Cover Duel: Sexual Healing

The way I see it, cover versions mostly pale in comparison (Fig. 1) to the original. If a song was good enough to be super popular then guy who recorded it first probs did an okay job. But then there’s the idea that what makes a song a hit is people's being able to follow along with what’s going to happen up to a point, and then being surprised (Like those were surprising italics. Sneaky devils). You love remixes, when they do something freaky but not too freaky. So something familiar, plus things that make you go hmm equals something you like. Thats how covers keep from being redundant, yes? Maybe? Sure!

All this by way of saying: Cover Duel!

Hot Chip picks up points for hitting on the emotionally busted down core of the song. They’re British, yeah? So they can sound miserable, right?

Also, that video. That’s a whole bunch right there.

But to my mind, that’s just cover as novelty. This here? This is brutally good. This is music that can actually make people feel better about themselves and life. Maybe I’m just a soft touch when it comes to horns and acapella break-downs (I am) but this just kills me. Also, it’s an ass-load sexier than sad robots.

Incidentally Hot 8 Brass Band are all round badass. Check their myspace.

Fig. 1: Laaaaaaaaame joke.