Jeremy Malvin (aka Chrome Sparks) recently released a cover of fellow University of Michigan student Macklin Underdown’s tune ‘Hysteria,’ off his October debut under the moniker fthrsn. Chrome Sparks’ rendition comes by way of PORTALS’ February mixtape, the second installment of the spankin’ new superblog’s monthly mixtape series. Download the whole mix right here.

Chrome Sparks - Hysteria (fthrsn cover)

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This summer Finnish pianist and electronic artist Aaro Vahtera added the beautiful vocals of his classmate Sanni Pesonen to the ranks of his solo project Loft Apartment. They’ve recently crafted this swell cover of Lana del Ray’s song Video Games. The duo is currently working on a new release which shall drop in the coming months. Make sure to check out Loft Apartment’s first release, Aaro’s solo effort from almost a year ago, a four-track EP entitled Kolipri which set the foundation that Aaro and Sanni continue to build off with their forthcoming release. Keep an eye out for new tracks and demos from the Finns over at their soundcloud.

Video Games live (Lana del Rey cover) by Loft Apartment

LA-based tropical breeze-pop enthusiasts Kisses are back, following up their 2010 debut The Heart of the Nightlife, with a new single— a cover of Robert Palmer’s song Johnny and Mary. They’re set to release the cover as a single alongside a remix of British band Mozart Parties. Have a listen below.

Kisses - Johnny and Mary (Robert Palmer Cover)

Real Estate contributed this cover of The Strokes ‘Barely Legal’ to Stereogum’s Stroked: A Tribute To Is This It compilation.

Matt, Alex and I – as well as all of our friends – were pretty much obsessed with this band when we were 15. We formed a Strokes cover band and played at Cassie (Ramone)’s sweet 16. When Alex got his first electric guitar, he opted for the white Stratocaster like Albert Hammond Jr. He even had the red lightning bolt strap. The approach to doing this cover was to not make it sound like the original, pretty simple. However, these songs are all arranged too well already that it’s pretty hard to come up with something new. We did a half-time drum beat thing, and then the rest of it just kind of fell into place. // Martin Courtenay

Real Estate - Barely Legal (The Strokes cover)

Pure Balearic bliss, baby. “Please don’t hate tomorrow, baby” - TTA

L/J - I’ll Be Right There (The Tough Alliance cover)

[via The Apiary]