One thing that I like to sort of collect is covers of songs. It's always cool to see two different takes on any given song, especially if the singers are from different backgrounds. Take the various covers of Crazy, by Gnarls Barkley.
The original Crazy is a fast, hip-hop type of song with a heavy bass line, but it's got a very easy going quality towards it. I'm not a hip-hop fan at all, but this one's not only tolerable, but highly listenable. It's a well put together song, with good vocal work and backgrounds, and it's not overly complicated by wanting to be a dance number or with too much going on.
Ray LaMontagne has also done a variation on the song, to his own style. He follows the more acoustic guitar tradition (Which I'm a sucker for) and he brings that, but his own lower vocal work to it. In addition, he changes up his time and pacing for the song, not trying to really follow the original too much, which is a plus for this song. There's only so many times that you can listen to a song cover, but what's the point if it's exactly like the original?
Crazy - Gnarls Barkley
Crazy - Ray Lamontagne
