Various Artists: if I Was Prince

If I was Prince, I wouldn't have to worry so much about finding a job when I graduate. But alas, I don't look good in heels, nor am I a musical genius. The performers on the Rex Records compilation If I Was Prince may not be Prince either, but they do a good job of revamping his songs with an electro slant. Unlike many cover albums that take tunes you love and butcher them in the name of bad punk, the songs here stand alone as quality tracks in their own right. Encompassing a mix of Prince's songbook from favorites like "Under the Cherry Moon" to more obscure numbers such as "Alphabet Street," If I was Prince proves pleasurable from start to finish. Bronze Age Fox's trip-hop version of "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" is the band's first release ever, setting them up as a name to watch in the future. Broadway with Jeb Loy Nichols (check your Good Will Hunting Soundtrack) take the lesser known cut "The Ballad of Dorthy Parker" and make a soulful rendition Prince might want to rerecord himself. If I Was Prince may be grammatically incorrect, but the tunes are pitch perfect.