The fun thing about making mix CDs and playlists is that you can go for a theme like this one:  an entire CD made up of cover songs.

Covers can be hit or miss–on the one hand you don’t want the covering artist to change the original song too much, but on the other, if it’s just the same exact song spouted in a different voice, why bother?  The best covers infuse an old favorite with new energy.  In some cases they’re even better than the original (or at least make a great song by someone with a grating voice more accessible, which is how I feel about several of the songs listed below).

These are my favorites, listed by covering artist – song title – original artist.

• Caroline Lavelle – A Case of You – Joni Mitchell
• Anberlin – Enjoy the Silence – Depeche Mode
• Sarah McLachlan – Bring on the Wonder – Susan Enan (will be released June 15)
• Alanis Morissette – Crazy – Seal
• Tori Amos – Like a Prayer – Madonna
• Concrete Blonde – The Ship Song – Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
• India Arie  – The Heart of the Matter – Don Henley
• Lizz Wright – Stop – Madonna (cover of “Don’t Tell Me”)
• Marie Digby – Umbrella – Rihanna
• Darren Hayes – In Your Eyes – Peter Gabriel
• Brandi Carlile – Hallelujah – Leonard Cohen
• Indigo Girls – All Along the Watchtower – Bob Dylan
• Dixie Chicks – Landslide – Fleetwood Mac
• Cowboy Junkies – Sweet Jane – Velvet Underground
• Ryan Adams – Wonderwall – Oasis
• Adam Lambert – Mad World – Tears for Fears
• Sixpence None the Richer – Don’t Dream it’s Over – Crowded House
• Anberlin – True Faith – New Order
• Melissa Etheridge – Refugee – Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
• E Muzeki – The Kiss – Randy Edelman (from the Last of the Mohicans soundtrack)

Tonight was my last DJ session at Inner Rhythms: Ecstatic Dance for Women until Autumn.  We decided to take a hiatus and hopefully come back next season re-energized.

The mix came together really fast once I got into it, and it turned out great.  It’s sort of girl-powery, but mostly what I had in mind was transition; both riding the wave of change and getting stuck in a whirlpool for a while until something pushes you back into the tide.  (Being that I’m in a whirlpool kind of place myself lately it was espeically meaningful.)  The energy of the mix is all about working through tough stuff and ending up in a place where you’re grateful–not that it happened, necessarily, but that you found a way to make the pain count.

1 ~ O Mio Babbino Caro – performed by Joshua Bell
2 ~ What Doesn’t Belong to Me – Sinead O’Connor
3 ~ Duden – Natacha Atlas
4 ~ Fighter – Christina Aguilera
5 ~ Al Kalb Yaachak Koli Jamil – Elie Attieh
6 ~ Firefly – Mike Foyle
7 ~ Touch of My Hand (Bill Hamel Club Mix) – Britney Spears*
8 ~ Sweet Lullaby – Deep Forest
9 ~ Thank U – Alanis Morissette
10 ~ Corpse Pose – Bill Laswell

* – Yes, Britney Spears.

Here’s an upbeat sort of mix guaranteed to give you a shot in the arm of feminine juju without a lot of the “girl power” cattiness that seems to underlie music by women these days.  It may not be trendy, it may not be hip, but this mix always makes me feel better about myself and life in general, and puts a little spring in my step (and occasionally makes me punch the air).

This one goes out to my 12 year old self, who was very disappointed to find blood, not blue snow-cone syrup, in her undies when her first period started.  Damn you, advertising!

1 ~ Strange Thing – Sophie B. Hawkins
2 ~ Taking the Long Way Around – The Dixie Chicks
3 ~ 32 Flavors – Ani DiFranco
4 ~ Whole New You – Shawn Colvin
5 ~ Strength, Courage, & Wisdom – India Arie
6 ~ Free – Concrete Blonde
7 ~ Extraordinary – Liz Phair
8 ~ Bitch – Meredith Brooks
9 ~ Unpretty – TLC
10 ~ Unwritten – Natasha Bedingfield
11 ~ Daddy I’m Fine – Sinead O’Connor
12 ~ Like it or Not – Madonna
13 ~ So Unsexy – Alanis Morissette
14 ~ Heal Me – Melissa Etheridge
15 ~ Almost Home – Mary Chapin Carpenter
16 ~ Ordinary Miracle – Sarah McLachlan

And while we’re on the subject, just for grins, here’s my favorite new commercial:

The best part? In the UK, their mascot is a beaver. What are your favorite self-esteem-shot-in-the-arm songs?

This month’s Ecstatic Dance mix came together surprisingly quickly and with very little tweaking.  It has an introspective sort of feel to it, and includes some of my favorite healing songs as well as some that are just fun to move to.

And, of course, a little Madonna. It’s good for the soul.

Warmup:  Deva Premal – Guru Rinpoche Mantra

1 ~ Lis Addison – Snakeroot
2 ~ Caroline Lavelle – Moorlough Shore
3 ~ Midival Punditz – Chandini Chowk
4 ~ The Dum Dum Project – Jaia Ganesha
5 ~ Niyaz – Love and the Veil
6 ~ Transglobal Underground – Earth Tribe
7 ~ Madonna – Celebration
8 ~ Chicane – Saltwater
9 ~ Sinead O’Connor – Thank You for Hearing Me
10 ~ Andrew McPherson – Hymn

Tonight’s mix for Ecstatic Dance for Women was pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. To me it had a kind of “stirring up, letting go” energy, releasing Winter’s baggage in time to embrace the burgeoning Spring.

Warmup: Ani DiFranco – Amazing Grace

1 ~ Lizz Wright – Coming Home
2 ~ Circa Paleo – The Kiss (originally from the Last of the Mohicans soundtrack)
3 ~ Sophie B. Hawkins – 32 Lines
4 ~ Lenny Kravitz – Fly Away
5 ~ The Spy from Cairo – All is One
6 ~ Midival Punditz – Bhangra Fever
7 ~ Louie – Away
8 ~ Delerium w/Matthew Sweet – Daylight
9 ~ Sia – Breathe Me
10 ~ Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack – Latika’s Theme
11 ~ Anugama – Flowing