depeche Mode’s original below.
As a Queens native, The Ramones have a very special place in my heart — I’ve walked on the streets that young Joey, Tommy, Dee Dee and Johnny walked on as a teenagers and young men and in some way or another I’m intimately familiar with many of the places they’ve referenced in their songs. Hell, if you grew up in Queens, I’d bet that you probably spent some part of your summer on Rockaway Beach, and it gives “Rockaway Beach,” a deeply personal feel. In any case, more than enough ink has been spilled on how influential the band had been to both punk rock, rock and other genres throughout the band’s run and their lives — and more than enough ink has been spilled on what arguably may be one of their best known songs “I Wanna Be Sedated.”
Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past year or so, you may be familiar with New York-based singer/songwriter Sylvia Gordon, best known in the music world as Sylvia Black. (To avoid deeper confusion, I’ll refer to Gordon as her musical pseudonym, Sylvia Black from this point forward.) Black has received international attention for her time as the frontwoman of electro-pop outfit K.U.D.U., and for collaborations with The Black Eyed Peas, Moby, William Orbit,Kelis, Spank Rock, The Knocks and Telepopmusik, among others. Over the past year, Black has received attention both here and across the blogosphere performing and recording under the moniker and alter ego Betty Black. Interestingly with her alter ego, Sylvia Black’s sound is a decided departure from her previously recorded work as it generally draws from garage rock, Southern gothic blues, Spaghetti Western soundtracks and atmospheric electronics while thematically the material explores love, lust, longing and obsession — and in a fashion that’s darkly seductive.
As a special holiday treat, Black is gifting one of the most interesting and unique covers of The Ramones’ mega-hit “I Wanna Be Sedated” that I’ve ever heard. Featuring a gorgeous Burt Bacharach/pop standard-like arrangement of horns, strings, vibraphone and upright bass Black’s rendition is decadently opulent and sensual, while sounding as though it were recorded under the influence of Quaaludes and/or Xanax that makes it trippy — and evokes the dreamy sensation of being sedated. There are a couple things that make Black’s rendition so interesting to me: it manages to radically change the song’s tempo and tone without distorting or removing the song’s essence; but it also makes a long-forgotten connection between 50s and 60s pop that had been such a major influence on Joey Ramone and company.
Check out how Betty Black’s version radically differs from the original below.
Black has a series of upcoming live dates including a residency at Happy Ending every Wednesday in January as Betty Black’s Happy Blue Lounge, The project will continue what Happy Ending is best known for — putting a lounge lizard/exotica spin on rock and post-punk classics along with originals. Check out dates below.
Live Dates
12/21 NYC, NY @ Pinks (Betty Black & Cullers)
12/22 NYC, NY @ Leftfield ((Betty Black & Cullers)
12/28 NYC, NY @ Elvis Guesthouse (Betty Black DJ set)
1/6 NYC, NY @ Happy Ending (Betty Black’s Happy Blue Lounge)
1/13 NYC, NY @ Happy Ending (Betty Black’s Happy Blue Lounge)
1/20 NYC, NY @ Happy Ending (Betty Black’s Happy Blue Lounge)
1/27 NYC, NY @ Happy Ending (Betty Black’s Happy Blue Lounge)
2/7 Los Angeles, CA @ The Mint (Betty Black & Cullers)
2/10 Los Angeles, CA @ Resident (Betty Black & Cullers)
As I’ve said countless times on this site, more than enough ink has been spilled over the course of New Order‘s 35 year history, so delving into their background isn’t necessary; but what I will maintain is that throughout the band’s history they’ve managed to balance that rare and difficult tightrope of being both critically and commercially successful. And as a result they’ve also managed to be incredibly relevant, as a growing number of bands have cited them and their sound as a major influence. Certainly, if you’re a child of the 80s as I am, Duran Duran, Guns ‘N Roses, Def Leppard, Run DMC, New Order and a lengthy list of others will likely hold a very dear place in your heart. So it wouldn’t be terribly surprising that a number of artists have covered New Order over the years — with an increasing frequency of late. . .
Now if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past three or four weeks, you might recall that I’ve written about the San Francisco-based indie pop artist Mike Deni’s solo recording project Geographer. The project has developed a reputation for crafting a thoughtful and deliberate sound that meshes blossoming synths with precise orchestral arrangements. And with the release of his critically praised, third, full-length effort, Ghost Modern through Roll Call Records earlier this year, Deni has expanded his profile towards greater national attention.
Interestingly, while taking some time off to write new material over the summer, Deni had worked on a cover/reworking of Arthur Rusell‘s “This Is How We Walk On The Moon,” and the cover was so inspiring to the San Francisco-based electronic music artist that he decided that he should work on an entire effort of covers — and the result was he recently released Endless Motion EP, which features reworking and covers of songs by New Order, Kate Bush, Paul Simon and Felix Da Housecat.
The EP’s latest single is a cover of New Order’s “Age of Consent” that seems fairly straightforward as Deni has retained all the familiar elements of the song with an exacting verisimilitude; however, Deni’s vocals have a swooning and plaintive quality that pulls the song’s heartache and despair front and center. And although it’s an incredibly subtle and nuanced interpretation, the Geographer cover should remind listeners that New Order wrote a number of songs that wound up becoming remarkably timeless. Check out how it stands up to New Order’s original below.
