War Child presents Heroes

1. Beck - Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat (Bob Dylan cover)

2. The Kooks - Victoria (The Kinks cover)
3. The Hold Steady - Atlantic City (Bruce Springsteen cover)

4. Hot Chip - Transmission (Joy Division cover) 

5. Lily Allen feat. Mick Jones - Straight To Hell (The Clash cover)
6. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Sheena Is A Punk Rocker (The Ramones cover)
7. Franz Ferdinand - Call Me (Blondie cover)
8. Duffy - Live And Let Die (Paul McCartney cover)
9. Estelle - Superstition (Stevie Wonder cover)
10. Rufus Wainwright - Wonderful & Song For Children (Brian Wilson cover)
11. Scissor Sisters - Do The Strand (Roxy Music cover)
12. Peaches -  Search And Destroy (Iggy Pop cover)
13. Adam Cohen-  Take This Waltz (Leonard Cohen cover)
14. Elbow - Running To Stand Still (U2 cover)
15. The Like - You Belong To Me (Elvis Costello cover)
16. TV On The Radio - Heroes (David Bowie cover)

So, The War Child International charity asked Bruce Springsteen to pick any song of his and then pick the artist to cover it. Who wants to hear The Hold Steady do “Atlantic City?”I do. The album is called Heroes, it comes out February 24, and has some other things you might wanna hear; Duffy doing “Live and Let Die,” Estelle doing “Superstition,” Hot Chip doing “Transmission,” and TV on the Radio doing Bowie’s “Hereos” to give it the title track...www.mypoprocks.com

Sweetheart: Our Favourite Artists Sing Their Favourite Long Songs

01 Death Cab for Cutie - Love Song (Cure cover)
02 Katy Perry - Black and Gold (Sam Sparro cover)
03 DeVotchKa - Hot Burrito #1 (I'm Your Toy) (Flying Burrito Brothers cover)
04 Department of Eagles - Love Me (Elvis Presley cover)
05 Jessica Lea Mayfield - Words of Love (Buddy Holly cover)
06 Ben Bridwell - Your Love Is Forever (George Harrison cover)
07 Kate Tucker - I'm on Fire (Bruce Springsteen cover)
08 Rogue Wave - Maps (Yeah Yeah Yeahs cover)
09 A.C. Newman - Take on Me (a-ha cover)
10 Jem - Yellow (Coldplay cover)
11 Richard Hawley - Early Morning Rain (Gordon Lightfoot cover)
12 Daniel Martin Moore - I Hear Music (Billie Holiday cover)
13 She & Him - I Put a Spell on You (Screamin' Jay Hawkins cover)
14 Lila Downs - My One and Only Love (Frank Sinatra cover)

For you to be in any way remotely amped about this story, the following things have to not make you want to barf: Starbucks, Valentine's Day, NPR-sounding MOR indie, Katy Perry blatantly grabbing for indie cred, cutesy fake-vintage cover art, the idea of anyone covering Coldplay for anything other than a joke, love in general. 

Still with me? On January 30, Starbucks Entertainment will release Sweetheart: Our Favorite Artists Sing Their Favorite Love Songs. Starbucks already pulled this trick in 2005, and apparently the world demanded a sequel. 
The tracklist includes A.C. Newman's previously reported cover of a-ha's "Take on Me", Ben Bridwell of Band of Horses covering George Harrison, Department of Eagles doing a Leiber and Stoller song made famous by Elvis, Rogue Wave doing the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and that Katy Perry cover of Sam Sparro's "Black and Gold" that lit up the mp3 blogs a few months back. 
Also, both halves of the newly engaged indie supercouple Ben Gibbard and Zooey Deschanel will be represented here via the Death Cab and She & Him selections, and maybe they'll be singing to each other because awww. (They're covering songs which, respectively, 311 and Marilyn Manson have already had their way with. Make of that what you will.)...www.pitchforkmedia.com

Headless Heroes - The Silence of Love

01. True Love Will Find You In The End 

02. Just One Time 

03. Here Before 

04. Just Like Honey 

05. To You 

06. Blues Run The Game 

07. Hey, Who Really Cares? 

08. Nobody's Baby Now 

09. The North Wind Blew South 

10. See My Love

With an under-loved folk singer (Alela Diane), a bunch of top-notch musos (Joey Waronker, Josh Klinghoffer, etc) and a covers album full of lost classics and obscure gems, what could possibly go wrong?

Not much, actually. This is a tasteful and entirely pleasant run-through of great songs from the likes of Vashti Bunyan, Daniel Johnston, the Jesus and Mary Chain and I Am Kloot. The only thing missing is one moment of jaw-dropping, risk-taking audacity...www.indepedent.co.uk

Guilt By Association Vol. 2

1. My Brightest Diamond - Tainted Love (originally done by Gloria Jones)
2. The Bloodsugars - Self-Control (by Laura Branigan)
3. Robbers on High Street - Cool It Now (by New Edition)
4. Frightened Rabbit - Set You Free (by N-Trance)
5. Matt Pond PA - I'm Not Okay (by My Chemical Romance)
6. Takka Takka - In the Air Tonight (by Phil Collins)
7. Kaki King - I Think She Knows (by Justin Timberlake)
8. Francis And The Lights - Can't Tell Me Nothing (by Kanye West)
9. Lowry - Africa (by Toto)
10. The Forms - We Didn't Start The Fire (by Billy Joel)
11. Rafter - If You Leave (by Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark)
12. Cassettes Won't Listen - Need You Tonight (by INXS)
13. Jukebox the Ghost - It's A Beautiful Life (by Ace of Base)
14. Max Vernon - I Kissed a Girl (by Kate Perry)

Cover your faces while you cover your favorites: it's time for a sequel to Guilt by Association, the 2007 comp from Engine Room Recordings that had folks like Will Oldham, Devendra Banhart, and Superchunk totally putting their cred on the line bytaking on an eyebrow-raising bunch of popular tunes.

For round two, the comp seems to have evolved from a collection of covers of guilty pleasures to an unabashed celebration of pop, probably since nobody should ever feel ashamed for liking something (unless that something is Ted Nugent in 2008).

Participants this time around include the My Brightest Diamond, Frightened Rabbit, Kaki King, Rafter, Takka Takka, the Forms, and Matt Pond PA, while the material ranges from 1980s classics such as "In the Air Tonight", "Tainted Love", and "If You Leave" to cuts from Ace of Base, Kanye West, Justin Timberlake, and even Katy Perry.

Guilt by Association Vol. 2 hits stores on CD come February 17, but anxious sorts can actually score the thing right now via iTunes. You can also stream the set here, and download an MP3 of My Brightest Diamond's "Tainted Love" cover below. No really, go ahead, we swear we won't tell a soul. ;-)...www.pitchforkmedia.com