Phoebe Bridgers and Arlo Parks covering Radiohead’s “Fake Plastic Trees.” Absolutely sublime.
Jennah Bell’s masterfully understated cover of the Soundgarden classic is worth a listen.
Massive Attack might be Banksy. That’s probably the chief takeaway from this cover of the group’s iconic “Teardrop” — but don’t sleep on Aurora, the previously unknown-to-me singer who here invests the song with fresh intrigue. You probably can’t record a bad version of “Teardrop,” but this one easily clears an admittedly low bar.
I’d lost track of Kimbra since, uh … 2011? Whenever “Somebody That I Used to Know” came out. But here she is doing right by both Grizzly Bear AND Tears For Fears in a mashup that lasts less than three minutes but still gets at something wild and tuneful.
“Is life kicking up dust for you?” Evan Stephens Hall sings in the opening to “Endless,” a standout from this year’s Marigold. As a matter of fact, Evan! Here’s a song about wanting to move past something but being stuck in it — the dominant emotion, for me, of 2020. “When this is over / Hold me forever,” he sings in the song’s final lines, which I return to over and over again.
The Hood Internet’s take on 1987 is just fantastic — as good as anything Girl Talk ever did. And the part where they mashed up Whitney and Belinda singing “I wanna dance with somebody” and “do you know what that’s worth?” really hit different in the when-will-there-ever-be-nightclubs-again era. Outstanding.
For the past several months, beloved mash-up artists the Hood Internet have been taking 50 top pop hits from a year, throwing them into a blender, and turning them into certified bangers in their own right. Their take on 1986, which kicks off with a masterful mix of “Invisible Touch” and “You Can Call Me Al,” is a perfect introduction to the series.
“Suspirium” is only a few weeks old, and it’s already one of my favorite Thom Yorke songs. Just gorgeous.
Scott Hutchison was a brilliant songwriter and accomplished musician. His music grappled with the brutal, terrifying reality of depression, and documented his long struggle to find peace. I had a chance to interview him once, in 2010, and among other things we talked about his lifelong efforts to preserve his mental health. It came after Pitchfork had panned their third album, and I wrote a response, in which among other things I wrote about the powerful darkness that seemed to stalk him always.
And so I was deeply saddened to read today that he had passed away. His music brought me profound joy and comfort over the past decade — particularly this song, a pep talk to the self that I play for myself whenever I need a push to break away from the past. Frightened Rabbit was still making vital music up until the end. I will miss Scott deeply.
Megan Vaughn
Phillydonk
*****
