We thought we’d do something a little special for this week’s choice.
See, we figured, you could listen to the original versions of these songs any time you wanted to…how often do you get to hear two artists covering each other’s records stupendously well in the same place though?
Well, behold the almighty awesomeness of Ed Sheeran and Birdy doing justice to one another’s songs Skinny Love and The A Team, songs which were both hugely successful when released last year.
Despite the obvious difference in their vocals and instruments of choice, both Sheeran and Birdy, real name Jasmine van den Bogaerde, put on striking performances of their covers for artists still so young and new in their careers.
Sheeran, 21, armed with his guitar, uses a variation of intonations to set the mindscape of the song seamlessly and the air of effortless conviction enforces the significance of the lyrics, which really do strike a chord amongst his minimalistic use of chords.
15 year old Birdy, meanwhile, brings a new element of grandeur and empathy to The A Team by playing the piano, a song which found massive success as a profound story of life on the street.
With her voice resonating against the studio around her, the performance eloquently and compassionately deals with the issues raised in Sheeran’s lyrics of hardship and solitude.
Producing such stunning music at such an early point in their careers is a credit to both Sheeran and Birdy and we eagerly look forward to their future projects.
Perhaps we’ll even start a campaign to get them to collaborate…hmmm, now that’s an idea…
With his debut American tour starting in four weeks’ time, Ben Howard has a very promising chance at becoming an international triumph if the current number of his sold out gigs are anything to go by.
Having just celebrated his 24th birthday, the Devonshire based singer-songwriter found success in the UK after his first album Every Kingdom got to No. 7 on the album charts last October, spending 23 weeks in the charts in total.
Currently doing dates in Europe, Howard has performances in Germany and France lined-up before taking his tour over to the US, starting with weekend dates at Sasquatch Music Festival in Washington.
Worryingly though, a recent announcement (Friday 27th April) on his website confirmed at least four cancelled locations on the last stretch of his European gigs due to illness, although the post goes on to say performances will be back on “asap”.
With a month still to go, Howard already has four of his nine US gigs set to be filled to the rafters with fans, including three sold out performances in Los Angeles and San Francisco.…(Read more.)
Gotye’s latest single, Eyes Wide Shut, from the globally successful Making Mirrors album has gotten its first taste of radio airplay in the UK this week.
With the singer-songwriter’s first release, Somebody That I Used to Know, and the album itself having gone to No. 1 in charts in Europe, Australia, Asia and the US, it seemed this song was slowly but surely creeping its way into everyone’s life at the time.
If, like most of the world, you’ve already heard it, you know exactly what I mean.
And, if like the millions of others you’ve fallen under the mysticism of its lyrics, you may be pleasantly surprised by Walk Off The Earth’s rather more penetrating deliverance of this poignant track.
Forming in 2006 in their hometown of Burlington, Ontario, the group consists of members Gianni Luminati, Ryan Marshall, Mike ‘Beard Guy’ Taylor, Joel Cassady and Sarah Blackwood, each of whom are, in their own right, adept multi-instrumentalists and vocalists…(Read more.)
We here at Acoustic Sound Hole can’t help but fall ever so slightly weak at the knees at a beautiful Scotsman who can sing, so Biffy Clyro have always ticked all the right boxes for us.
Machines just so happens to be on one of our personal all-time favourite albums too, so it’s only right this song gets shared on this list.
From the band’s 2007 album Puzzle, Machines is the final track on a record that tells a profound story of personal development.
Dealing with the passing of his mother, lead vocalist Simon Neil penned the album as a way of coping with losing such a momentous figure in his life.
Although Puzzle, the band’s third album, isn’t acoustic based, Neil chose to end the record with a last memento to his mother who was a fan of country and folk music, where this song takes its influences from.
Machines is a stunning way to finish an exquisite album, with its resolute tones of fore longing and quiet desperation, after the upheaval and structured outpour of previous tracks.
Everything about this song is brilliant, from the delicately selected chords leading to orchestral backing to the sincerity in Neil’s voice as he projects these lyrics that resound so heavily with him.
Puzzle reached No. 2 in the first week of its release and is still the highest peaking Biffy Clyro album to date, despite the massive success of their 2009 follow-up, Only Revolutions.
The legend that is Dave Grohl was always somehow going to make it into this list.
