Category: Madonna


Covered In Folk: Madonna

August 29th, 2012 — 04:21 pm





Ah, Madonna. Icon of my childhood, tormenter of my taste; a woman who gets little respect from the iconoclasts for her increasingly dated output, though she merits no small stature for her role as the Lady Gaga of our generation, reinventing herself for every tour and album, offering a plethora of feminist pathways in the process.

To be fair, the original material girl is quite talented, in a multitude of arts and genres, and her ongoing insistence on both artistic and economic autonomy, which has made her the best-selling female recording artist of all time, makes her a powerful prototype for the modern post-indie success story. Still, though I respect those who respect her in turn, my own teenage flirtation with the woman was so fleeting, I can barely remember the sense in it. And as far as the folk crowd goes, this distancing has been well within in the mainstream until quite recently indeed.

When back in 2008, I wrote that …the wholesale reinvention which typifies Madonna, both as a musician and a cultural icon, is essentially anathema to the whole authenticity thing that practically defines the folkworld; as such, it’s especially hard to find earnest acoustic covers of Madonna songs, it was true: with the major exception of Through The Wilderness, a deliciously imperfect 2007 indiefolk-and-then-some tribute that scratched the edges of more broad and diverse potential in the songs of the chameleon-esque Ms. M., the coverage canon consisted of punk, electronica, pop, cheese, and a couple of previously-posted covers from male powerhouse popfolkies Ryan Adams (Like A Virgin) and Jack Johnson and G. Love (Holiday), both of whom can be heard laughing their way through their own performances. And the rest of the archive offered little better, either: from John Wesley Harding’s 2005 holiday release of Like A Prayer to Picturehouse’s angsty, whiny 2001 Papa Don’t Preach to the Meat Purveyor’s inevitably yodel-laden bluegrass Madonna medley to to Barenaked Ladies’ oft-bootlegged live cover of Material Girl, for acoustic takes, tongue-in-cheek, it seemed, was the inevitable output.

But time has a way of fuzzing the edges. Here it is 2012, and with Madonna off the charts, her cultural cachet transforms into that of an emeritus. Suddenly, though she has been relegated in real life to a Superbowl halftime nod and gossip page also-ran, she also becomes a revisited songstress worth re-envisioning, her songs ripe for sincerity – and if these relatively recent transformations are any indication, the songbook deserves its newfound respectful treatment. And through it is true that, through this lens, versions which lingered on the edge of validity before now seem fresher, and more real – see, for example, slightly older post-millennial cuts from both Asian uke-and-vox coverband Petty Booka and countryfolkers Texas Lightning below – even in this new context, only a few prove themselves harbingers.

So listen as the spectrum widens, and a broad set of artists transcend nostalgia to give their own earnest voices to the canon of our pop childhoods: from sharp to mellow, glum to gleeful, tender to tense, their bouquets as diverse as fine cheese and aged wines, their tunes and timbres transformed.



…and we’re back! Thanks to all for your patience as we struggled with work, family, personal injury, and the summertime blues over the last two months. Stay tuned for a preview tour of a several great local fall folk and bluegrass festivals and concerts later this weekend!

3 comments » | Madonna

Tributes and Cover Compilations Week, Vol. 3:
The Watson Twins, Mundy, Sufjan’s Seven Swans, Madonna & more!

April 28th, 2011 — 08:30 pm

It’s shaping up to be a strong Spring in the world of tributes and cover albums, and good thing, too – though the single-shot covers continue to pour in daily, other than Reid Jamieson’s recent tribute to 1969, the Cowboy Junkies’ too-heavy-to-be-folk tribute to Vic Chesnutt, and a mid-February Sara Lov popfolk covers compilation, it’s been pretty dry at the album-length intersection of folk and coverage.

But apparently, in the world of cover albums, when it rains, it pours. Over the weekend, we featured Thea Gilmore’s stunning take on Dylan’s seminal 1967 album John Wesley Harding, and dropped two exclusive tracks from Paint It Black, the newest alt-country tribute to the Rolling Stones. Next weekend, we’ll be passing along bits and bytes from a trio of new tribute albums along the border of country, old-timey bluegrass, and folk music.

