ALBUM RECOMMENDATION: BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge 2012

BBC Live Lounge is a popular segment on BBC Radio 1 hosted by Fearne Cotton. It involves recognised artists performing not only one of their own songs acoustically but also a song by another well-known artist.

The Live Lounge recordings are appreciated so much that an all tracks are now available in an album. BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge 2012 album is one of my favourite albums to listen to at the moment.

Live Lounge 2012

The album features indie bands singing current top 40 pop tracks and conversely; rather indie tracks being covered by contemporary pop artists.

The 2012 album features the infamous British singer-songwriter, Rita Ora singing an acoustic cover of the well-known song, ‘Somebody That I used to Know’ by Gotye, an Australian indie rock musician. The Gotye song orignally reached the number one spot in eighteen countries including the UK and US.

Rita Ora singing in the live lounge

It also includes covered tracks of songs originally by Rita Ora. Her song written by American rapper, Drake, ‘R.I.P’ is covered by, Deliah. Deliah is an equally talented British singer-songwriter although less she is less well-known. In my opinion Rita Ora’s dance track is impressively modified acoustically by Deliah. The song is slowed down and sounds more intimate than the original.Many describe Deliah as underrated. However I think on this album she demands attention and I definitely recommend listening to her.

Visit  YOUTUBE to hear Deliah’s subtle dance track, ‘Go’.

The album also involves The Vaccines, the English indie-rock band covering the country pop star, Taylor Swift’s track, ‘We are Never Getting Back Together.’

The album has the charm of merging two complete opposites together and surprisingly all tracks are almost as good as the original or in some cases, better.

The Glasgow rock group, Twin Atlantic also feature on the album. The Glaswegian  group cover Jessie Jays track, ‘Who You Are’.

Twin Atlantic recording in the Live Lounge

My personal favourites are:

Florence and the Machine singing an acoustic version of ‘Take Care’. The song was originally released by Rihanna and American rapper, Drake. Although I am a fan of the original version, Florence and the Machine cover it with such genuine emotion I love it too. They take the song and make it sound like a completely different track.

Also Ben Howard covering the catchy pop tune, “Call Me Maybe”. This is one instance where the cover is better than the original –for me personally. The acoustic modification create an enchanting sound and along with Ben Howards moving tone the tune turns enchanting.  In my opinion the cover is an elaborate piece of music –without sounding over-done.

The last favourite is Plan B covering Cheryl Cole’s, “Call My Name”. I enjoy the original version but the acoustic cover allows time for the song to be heard and appreciated. The cover is sung with such frustration and desperation that it sparks more emotion than the original fast-paced version.

The album is worth on Amazon or downloading on Itunes.