Much ink has been spilled on the London-based quartet The Psychedelic Furs of the course of their almost 40 year recording career. And if you were a child of the 80s as I was, the band will likely hold a dear place in your heard — especially if you loved Pretty in Pink. “Love My Way” is one my favorite Psychedelic Furs songs — and interestingly, Grace Vonderkuhn, a Wilmington, DE-based singer/songwriter and guitarist, developing a reputation for a sound that meshes psych rock, garage rock and pop recently covered “Love My Way.”
Vonderkuhn’s cover retains the song’s familiar melody and anthemic hooks but slows the song’s tempo down to a slow-burning, trippy shuffle consisting of layers of feedback, blistering guitar work and thundering drum, turning the song into a broodingly bluesy wail.
Up and coming, New Jersey-born pop artist Donna Missal first captured the attention of listeners and the blogosphere with her sultry and bluesy debut single “Keep Lying,” which paired Missal’s soulful, pop belter vocals with buzzing power chords, a propulsive rhythm section and anthemic hooks. Lyrically, the song’s narrator pleads with an unfaithful and deceitful lover to keep the facade of faithfulness so not to ruin her long-held fantasy. Is it cynical? Absolutely. But it evokes a deeply dysfunctional relationship — the sort where lies are just as useful and good as honesty. Somehow, I’ve been there once or twice before . . .
Building upon the buzz that “Keep Lying” has received Massal recorded a sultry and bluesy cover of Drake‘s massive hit “Hotline Bling” that turns up the vulnerable and sensual need of the original, essentially taking Drake’s hit song and confidently making it her own.
Check out how Donna Missal’s cover compares to the original.
Born in Bristol and currently based in Berlin, director, vocalist, emcee, actor and musician Tricky is arguably one of most influential pioneers of trip-hop both as a member of renowned trip-hop collective Massive Attack and as […]
Renowned Chicago-based DJ, producer, electronic music artist and label exec Felix Da Housecat has a long-held reputation for producing and working on an eclectic mix of sounds and sub-genres within the larger umbrella of electronic […]
Comprised of Karen O. (vocals), Nick Zimmer (guitar) and Brian Chase (drums), the New York-based trio Yeah Yeah Yeahs have been a critically and commercially successful act with the release of their four full-length efforts, Fever to Tell (2003), Show Your Bones (2006), It’s Blitz! (2009), and Mosquito (2014). Interestingly, out of all of their efforts, it’s the trio’s third full-length effort, It’s Blitz! that manages to be a major change in sonic direction for the band as the material primarily employs atmospheric electronics, layers of buzzing and undulating synths. And although the album’s first three or four songs are arguably the most dance-floor ready the trio have ever released, the album’s remaining songs manage to be moodily atmospheric. Interestingly, the entire album is an exercise in restraint as Zimmer’s guitar playing and Karen O’s vocals are carefully reined in.
Album single “Skeletons” is a spectral and atmospheric song that pairs gently undulating synths, gentle yet dramatic drumming and Karen O’s ethereal vocals in a song that gently builds up tension until the song’s quiet conclusion. The song evokes wisps of smoke curling upward and dissipating into the ether . . .
Comprised of three long-time friends, Liz Drummond, Hannah Field, and Annie Hamilton, the Australian-based trio Little May have quickly become one of their homeland’s most buzzed about bands with the release of their debut effort For The Company, which was released last month to critical praise from the likes of WNYC, Stereogum, Noisey, Billboard and others. And over the past month or so, the Australian trio had been on a lengthy North American tour, which ended last night; but before their tour ended, the Drummond, Field and Hamilton released a cover of Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Skeletons” that features a gorgeous three part harmonies paired with guitar chords played through reverb, atmospheric electronics and military-styled drumming, which naturally changes the song’s arrangement. It’s a fairly straightforward cover — but it manages to be equally spectral and gorgeous cover nonetheless.
The Toronto, ON-based band HSY was formed in 2011 by its founding member, the mononymous “Jude.” After two years or so, the outfit settled into its current incarnation featuring Anna (vocals, guitar), Link (bass), and […]
Comprised of Nai Palm, Paul Bender, Perrin Moss and Simon Mavin, Hiatus Kaiyote are a Melbourne, Australia-based neb-soul quartet, who have quickly become something of an international sensation as “Nakamarra,” a single off the band’s […]
If you’ve been following JOVM for the past few months, you’d come across a post or two about the California-based duo OYLS. Formed a little over a year ago, electronic music duo OYLS can trace their formative moment to […]
Comprised of Jess Wolfe (lead vocals and synth), Holly Laessig (lead vocals and keys), Dan Molad (drums and vocals), Peter Lalish (guitar and vocals) and Andrew Burri (guitar, drums, vocals), the Brooklyn-based quintet of Lucius have been praised […]
The electro pop duo of Rodney Connell and Bradley Duhon formed their latest project Night Drive under some rather unusual, almost soap opera-like circumstances – they discovered that they had both been unknowingly dating the same woman […]
