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Top 10 Indie Covers

6 June 2012 | 9:00 am | Staff Writer

Finding a good covers is like discovering that something you've gotten sick of eating is delicious again. Tell us what you think of our list!

There's just something about song covers. They excite me a little bit more than is really decent, and a lot of people don't quite understand why. So I resorted to an (extra-long) extended metaphor to try and explain: 

Think of the original song as a person. A person who has a genuinely fantastic personality. But they're really trashy and speak in a high nasally voice and wear so much hot pink that you wonder if they're an extra in one of those annoyingly chirpy Vanish Preen (trust pink, forget stains!) ads. And then they meet someone who's massively talented with their fingers and tongues and it changes their life. All of a sudden they start speaking in a normal vocal range, dressing in a wider spectrum of colours and can talk about more than just the crazy shit they got up to when they were wasted. It's like you see them anew and you remember how amazing they are. That's what a good cover is like.

I spent hours and hours (and more hours. Seriously, I spent ages on this,) trawling the net to find what I thought were the best Indie covers of non-indie songs. Take a look and let me know if I missed anything that should have been on the list.

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1. EXAMPLE - Tik Tok (KE$HA)

I like dancing to KE$HA. Yea, her songs are trashy, but sometimes you just want the kind of song that everyone is going to get up and bust some ridiculous, over the top moves to. But EXAMPLE just make it even better! Hard to believe maybe, but they add a little more wit and bass and are just as energetic. Play this song off their Soundcloud for higher audio quality than the video recording.

2. REGINA SPEKTOR - No Surprises (RADIOHEAD)

I know what you're thinking. I cheated with this one. RADIOHEAD totally fit under the indie umbrella. And I would apologise, I really would. Except that if you listen to this, you'll understand, and you will thank me, because REGINA SPEKTOR's cover version is just so beautifully haunting that there was no way I could not include it in this list. Besides, RADIOHEAD also count as rock.

3. THE WHITE STRIPES - Jolene (DOLLY PARTON)

I loved this song growing up, and I'm not even ashamed to admit it. THE WHITE STRIPES' version is about as far away from DOLLY PARTON as you can get short of doing a screamo/heavy metal cover but they still sing it with that same raw emotion that it's so easy to get swept up and start subconsciously hating on Jolene yourself before you remember that it's just a song.

4. FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE - Take Care (RIHANNA AND DRAKE)

There are violins in this song. There is, in fact, an entire ensemble in this song. It's just as poignant as the original and FLORENCE's voice is utterly breathtaking in a way that is completely different but just as moving as RIHANNA's is in her version. I have been listening to this on repeat and I swear that if you don't listen to it you will regret it.

5. THE SHINS - We Will Become Silhouettes (POSTAL SERVICE)

The lyrics to this song may be sad, but it's the kind of melancholy tune that you imagine running through fields of daisies to, in one of those hipster Coke or beer ads, with a few really well dressed best friends. You'll wear a large floppy sun hat and be laughing joyously as you hold your hand out behind you for the hottest friend to grab it and lift you up into the air, still laughing, the camera spinning around with only your hair, streaming into the wind, in perspective against the clouds and more daisies.

6. ADALITA - Burning Up (MADONNA)

The problem I have with a lot of covers is that they're just acoustic, less energetic versions of the original. Not when ADALITA does it though. She's actually electric, and you can feel it as she builds the song up to a crescendo, the dark undertones adding much more depth to the song than the original. She sings along with an electric guitar, and the sound just reverberates with such an intensity that it's consuming. Seriously, amazing stuff.

7. JOSE GONZALEZ - Heartbeats (THE KNIFE)

This is one of those really sad, moving songs that you can sit listening to on your ipod at a busy party and feel like you're in a world of your own, just watching all these people go past like they're on a television screen. It's immensely beautiful and you've probably heard it before. JOSE GONZALEZ' voice is so immersive, you can just lose yourself in it, and I strongly encourage you to do just that.

8. ANGUS AND JULIA STONE - You're the one that I want (GREASE)

A folsky, soft spoken version of the cult song. There is absolutely no resemblance beyond the lyrics to the original, but if you haven't seen Grease, besides the fact that it would mean you were a depraved child, you could totally mistake this for an A&J STONE original.

9. DIRTY PROJECTORS - I Dreamed I Saw St Augustine (BOB DYLAN)

10. The DIRTY PROJECTORS have actually performed a lot of BOB DYLAN covers. No prizes for guessing what kind of music they're into. The video's a look at the recording session, but check out the whole song below:

10. TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB - Poker Face (LADY GAGA)

A lot of bands have covered LADY GAGA, and it gets a little old sometimes. What I love about TWO DOOR's version is that apart from just singing it nicely (because really, that's the same thing every other band does), they also make it funny.

BONUS: It's not really a cover, but it's my way of making up for using REGINA SPEKTOR's cover of RADIOHEAD. DIPLO remixed 'Twist and Shout' a while back, and this is that remix combined with Ferris Bueller footage. If you were as much of a Ferris Bueller fan as I was, you will adore this. And even if you aren't, it's fairly amazing and you should check it out.

You're welcome.