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The Wiggles Cover Tame Impala’s “Elephant”: Watch
Hey there kids, your favorite band The Wiggles are back with a searing takedown of arrogant assholes! The Australian institution has covered Tame Impala, another artist from Down Under, adding a few new lyrics to make the anti-bully anthem “Elephant” more family friendly. The Wiggles performed Tame Impala’s breakout 2012 hit for Triple J’s cover series Like a Version. To entertain any children who happen to come upon it, bandmember Anthony Fields spent the whole song inside an elephant costume, wobbling his trunk to the rhythm of the beat. The band also added an extended riff on “Fruit salad,” which, they said is, “Yummy yummy!” and for which they embarked upon some tummy-rubbing choreography. Even the most drugged-out Tame Impala fans have never imagined an “Elephant” as bizarre as this. ...
Nandi Bushell Covers My Chemical Romance’s “Welcome To The Black Parade”: Watch
Nandi Bushell has entered her emo phase. The 10-year-old drumming sensation has shared an impeccable cover of My Chemical Romance’s 2006 anthem, “Welcome To The Black Parade”. After initially going viral with a stunning Queens of the Stone Age cover in January 2020, the precocious Englishmulti-instrumentalist has banged out equally masterful renditions of songs from Metallica, Rage Against The Machine, Muse, Blur, and most recently Led Zeppelin. Today, Bushell is moving past the classic rock staples and fully embracing the mid-2000s emo songbook. And not only does she do incredible justice to this rock-opera-banger in a musical sense, but she’s also dressed in a marching band uniform that calls back to the attire MCR rocked at the time. “I love being able to let out all my energy after a s...
The Bird and the Bee Cover “Little Drummer Boy” with Medium Drummer Man Dave Grohl: Stream
Over eight crazy nights, Dave Grohl and his pal Greg Kurstin performed eight covers of Jewish musicians in celebration of Hanukkah. With the Festival of Lights concluding on Thursday, Grohl and Kurstin turned their attention to Christmas and linked up with Kurstin’s The Bird and the Bee bandmate Inara George for a cover of “Little Drummer Boy” on Jimmy Kimmel Live. “The Little Drummer Boy” was composed by the music teacher Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941. Apart from the melody, the song is instantly recognizable for the rat-a-tat-tat rhythm played by the titular little drummer boy. But medium-sized drummer man Dave Grohl had other ideas. He kicked off the song with a flourish before settling into a driving rock and roll groove, riding the cymbals and keeping the bass drum thumping. Kurst...
Ben Gibbard, Isaac Brock, Duff McKagan, and Mark Lanegan Cover “The Highwayman”: Watch
At the very least, the ongoing lockdown has resulted in some very odd musical pairings that likely wouldn’t have happened otherwise. The latest of these went down on December 5th, when Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard, Guns N’ Roses’ Duff McKagan, Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock, and Mark Lanegan teamed up to cover the Jimmy Webb country classic, “The Highwayman”. The collaboration was part of SMooCH 2020, an annual benefit show for the Seattle Children’s Hospital that usually takes place in person, but was converted into livestream form this year for obvious reasons. The Seattle institutions Sub Pop Records and KEXP were two of the event’s biggest sponsors, so it made sense that both elite and slightly left-of-center members of the rock world were featured in the presentation. For their ...
Iggy Pop Shares French Language Cover of Elvis Costello’s “No Flag”: Stream
Back in October, Elvis Costello released his 31st album Hey Clockface, which included a song called “No Flag” that was partly inspired by Iggy Pop. Today, Pop has returned the favor by releasing a cover of the tune that’s sung almost entirely in French. In a Rolling Stone conversation between the two rock legends, Costello expressed his surprise that nobody picked up on “No Flag” being a nod to Pop’s classic track “No Fun”. “[The title] should have been a clue right away,” Costello told Pop. “It shared one word and one letter with a famous song of yours [“No Fun”], but nobody spotted where it was drawing from because nobody expects me to take a cue from you.” To drive the connection home, Costello decided to enlist the Godfather of Punk to put his own spin on the track ...
Tame Impala Cover Nelly Furtado’s “Say It Right”: Watch
Like ice cream and french fries or cheddar cheese and apple pie, Kevin Parker and Timbaland are an unexpectedly satisfying combination. This was evident on today’s episode of BBC Radio 1’s Annie Mac Show, when Tame Impala covered the Timba-jam “Say It Right” by Nelly Furtado. The song dates back to the year of our Timba-lord 2006, when the producer born Timothy Mosley had transitioned from Missy Elliot’s secret weapon to the greatest force in pop music on the planet. His incredible 2006 run included the spaced-out drama of Justin Timberlake’s FutureSex/LoveSounds as well as Furtado’s chart-topper Loose. “Say It Right” was the third No. 1 single from Loose, and while “Maneater” and “Promiscuous” have great beats to their credit, there’s little wonder that ...
