Various

Rough Trade’s current swelling roster of talent each select a Rough Trade track from the past 25 years to cover. The results are impressive in showcasing the quality, depth and eclectic nature of Rough Trade’s history. The only point of contention is that recent Rough Trade discoveries-turned-stadium fillers, the Strokes, get selected not once but twice to be covered whereas every other original selection is between ten and 20 years old. If we’re going to point fingers, Canada’s very own Royal City along with the Detroit Cobras are the ones to blame for picking songs from the Stokes’ debut to pay homage to. The rest of this collection, however, displays Rough Trade’s brilliant past and almost every track is a keeper. Where Adam Green and Belle & Sebastian do a couple of Young Marble Giants songs, the Tyde and British Sea Power tackle the warm fuzz of Galaxie 500. The Fall are finely represented by Fiery Furnaces, oddball Jeffrey Lewis suitably takes on Television Personalities, the Cocteau Twin’s Elizabeth Fraser is stunning on her Robert Wyatt cover and Aztec Cameras are rendered in their pure pop beauty by Mystic Chords of Memory. Personal faves include the great Scritti Politti track "Lions After Slumber” taken on by the Veils, Oneida’s tightly wound performance of James "Blood” Ulmer’s "Jazz Is The Teacher, Funk Is The Preacher,” the homage to American indie rock icon’s the Feelies by Eastern Lane and Toronto’s Hidden Cameras outdoing New Zealand’s indie pop originators the Clean.