1. Wicked Game - Lana Del Rey
I adore the original, but while I'm not always the biggest fan of Lana Del Rey, this Chris Issak song is definitely the perfect match for her sultry, haunting voice.
2. Addicted to Love - Florence and the Machine
Not a lot to say, except that this is Florence and her Machine doing what they do best. I didn't care too much about this song until she came along.
3. Strangers in the Night - Cake
A way to update Sinatra's classic with one of my favorite bands -- Cake gives this their signature feel and makes this track utterly smooth.
4. 99 Problems - Hugo
Hugo didn't keep much of the original except for the refrain, which really works in this blue-grassy sound. Definitely the best thing that came out of the Colin Farrell remake of "Fright Night".
5. Heartless - Dia Frampton
I love it when folksy artists take on different genres - which is what Dia does really well here with Kanye's "Heartless". The Voice brought her out into the open, and thank goodness - this girl's a genius.
6. Toxic - Melanie Martinez
It takes a true artist to bring soul and emotion out of Britney Spear's gyrating hit "Toxic", so I take my bow off to you, Ms. Martinez.
7. All About That Bass (Jazz Style) - Postmodern Jukebox (feat. Kate Davis)
I'm obsessed with all of Postmodern Jukebox's songs (including Talk Dirty withYiddish rap and a cover of Iggy Azalea's Fancy in 1920s flapper-style). But for me, Kate Davis actually playing an upright bass for "All About that Bass" and singing at the same time makes this absolutely adorable, and this is a track I can actually see in my iTunes.
8. Mad World - Jasmine Thompson
So when she kept coming up on my Pandora stations, I got annoyed pretty fast with this breathy piano-accompanied voice that only ever did covers of other great songs. But this song totally sold me...oh, and also I changed my tune a bit when I discovered that she is actually a 14-year-old Brit. What the what?
9. Skinny Love - Birdy
Her cover of Bon Iver's "Skinny Love" is well-known enough that I stuck it here at the bottom of list, even though I probably listen to this one the most. Here we have another prime example of a crazy-young artist (14 when this song made it big) that has way more talent than is fair for the rest of the world. Hogs.
10. Stairway to Heaven - Rodrigo y Gabriela
This is a beautiful instrumental acoustic rendition of Led Zeppelin's classic. What amazes me most is how they can bring so much to a song with just two instruments. If you haven't checked out their other stuff before, you might need to now.