Today, we return to the shortform approach with a look at four more albums and EPs of folk, indiefolk, and folkpop coverage which have hit the ground running in the wake of a long, spare Winter.


Despite selling far fewer copies than the artist’s tributes to the states of Michigan and Illinois which came before and after it, Sufjan Stevens’ powerful, deeply Christian 2004 album Seven Swans served as such a powerful introduction to the one-time rising star for so many of his peers in the Indie world, it has taken only seven years for the album to be covered in full. But although it seems potentially risky to pay such thorough tribute to a single album so early in its history, there’s something quite deep about Seven Swans Reimagined, a focused indie tribute to the album which dropped at the end of March, the proceeds of which go to benefit for Komen for the Cure.

The roster features a veritable who’s who of the modern Indie movement, with many artists known for their appearance on other compilations, and though the album yaws through a fuller spectrum of the indie canon, with experimental arrangements which echo the originals, much of it is legitimately folk, thanks to generally acoustic, often hushed tones. In all cases, though, from the bouncy bells and flute of Half Handed Cloud’s gentle, pulsing neofolk to the frozen majesty of Unwed Sailor’s Sister to the plodding, echoey, psychedelic soundscape that transforms We Won’t Need Legs To Stand in the hands of Elin K. Smith, the songs maintain their humility and their spiritual edge effectively, even as their tones shift in new hands and mouths.

A few familiar faces, among them Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Joshua James, and Denison Witmer, will be a special delight those of an indiefolk bent; so will less well-known contributors, such as Shannon Stephens and Gregory Paul, whose harmonies make a gentle, almost Joni-esque acoustic slide ballad of Waste Of What Your Kids Won’t Have. And though it’s a bit more pop than folk, Wakey! Wakey! bring a delightfully rough, intimate edge to their majestic piano ballad take on A Size Too Small, taking what is perhaps my favorite song from the original album and turning it on its ear with aplomb. Stream, sample, and buy at Bandcamp – but first, here’s two streams to get you started.



  • Shannon Stephens and Gregory Paul: Waste Of What Your Kids Won’t Have (orig. Sufjan Stevens)

    (from Seven Swans Reimagined, 2011)



Blogwatchers already know about The Watson Twins‘ new Night Covers EP, which has been out since mid-April; cover fans may recognize their name from their take on Neil Young’s Powderfinger which appeared on Cinnamon Girl, the all-female, all-indie American Laundromat Records double album which we called “the tribute album Neil Young has deserved for most of his long and prolific career” when it emerged in February of 2008.

But though those who have followed the indie tastemakers in the past few years know the pair for their sweet sister harmonies, and for their collaboration with Jenny Lewis on the well-received Rabbit Fur Coat, which took the critical world by storm in 2005, should know by now: The Watson Twins are much more than a pair of backup singers made good. And, with one EP and two full-length albums already under their belts, identical twins Chandra and Leigh have produced a fine addition to our Spring roundup.

The Night Covers has but six tracks, most of which teeter on the alt-slash-popfolk line, as so much of their work has before; the disk is a bit pricey, but it seems worth the dough, if only because of how effectively the twins pay upbeat, driving tribute to a well-selected collection of pop and soul-turned-indiefolk songs from The Eurythmics to Bill Withers to Sade, with a rock turn by way of the Black Keys and PJ Harvey. Cover Me has a review of more substance, and an interview; their take on Turtles hit You Showed Me, the single, is typical of the album’s sound and sensibility.

Bonus tracks:



I wasn’t sure if I should include this next album on our list. After all, like the members of their indie roster, most of Toronto-based Paper Bag Records’ Madonna album tribute True Blue isn’t folk, ranging instead from the glitchy, fuzzed-out, almost Clash-esque rock Born Ruffians bring to Madonna b-side Jimmy Jimmy, to the wailing full-press post-punk of PS I Love You’s Where’s The Party, to the surprisingly well-translated throwback pop-tronica of Woodhands (Papa Don’t Preach), Winter Gloves (True Blue), and You Say Party (Love Makes The World Go Around) which anchor the album.

