Q Covered: Best Of 86/06

2006 is Q's 20th birthday year. Therefore the June issue includes a free CD with songs covering "classic tracks". Think that explanation is weak? Well, check this out: Q considers Gwen Stefani's "What You Waiting For" a "classic". The Britney Spears song covered on the disc, sure. Who's going to argue with that? But let's wait a while before we dub Gwen Stefani's song a classic. She wasn't a child prodigy like Brit (or Arctic Monkeys, for that matter).

That quibble aside, the CD alone makes this issue of Q worth buying. 6 of the 14 tracks are either "exclusive to Q" or were "specially recorded for Q" and most are good, as are most of the other songs. On first listen, I find the Magic Numbers' cover of "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" quite annoying. But who knows, maybe it will grow on me if I listen to it enough times. On the other hand, mold grows on, say, bread, if you leave it around long enough. I do quite like the exclusive tracks I'm not posting...

Q Covered: Best Of 86/06 Track Listing:

1. Franz Ferdinand - What You Waiting For? (Gwen Stefani cover, exclusive to Q. Not a fan of the original, but this is a really fun cover, done with lots of energy and seemingly effortless skill. Plus, as they do when covering the song in concert, they add some lines from Billy Idol's "White Wedding")
2. Sugababes - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor (Arctic Monkeys cover, available on "Red Dress" single)
3. The Flaming Lips - Can't Get You Out Of My Head (Kylie Minogue cover, available on Fight Test EP)
4. Corinne Bailey Rae - Venus As A Boy (Bjork cover, specially recorded for Q)
5. Elbow - August And September (The The cover, exclusive to Q)
6. Richard Hawley - Some Candy Talking (The Jesus & Mary Chain cover, specially recorded for Q. Wonderful.)
7. Editors - Orange Crush (R.E.M. cover, specially recorded for Q. Stick in there past the opening; it gets better, especially musically. I think the music sounds really good, but Tom Smith's attempt at a Stipe impersonation mostly was not what this song needed. He sounds better when he really sings, but this song is heavy on labored-speech vocals. The backing vocals unfortunately are pretty weak)
8. Delays - The Sun Always Shines On TV (a-ha cover, specially recorded for Q. Pretty sincere and straightforward. According to Q, a-ha has "enjoyed much positive critical re-evaluation recently")
9. Jack Johnson - The 3 R's (The Magic Number) (cover of the Schoolhouse Rock song written by Bob Dorough, available on Singalongs And Lullabies For the Film Curious George)
10. Paul Anka - Wonderwall (Oasis cover, available on Rock Swings. Makes me miss the Mike Flowers Pops)
11. Jamie Cullum - Lover, You Should've Come Over (Jeff Buckley cover, available on Twentysomething: Special Edition. Quite good, pained yet... pretty)
12. Nick Cave - Disco 2000 (Pulp cover, available on Bad Cover Version)
13. The Magic Numbers - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out (The Smiths cover, available on the "I See You, You See Me" vinyl single. I love the original song by the Smiths. I like some songs by the Magic Numbers. This cover reminds me of the scene in Animal House when John Belushi's character, Bluto, grabs a guitar from a folk singer crooning "The Riddle Song" and violently bashes it until he can rest assured the man's acoustic villainy will end for the night. Sure, he could have gone a capella but the guitar's destruction likely made for a convincing demonstration of why he should not. Likewise, for me this song provides a convincing demonstration of why the Magic Numbers should not be permitted to cover the Smiths. Ever. I'm trying to forget they did it this time)
14. Travis - ...Baby One More Time (Britney Spears cover, available on "Turn" single and The Singles DVD. This song, however, is awesome. If you don't have it, do seek it out, preferably on the June Q CD, which is worth buying despite the fiendish track 13)