St. Vincent Covers Nine Inch Nails’ “Piggy” with Dave Grohl on Drums: Stream
St. Vincent (David Brendan Hall), Nine Inch Nails (Lior Philips), Dave Grohl (Wiki) In just a few days, Nine Inch Nails will be formally enshrined in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. To celebrate the band’s illustrious career, St. Vincent has teamed up with Amazon Music to release a new cover of “Piggy” that features Dave Grohl on drums. This is part of a whole series of covers curated by Amazon and honoring the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2020. They’ve also got Real Estate taking on The Doobie Brothers’ “What a Fool Believes”, The Kills reworking T. Rex’s “Cosmic Dancer”, Eyelids powering through Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence”, and Jehnny Beth of Savages stepping into Nine Inch Nails classic cut “Closer”. As for St. Vincent, she’s an incurable music nerd, and her ...
Feist Covers Cat Stevens’ “Trouble” for Justin Vernon’s For Wisconsin GOTV Campaign: Watch
Leslie Feist has returned with a new live cover of Cat Stevens’ “Trouble”. The performance supports Justin Vernon’s For Wisconsin GOTV initiative. Feist takes a lot of time between projects and has never seemed entirely comfortable in the spotlight. But America’s election is alarming even to reclusive Canadians, and her choice of “Trouble” almost speaks for itself. The track first appeared on Cat Stevens’ third album Mona Bona Jakone (1970), after Stevens had recovered from tuberculosis and a collapsed lung. Lyrics like, “Trouble/ Oh trouble move away/ I have seen your face/ And it’s too much for me today,” speak to that feeling when the slings and arrows of life become overwhelming. It’s a natural fit for the ongoing hell-year of 2020. Feist’s celestial voice is welcom...
Nathaniel Rateliff Covers Leonard Cohen’s “There Is a War” with Kevin Morby and Sam Cohen: Stream
Kevin Morby (photo by David Brendan Hall), Nathaniel Rateliff (Ben Kaye), Sam Cohen (Kenneth Bachor) Nathaniel Rateliff, Kevin Morby, and Sam Cohen have teamed up for a new cover of Leonard Cohen’s “There Is a War”. The timely track was produced by Sam Cohen (no relation), and will benefit Rateliff’s The Marigold Project. The song first appeared on 1974’s New Skin for the Old Ceremony, at a time when President Nixon’s message of “Law and Order” was getting drowned out by the Watergate scandal. Well, Trump has been beating that “Law and Order” drum, but he’s one-upped Nixon by providing so many competing scandals that none can dominate the headlines for very long. Meanwhile, the deep-seated conflicts that Cohen wrote about show no signs of abating. The new cover has the three cont...
Heart’s Nancy Wilson Shares Cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “The Rising”: Stream
Having already shredded her way into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Heart, guitarist Nancy Wilson is finally embarking on a solo career. Her debut album is expected in early 2021, and she’s now shared the lead single, a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “The Rising”. Written in the aftermath of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks, “The Rising” arrived as an instant classic. Springsteen wrote from the perspective of a firefighter rushing into the crumbling World Trade Center towers. As only The Boss can do, the song felt simultaneously hyper-specific and universal, with lines like “Can’t see nothin’ in front of me/ Can’t see nothin’ coming up behind,” capturing both an individual’s terrifying ascent and the national mood. When the uplifting chorus appeared, it did so with t...
Miley Cyrus Covers Pearl Jam in Her Backyard for MTV Unplugged: Watch
Miley Cyrus has tried everything once. The teen idol who sometimes seemed to flail in the public eye has matured into a 27-year-old powerhouse of confidence and style. She knows what she’s good at, and her comfort zone is as vast as an ocean. Her current era of ’80s-inspired glam has been simultaneously thrilling and easy, throwing a spotlight on her fashion sense and rock’n’roll voice. Now, for her backyard edition of MTV Unplugged, she’s put all of her talents together for one of the most exciting pop performances of the coronavirus pandemic. Cyrus has been recording “Backyard Sessions” for the last decade, but most of those were intimate and casual. This concert was arena-ready, with light-displays that helped transform the space over time. Earlier in the day, while the sun shined brigh...
US Republican senators confront Netflix over Chinese sci-fi show
Five Republican US senators have confronted Netflix over the streaming giant’s plan to adapt a Chinese sci-fi book trilogy, expressing concern over the original author’s comments about claims of forced labor in Xinjiang. Liu Cixin’s bestselling “The Three-Body Problem,” which tells the story of humanity’s first contact with aliens, is set to become a major Netflix series co-written by the creators of “Game of Thrones.” In a letter to content boss Ted Sarandos, the senators accused Liu of “parroting dangerous [Communist Party] propaganda” and suggested Netflix was “providing a platform to Mr Liu in producing this project.” They highlighted a New Yorker article from last year in which Liu is quoted defending mass internment in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region, where activists say more th...
