Hi. I come back to you from the dead. Today marks the first day my appetite returns after 5 days of awesome fever and not being able to eat, so I figure I’d better continue with this while I can sit and type and breathe (this isn’t a given!?). Too bad this isn’t a podcast, because I’m sporting a sexy, cracked, hoarse voice that’d give Scarjo a run for her money. You’d just have to edit out all the coughing and the sound of my brain trying to squeeze its way out of my nostrils. Yup, just as gross as it sounds. Steam ahead?

Best of 2011 .::. 50 refixes/covers | Covers 11-30 (dl part 1) Great covers are hard to come by, as they not only live up to or sometimes surpass the originals, they also set themselves apart without abandoning what makes the originals compelling to cover in the first place. Twenty-eleven was a great year for covers, with so many cover tribute albums of some of the biggest names: U2, Nirvana, Madonna, Buddy Holly, the Strokes, and Franz Ferdinand (!). And those were just the albums I listened to. An embarrassment of riches means slimming down was hard. So instead of 25, the list has ballooned to 30 tracks because I simply can’t cut in anymore. Bon appetite!

11. Goodbye Horses (Q Lazzarus cover) by The Airborne Toxic Event

12. Kerosene (Big Black cover Bowery Ballroom NYC 2011) by St. Vincent

13. Bloodbuzz Ohio (The National Cover) by Oh Land

14. Back To Black (Amy Winehouse cover) by Ronnie Spector

15. Love Will Never Do Without You (Janet Jackson cover) by Cookies

16. The Suburbs (Arcade Fire cover) by Mr. Little Jeans

17. Tell Her No (The Zombies cover) by Tennis

18. Drain You (Nirvana Cover) by Foxy Shazam

19. Only Girl (in the World) (Rihanna cover) by Xiu Xiu

20. Until The End Of The World (U2 Cover) by Patti Smith

21. Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses (U2 Cover) by Garbage

22. Polly (Nirvana Cover) by Amanda Palmer

23. Where Is My Mind (The Pixies cover) Sunday Girl

24. Wolf Like Me (TV On The Radio Cover) Anna Calvi

25. VCR (The XX Cover) by The Antlers

26. Don’t turn the lights on (Chromeo cover) by Mayer Hawthorne

27. Is This It (The Strokes Cover) by Peter Bjorn And John

28. Everyday (Buddy Holly Cover) by Fiona Apple

29. Love Makes the World Go Round (Madonna Cover) by You Say Party

30. Pennyroyal Tea (Nirvana Cover) by Roadkill Ghost Choir

11. You look so fine - Garbage (Version 2.0, 1998)

Shirley Manson can do pretty and vulnerable, as well as cool and beastly, seemingly without effort. She doesn’t stretch herself as much vocally as some other folks on this list. That’s probably reflective of her modest persona, which isn’t something you’d associate with a rocker. But she still has hands-down one of the most distinct and sultry voices in music, ever, and that’s no small feat.

{My 50 ALL-TIME FAVOURITE FEMALE VOCALISTS list continues (tagged Female Vocalists)! The criteria are simple: they are female of the species, I love their voice, and they have attempted to sing in English at one point in their career. The present list is focused mostly on the quality/uniqueness of their tone (voice box), and their ability to emote the hell out of the songs.}

Cup of Coffee - Garbage

Off Beautiful Garbage.

I predict there’d be a Twitter Message song for future generations. Probably not as romantic though. What’s with coffee anyway? It’s so bitter! Maybe that’s why it’s a fitting image for a break up song?