55:
Mac DeMarco - Photograph (Nickelback cover)
While I am only about three songs into this compilation album, I can assure you that nothing will be worse than this entry. I don't listen to Mac outside of his spots on other artist's tunes, but I know he has street cred. But this reimagining is an intentional vapor nightmare. A get-out-of-trying-free card.
Rest of list tbd.
Photograph is easily one of my favorite karaoke songs and I've sung it so much ironically that I adore it. Is this on youtube/spotify?
I'm sure it will end up on youtube eventually, but the idea was the album is only for people who donated to save stereogum. But I can send a few singular files ;)
Ah, I had very little context for what this was for
Top 10 Contender:
clipping. - Tipsy (J-Kwon Cover)
With its synthy bridge contrasting the boisterous boom-clap percussion, J-Kwon's 2004 smash hit Tipsy had a little more edge than a lot of mid 00s radio hip hop, landing it in the pantheon of essential club tunes of a pre-hyper-electronic era, while still toeing that line of what popular sounds were to come. This makes it impossibly ripe for clipping, the pretentious, hard-hitting industrialists, pairing over the top production with Digg's musical (hah) flow. They take every element of the song that works and crank it up to ten. It is exactly the sort of thing I was hoping for when I bought into this release.
Top 10 Contender:
Charly Bliss - Hollaback Girl (Gwen Stefani Cover)
I was a big fan of Charly Bliss's 2017 album Guppy- it toed the line between power pop and garage rock, providing endless Summer Vibes for me as I roared around California. is But I was apparently the only one who didn't like their followup 2019 album Young Enough, which the band admitted was a true love letter to the poppiest pop. It lost the mild grit that I adored in the previous. Definitely not a bad album, but entirely forgettable to myself. I think this history lends itself to this cover very well- Hollaback Girl is a legendarily "hard hitting" pop song from Stefani in her post-No Doubt stardom. The infusion of her past music experience with her entry into hyper-produced radio pop led to some supremely catchy songs, and Charly Bliss's meltingly bubblegum vocals fit the vibe perfectly.
Top 10 Contender:
Twin Peaks & OHME - No Intention (Dirty Projectors cover)
While I am not familiar with much of Twin Peaks or OHME's work, I have a love/meh relationship with Dirty Projectors. They exist more as a loose collective of solid folksy electronic ideas rather than a singular band or sound, so their discography is all over the place for me. They are also the only artist who is covered and has a cover in this album? I think they just let old members die off and replace them with young blood. Anyway, this is a stellar track, as I think it adds some depth and crunch the original didn't have, allowing for more emphasis on the push-pull of the various instruments.
Top 10 Contender:
Half Waif - I'm With You (Avril Lavigne cover)
[through tears] yeah it's uh [sob] it's pretty good i guess [gets in fetal position]
