In celebration of their 20th anniversary, music outlet Under the Radar is releasing a compilation titled Covers of Covers. It features some of their favorite artists covering songs by musicians who have graced the covers of their magazine over the years. It includes takes on songs by Phoenix, Broken Social Scene, Stars, HAIM, Mitski, Angel Olsen, Animal Collective, Beck, Elliott Smith, Joanna Newsom, Belle & Sebastian, and many more.
With purchases of these new recordings, a dollar from every album sale goes toward Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, a non-profit that gives “financial assistance to all types of career musicians and music industry workers who are struggling to make ends meet while facing physical or mental health issues, disability, or age-related problems.” Today, EMA has shared their cover of Modest Mouse’s “Trailer Trash,” and Grandaddy shared their version of Metric’s “Blindness.”
“I’m a big Metric fan,” said Grandaddy’s Jason Lytle. “One time I drove from Bozeman to Salt Lake City (a 9hr. drive) to see them play live. I don’t even like going to shows. That says a lot. I chose ‘Blindness’ as it has been one of my favorite songs of theirs since I first heard it in 2009. I recorded and mixed it all in my garage, and enjoyed treading that line of trying to emulate some of the original sounds and ‘feels’ but also making it mine for a bit, and have a little fun.”
EMA shared of her cover: “This song reminds me of a person I used to be in love with. We were teenage robo-buddies. We drove around on gravel roads, pulling over at abandoned barns and country cemeteries. We weren’t physical, except once when I started crying, gave them a kiss and then ran out of the car. Very dramatic. People used to say we were going to end up married and living like the ‘trailer trash’ couple in this song. It didn’t happen.”
Hear both renditions below.
