#11 – Soul Covers

Soul Covers

Loads of soul songs are covered, sampled and generally seep their way into popular culture, and this is good. It’s always nice to hear a proper song. Think about how good Kanye West’s early stuff was. Let’s face it, he is a great rapper and the samples made his songs super radio-friendly.

So how often does it work the other way around? Would a soul version of a Les Savvy Fav or Black Flag song work? Okay, I haven’t found any soul covers by them, but there are some good ones out there.

This first one is by a girl called Hawa. I honestly don’t know anything about her other than the fact that she is obviously ace! It is a complete ‘reverse-engineer’ of a dance song. Chilled out yet suitably head-noddy. All in all, a great, great cover.

Hawa – D.A.N.C.E

#10 – Revolutionary Music

Vive La Revolution!

I’ve been in Bordeaux this past week and they’ve been making a right racket about these reforms to the pensions. In a nutshell, the government is trying to up the retirement age to 62 from 60, and up the age when you can claim a state pension from 65 to 67. Obviously the unions are pretty upset about it and so they’re doing what the French do best… Striking.

 

#9 – Shakira Covers the xx

The xx… But not The xx

Well, everybody’s favourite She-Wolf has done something a little unexpected. Shakira has had a crack at The xx, and it’s awesome. It’s like she’s added a little bit of sunshine to a brooding track and then slightly karaoke’d it. And the song gets better when you imagine her dancing to it. Shakira, we look forward to the music video…

Shakira – Islands

Download it here

#8 – Four Tet & the xx

Just a super quick one for you here. Kieron Hebdon (Four Tet) has given the XX a remix, and it is great! It’s all DFA and there’s a sample/synth at the start that sounds very familiar that I can’t quite put my finger on. Basically it’s awesome, give it a listen

The xx – VCR (Four Tet Remix)

#7 – David Guetta

David Guetta Ruined Pop Music

I don’t mind pop music. It has a place in society… Clubs where you can get a double vodka for a quid, as backing on easy-to-watch TV shows or just to occupy the daily commute when the news gets boring. What I do mind is crappy pop music. The songs where it is just one hook, played over and over again, with a crappy, middle of the road house beat in the background and that ‘whooosh-ing’ sound that heralds the chorus/drop like the met office promising a great summer guarantees a shitty one. (I’m bitter about that too, but I’ll not start.)

David Guetta is, in my opinion, responsible for so much of this awful music that I barely know where to start. He is not the only producer who makes it, and he is definitely not the worst, but he is almost certainly the most visible. In the last two years or so he has been behind an awful lot of crappy songs. The worst of which has got to be that abortion by the Black Eyed Peas, ‘I Gotta Feelin’.