But the collection is free, making it an easy path to entry for the strong indie stable which Paper Bag Records represents. And two standout tracks are decidedly folk music: Laura Barrett’s gently disjointed La Isla Bonita, and The Rural Alberta Advantage’s “We’re Scared Version” of Live To Tell, which applies gentle guitar, synth, and tambourine to create a delicate, sunny, decidedly retrofolk version of Madonna’s sappy 80′s hit.



Finally, on the horizon: 2 U I Bestow brings us news of an impending covers album from cheerful Emerald Isle singer-songwriter Mundy, whose song of the same name not only serves as namesake for the Irish-only folkblog, it also brought the artist a bit of fame back in 1996, when it was included on the soundtrack to Baz Luhrman’s Romeo + Juliet. The aptly titled Shuffle drops May 13 in US and UK markets; thanks to Mundy’s reps, I’ve had a chance to hear the whole thing, and found it warm, familiar, and quite worth the time – recommended, especially, for those who prefer their folk without the indie edge.

The set, a tribute to the Mundy’s favorite American “folk” influences – a list which includes alt-country, country, rock, and folk singer-songwriters, from Bob Dylan, John Prine, Paul Simon, and Warren Zevon to Parsons/Hillman, Emmylou Harris, and both Lucinda and Hank Williams – doesn’t dig terribly deep into the catalogs of the artists it honors, and the tracks tend to hew relatively close to their original genre. But the performances here are sincere and solid, transformative and truly listenable, fully fleshed out with contemporary radio-ready folk-rock production values and instrumentation: an apt introduction to a strong, well-produced performer sadly underrepresented and underappreciated on this side of the pond. Here’s the pre-release single – in stream-only form, as requested – and two older covers for reference.

  • Mundy: It’s A Wonderful Lie (orig. Paul Westerberg)

    (from Shuffle, 2011)

Bonus tracks:



Stay tuned, loyal readers! Cover Lay Down brings Tributes and Cover Compilations Week to a triumphant close this weekend with new tributes of and from Tom T. Hall, Laura Cantrell, and Chris Thile and Michael Daves!

267 comments » | Compilations & Tribute Albums, Madonna, Mundy, Sufjan Stevens, The Watson Twins, Tribute Albums

Rock ‘n Roll is Here To Stay: Mellencamp, Madonna, and the Philly Soul of Gamble and Huff

March 8th, 2008 — 02:26 am

A small but select group of big names in the music world will be inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this Monday. I’ve got a Single Song Sunday feature on oft-covered fellow inductee Leonard Cohen scheduled for Sunday, and I couldn’t find any folk covers of the theme to Hawaii 5-0, but to whet your appetite a bit, here’s a few choice covers of and from three other artists who will be strutting their way across the stage to get their due.

As songwriters and producers, Philadelphia soul pioneers Gamble and Huff had their fingers in the pies of thousands of songs; separately and together they’ve made 170 gold and platinum records, and you know a bunch of them, including the theme to Soul Train. They’re also one of the few major players known for celebrating the use of their music for remixes and as hip-hop beats. Here’s a few choice covercuts from their stable of songs. (Winehouse song removed, as it was not a cover after all.)

The roots rock of John (Cougar) Mellencamp transformed my childhood when a family friend who wrote music reviews for a national weekly gave me a copy of Scarecrow; up until that point, other than a few pop 45s, the only records I owned were Thriller and a used copy of the Bee Gees greatest hits. Today, every time I post a song, I’m paying it forward. Here’s two surprisingly well-done Mellencamp tributes to his folk predecessors.

The wholesale reinvention which typifies Madonna, both as a musician and a cultural icon, is essentially anathema to the whole authenticity thing that practically defines the folkworld; as such, it’s especially hard to find earnest acoustic covers of Madonna songs. Neither of the two male coverartists below can keep from laughing at the sheer audacity of trying to take their live covers seriously. All three versions are lighthearted romps worth hearing nonetheless.

We’ll be back Sunday with a short but solid set of covers of my second favorite Leonard Cohen song. Hint: it’s not Hallelujah.

1,033 comments » | Beth Orton, Billy Bragg, Eva Cassidy, Gamble and Huff, Jack Johnson, John Mellencamp, Keb' Mo', Lavender Diamond, Madonna, Ryan Adams