Covers I Actually Like: Part. 1

Five covers that make this purist and cover skeptic go, "Okay, damn!"

Hi! This post has been made free to celebrate the launch of Grace Spelman Music Project! Enjoy!

A faithful cover from a talented musician can bring me to my knees. But 9 times out of 10, I prefer when covers play around with genre. Here are five covers that swing for the fences and knock it out of the park.

---

“Jolene” - Leila Forouhar (Dolly Parton)

SPOTIFY | APPLE | AMAZON | TIDAL | YOUTUBE
In this substack, I’ll be making a very conscious effort to post things I haven’t shared elsewhere online, unless I state otherwise. However, I would be remiss if I didn’t post my cover to tweet about: An Iranian cover of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” you can throw your ass back to.

---

“Killing” - The Apples (Rage Against The Machine)

SPOTIFY | APPLE | AMAZON | TIDAL | YOUTUBE
I’ll never forget the first time I heard this song in 2018. I shot straight up in my bed and went, “A BRASS FUNK COVER OF RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE?”

---

“White Rabbit” - Hiatus Kaiyote (Jefferson Airplane)

SPOTIFY | APPLE | AMAZON | TIDAL | YOUTUBE
The final track from the Hiatus Kaiyote’s newest album. The album itself? Eh, fine. This cover? Fucking nuts. Nai Palm’s vocal arrangements from 1:08 - 1:32 are spooky fun.

---

“Cars” - Cookin’ On 3 Burners (Gary Numan)

SPOTIFY | APPLE | AMAZON | TIDAL | YOUTUBE
Jazzy, funk instrumental cover that isn't shy about how much drums it wants to use. I will say that this cover remains faithful in that there’s still a little bit of Moog.

---

“Paranoid Android” - Brad Mehldau (Radiohead)

SPOTIFY | APPLE | AMAZON | TIDAL | YOUTUBE
The only way you can cover Radiohead and win me over is if you do it in a way that convinces me you’re a little bit insane. Bradd Mehldau does exactly that.

Get the playlist version here:

SPOTIFY | APPLE | AMAZON | YOUTUBE

What are your favorite covers that play around with genre? I want to listen to them!