Covers.

I had this music recommendation thing on here for a while that shamefully faded away. So here goes: Listen to Prince's cover of "A Case of You." I'm listening to it right now...It makes me smile and admire his wonderful absurdity.

The cover is very Prince. It was one of the few tracks from the Tribute to Joni Mitchell album that I thought really soared. It's a hard thing to listen to covers sometimes. Occasionally you come across one that just works. The song has a new spark, a fresh take, but it's still respectful to the original piece. What unfortunately happens to many covers (including those on the Tribute Album) is that they are either so far from the original that you wonder what the point was...or they sound so close to the original that you also wonder what the point was.

I record covers and often come across this problem. I think covers are best when they revive a dead song. Songs from those like Joni Mitchell and say...The Beatles...are the hardest to cover. Their classics are never dead, and are played in the bedrooms of most teenagers today. All this being said, I still admire the Tribute album, and have obsessed my fair share over almost every artist on it. Emmylou has mean cover on it as well...still don't know what Sufjan was thinking. Haha.

Tribute albums are trouble...they frustrate me. Don't get me started on Queen's.

Check out Ingrid Michaelson as well when you have the time. She's a charming singer/songwriter who is suddenly taking off thanks to the help of a little music phenomenon called "Grey's Anatomy." Remember that really gorgeous and emotional song that played at the end of last year’s finale when Sandra Oh was stealing the entire show again? That was hers..."Keep Breathing." I discovered her when Ben, the irreplaceable and insanely talented cellist at Spring Awakening, told me he plays with her. Borders is also promoting one of her albums right now. Her song "The way I am" is getting a lot of radio play right now.

http://www.ingridmichaelson.com/