Although fans of Foo Fighters may be more accustomed to hearing the full-pelted version of this song, full of hardcore riffage and moshability, this stripped back version of Best of You still captures every bit of awesomeness we associate with the song.
Going solo in this particular performance, Grohl and his acoustic guitar hit the song as hard as his instrument will let him, keeping the song alive with the gruff passion and power Grohl is infamous for.
A truly special moment in this video is when the crowd join in about midway, just before Grohl launches on his massive attack of the final part of the song, going hardcore on the closing riff an’ everything!
Legendary.
Definitely our favourite Amy Winehouse song (to be fair, we love all of them so that’s no comparison really…), Love Is A Losing Game is already a beautiful song.
This acoustic cover however, has a completely different feel to the studio version.
One of the main reasons we adore Amy’s music here at Acoustic Sound Hole was because of her ability to truly connect with the lyrics in her songs to the point she was lost in her own voice, staring anywhere but facing the audience directly, unashamedly almost reliving those times before your very eyes.
In this video, it’s just Amy and her guitarist – nothing more, and that’s what makes this song so perfect.
You don’t need anything else.
This acoustic version of Love Is A Losing Game is a perfect depiction of all that was special about Amy, her voice and the undeniable talent she championed.
If you haven’t heard of Mads Langer, don’t feel too bad, but ready yourselves because you’re in for a definite treat.
The 28 year old singer-songwriter from Denmark found international success after he released a cover of Olive’s You’re Not Alone.
Considered a massive retro dance track from the 90’s, this isn’t the first time the song’s been remixed or remade.
Langer decided to take the song back to its barest form though, somehow transforming this massive club banger into a serenely sweet tale of affection and honesty.
To be honest, you wouldn’t even believe it’s the same song on first play – after hearing it for three weeks consecutively whilst on our summer travels it was only on the last day that realisation finally dawned.
His version of You’re Not Alone was first released in December 2009, solely in Europe.
After being charted highly in countries like Italy and Denmark, it was also included on his first international album, Behold, released 18 months later.
As fellow avid followers of the UK Top 40 charts may also have observed, and therefore can’t deny, there has been a slow but sure and steady rise of acoustic music in the higher rankings of the charts, battling it out amongst some of the mightier contenders from rivalling pop genres.
Now, readers may disagree, but then again we feel we’re justified in this claim and surely cannot be completely alone in thinking this.
And albeit a seemingly minor insurgence we consider ‘tis an uprising nonetheless and one which is most welcome too.
With the current charts full of squeakily cleaned tween-boppers all the way through the spectrum to gangsta rappers, why does everyone think it’s acceptable to auto-tune the crap out of every viable syllable?
We, for one, think it’s refreshing to hear something music that has that element of spontaneity and sounds like the musician actually feels something for what they’re singing about, so much so they invoke a genuine excitement in their audience as the story unfolds with the often found profoundness of their lyrics…(Read more.)
From her third album, A Creature I Don’t Know which peaked at No. 4 in the UK album charts last September, All My Rage is a wonderfully illustrative song by the sensational Laura Marling.
22 year old Marling has a distinct sound to her music, influenced by her Hampshire upbringing, using acoustic melodies and folky metaphors to produce illuminatingly graphic images to what she conveys in her lyrics.
All My Rage is no different – although the title may be misleading, the song is upbeat and foot-stompingly addictive, with its unashamedly catchy strains as Marling hits and interweaves through vocal notes that could grace the heavens, accentuated superbly by the backing group along with their folk instruments about halfway through the song.
Guaranteed this song will get you hooked on Laura Marling, so much so that it’ll have you raising a maypole and swinging it off it for days after listening to her.
Everyone remembers the original version of Hey Ya by Outkast – the high energy, fast-paced dance track from 2003’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below album that got everyone shaking it ‘like a polaroid picture.’
But seeing as this is Acoustic Sound Hole, we’re much more interested in the Obadiah Parker cover of the song.
Fans of US TV show Scrubs may remember this version of the song being performed by Ted at the Janitor’s wedding towards the end of the penultimate season.
However, if you haven’t heard it yet, we fiercely recommend you do.
Although you may be thinking no one could do a better version of Hey Ya than Andre 3000, we beg to differ – Parker will open your eyes to just how much can be done with an acoustic cover of this song, proving you don’t need a million dollars and fancy gadgets to bring this song to life.
Acoustic Sound Hole 