Cover Lay Down

No, I’m not coming off a SXSW buzz, though I do love watching the music blogs reposition themselves as they return triumphant from the biggest fest of the year with their ears ringing and their adrenalin high. Instead, I’m thinking new artists because it’s just 4 days to our first house concert, starring Danny Schmidt.

Amazing as it is, Danny’s newest album is cover-free. And we’re deep in the throes of nervous housecleaning, so this will be pretty light. But I’ve been sitting on these covers for a while, and they’re still on the top of my list after all these weeks. I think it’s time to let ‘em fly.


Cody Adams and the Hurricanes reached out to me a few weeks ago with the most low-key email ever, just a couple of casual, fragmented sentences about an upcoming, mostly unrecorded covers EP. It was such a nice change from the usual overly-polished promo material I decided to follow the links, and two weeks later, with two already-recorded cover efforts and a few MySpace cuts still stuck in my head, I’m happy to report that you should do the same immediately.

This is prime “bedroom folk” territory, hushed and atmospheric like an indie lullaby, perfect for fans of Jose Gonzales and Sam Amidon. But it’s no amateur production: the sound is well-constructed and layered, and subtly produced for maximum effect. The way the vocal balance in this Simon and Garfunkel cover brings the harmony to the forefront, for example, letting the melody fade into the swirling atmosphere, is a masterstroke, leaving ample room for the listener. I have always loved this song; now I love it more.

• Cody Adams and the Hurricanes: Bleecker Street (orig. Simon and Garfunkel)

How Marvelous… has more, including a cover of Sloop John B, and samples from previous album Hair Of The Dog. And coverlovers note: Cody Adams and the Hurricanes are currently soliciting cover choices for the project over at their MySpace page, so head over without delay.

Speaking of NYC, the recent trend towards upbeat, earnest neo-applachian roots music from Brooklyn continues with the strong debut of Roosevelt Dime, who released Crooked Roots just last week. They call it “rock-inspired banjo music”, and I suppose there is something of a slightly less confessional Avett Brothers sound buried in there somewhere, but there’s also a lot more diversity, from the funky acoustic beat and fuzzed, old-timey vocals of web-only track NuNu (Sweet Love) to the jazzpop rhythms of Rants & Raves to the electrictrified banjo jam of Good Man Do.

And then there’s this wonderfully delicate, just-ragged-enough newgrass ballad of a Radiohead cover, which sold me immediately.

• Roosevelt Dime: High and Dry (orig. Radiohead)

Fellow Brooklynite Spider (nee Jane Herships, which frankly is an awesome name as well) comes from the other side of the folk spectrum, producing broken, naturalismo work with a note of eerieness and a whole heap of quiet. Her 2007 album was picked up by a few blogs, including tastemaster Muruch, but I was still a naif then; I’m late to the table on this cover, too, but I didn’t want to assume all my regulars read Sweetheart of the Radio or Wears the Trousers, either, even though you really, really should, and not just for the Spider originals.

Spider’s new album will come out this Spring; if it’s anything like this Neil Young cover, the freakfolk crowd is going to be all over it, and I’ll be right there with them.

• Spider: Motion Pictures (orig. Neil Young)

Bonus points this week go to Laura Tsaggaris, who has the sheer unmitigated gall to cover both Lucinda Williams and Britney Spears and get away with it. This is bare-bones singer-songwriter performance, just a strummed guitar and some tambourine, but boiling these songs down so simply works, and Laura’s earnest, clear voice is a well-suited instrument for her chosen approach.

In the studio, Laura’s output trends towards grungy electric folkpop production in support of that same strong delivery, and that’s good stuff, too; you can hear samples of album-to-be Keep Talking, which drops in May, on Laura Tsaggaris’ MySpace page.

• Laura Tsaggaris: Can’t Let Go (orig. Lucinda Williams)
• Laura Tsaggaris: Oops! I Did It Again (orig. Britney Spears)

Other covernews in the air includes a few great takes on a few old songs, including a subtle, sparse version of Hang Me and a rollicking old-timey appalachian June Apple, on Waltz of the Chickadee, the wonderful new release from Mike and Ruthy, who we featured here a while back. Also the gorgeous new iTunes session from Matt Nathanson has a lovely, airy acoustic cover of The Everly Brothers classic All I Have To Do is Dream. Oh, and that great roots-rock Doug Sahm tribute we mentioned in last week’s feature on tribute albums dropped today, too.


Cover Lay Down publishes new coverfolk features every Wednesday and Sunday, and the occasional otherday. Got a cover to share? Pass it on here, or via the comments below.