_______________DISTORTION DISCO______________

Just heard a cover version of Blue Monday on radio today. It was done by once destined to be great band Swan Lee. The song sounded good by all means, and it is always interesting to hear different takes on the same song - I, like probably every other person in the blogosphere, was amazed at the new level kool that Jose Gonzales brought to Heartbeats, but for some reason I generally get a bit annoyed by cover versions. All though depends on context I guess. Either it can come of as the obligatory "tak" pronounced in broken Danish by artists claiming cross cultural awareness at the Roskilde Festival - painful and as lousy showmanship like filler - OR it can come of as the absolute highlight of a concert (Travis doing Back in Black or The Rapture doing Gery Glitters Rock'n Roll Part 1 is seriously nothing to be messed with!).
I think the trick is that you already have some sort of cultural reference point for both the original song and the artist doing the cover - if those things do not match up in some way it's more excruciating than having your appendix removed with a spoon.

Every now and then though it does happen than everything just clicks:

Here are some covers of or by some Distortion Disco favorites:

Klaxons - My Love (Originally by Mr. Timberlake) - Live at Jo Whileys Live Lounge

Scala Choir - Hungriges Herz (Originally by Mia.)

Lily Allen - Everybody's Changing - Live (Originally by Keane)

I don't know if these songs do the trick for you, but I do find them to add or offer something interesting - not necessarily genious. The Lily Allen track is actually a small bite of heaven... Amazing singer surprisingly.

Oh yeah, head over to Bigstereo - There you'll find a remix by New Young Pony Club of The Gossip!