New(ish) Noise :: Mandy Moore Covers "Umbrella"

When Tug and I began this humble blog — and Lord, please bless this cybermess — I doubt either of us had anticipated the possibility — or plausibility, really — of having to blog about Mandy Moore. (Well, aside from the ever-possible "I say, sir, Mandy Moore is certainly an attractive woman" comments. I digress.) But life is a funny thing.

Either way, Moore covered the Rihanna jam — and I do mean jam; have you heard this?! Let me pause to elaborate on this for a moment: Much like "Crazy" was last year, "Umbrella" is this year's unquestioned Jam of the Summer. Jam of the Year, perhaps. — on Yahoo! Music last week, and the fine folks at Kevipod Music have the MP3 available. Being Mandy Moore, it's a totally Triple-A, Top-40-pop take on the song, but damn if it's not awesome when the brushed drums and electric piano come in. I dare say it even indie-rocks a little at the end.

Come to think of it, the end makes me wonder what "Umbrella" would sound like if covered by Aloha. Get to it, Cale Parks!

Mandy Moore — "Umbrella" (via Kevipod Music)