Give it up for Jack Conte and his killer cover/mashup of Bright Eyes’ “First Day Of My Life” and Aphex Twin’s “Flim.” Additionally, Conte filmed the track as a “videosong,” which means what you see is what you hear (no lip-syncing for instruments or voice) and if you hear it at some point you see it (no hidden sounds). All in all, it’s very impressive. Hear it/watch it for yourself!

MP3:
Jack Conte - “First Day Of My Life / Flim”

VIDEO:

Despite ongoing stories of Katy Perry’s uncoolness, Hypeful is temporarily suspending its musical fatwā against her to offer you Max Vernon’s doo wop/jazz cover of her single “I Kissed A Girl.” It’s great to hear a guy tackle this song and you’ve got to admire Vernon’s chutzpah for really going after it. (Get ready, the song really hits its full synth-stride at the midpoint!) If you dig this, Vernon has more MP3s for your downloading pleasure on his MySpace page - which means he probably won’t be sending the IFPI after you like certain other girl-kissers I can think of…*cough cough* Enjoy!

MP3:
Max Vernon - “I Kissed A Girl (Katy Perry Cover)” (removed at request of label)

PREVIOUSLY:
Katy Perry & IFPI Shut Down Hypeful

I hope you’re sitting down, folks - ’cause we officially have an entry for Best Cover of 2008! When a band as awesome as Spoon attempts a cover of a song as awesome as The Smiths’ “Panic,” it’s amazing that the universe doesn’t collapse on itself from all of the sheer, um, awesomeness. Obviously, this cover has rendered me incoherent, so I’ll let the track speak for itself! Check it out below! (Thanks to YANP for the heads up!)

MP3s:
Spoon - “Panic” (The Smiths cover)
The Smiths - “Panic”

As you’ve no doubt heard by now, R&B megastar R. Kelly was found not guilty last week after a well-publicized trial involving kiddie porn charges. If there’s one lesson to be learned from one of his signature raunchy club hits, it’s that now is probably a good time to celebrate - perhaps in a hotel lobby until 4 AM or something. Unfortunately, Hypeful doesn’t have the scratch to send R. Kelly a couple of congratulatory Cristal bottles. So instead, here are five cover songs of R. Kelly’s music for your post-acquittal enjoyment!

MP3s:
Aqueduct (feat. Apples In Stereo) - “Ignition”
Bonnie ‘Prince Billy’ - “The World’s Greatest”
Peter - “Bump n’ Grind”
Brad Doggett - “Same Girl”
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - “I Believe I Can Fly”

Radiohead kicked off the European leg of their In Rainbows tour this weekend with a spankin’-new song entitled “Super Collider,” which had previously been sound-checked by the band. Thom Yorke used the encore portion of both Dublin shows to test the new tune with a solo performance. Also performed during sound-checks and posted onto the Radiohead social network waste.central, is Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood attempting Portishead’s “The Rip,” from that group’s recent album, Third. Posted by Colin Greenwood, the video of the duo covering the song was captured backstage at the band’s show last month in St. Louis. Check out the audio and video below!

MP3s:
Radiohead - “Super Collider” (Live)
Radiohead - “The Rip (Portishead cover)”

VIDEO:
Radiohead - Super Collider (Live)

Radiohead - The Rip (Portishead cover)