VIDEO: Kimbra does Nina Simone's Plain Gold Ring

Kimbra, a featured stated artist from this summer, is on tour for her new album, Vows. Below is a live performance from November of a track entitled “Plain Gold Ring” from her last album. It’s a classic by Nina Simone. If you’re going to cover Nina Simone, it better be this good.

Here’s Kimbra doing “Plain Gold Ring”:

Here’s Nina Simone doing “Plain Gold Ring”:

SITE OF THE DAY: Amoeba Music's Live In-Store Concert Series

Amoeba Music is the self-proclaimed “world’s largest independent record store,” and its three impressive California locations in Berkeley, San Francisco, and Hollywood—not to mention its thriving online community—do a pretty respectable job of living up to that claim. Since 1990, Amoeba has managed to thrive during a time when its larger competitors have been closing up shop, in large part to innovations such as its impressive live in-store performance series. The Live Shows section of the website is a treasure trove of live concerts from an eclectic roster of musicians, both established and upstart.

Here’s a sampling of a set by The Swell Season to whet your appetite, and there’s plenty more where that came from…

SITE OF THE DAY: "The Fox is Black" Slyly Chases Contemporary Life & Culture

The Fox Is Black, formerly Kitsune Noir, is the pet project of Los Angeles-based designer Bobby Solomon. As he shares on his about page, “My friends and family were never as excited as I was about the things I would find so the site has become a way to share these ideas with likeminded people.” It’s continued to grow since its 2007 debut, with contributors covering all things art, design (including a nice collection of downloadable wallpapers), and music. Check out the “Mixtapes” section for gorgeously presented playlists.

VIDEO: A Toy Explores the World in Tom Jenkin's "Address is Approximate"

In Theory Films’ video, a desk toy longs to see the world and takes an incredible journey using Google Street View and a toy car. Beautiful animation and fascinating concept.

SITE OF THE DAY: FWA Highlights the Best of the Web

FWA (Favourite Website Awards), which describes itself as the “most visited website award program in the history of the Internet, with over 140 million site visits as of July 2011,” highlights a different site each day as “Site of the Day,” from which it selects one as “Site of the Month.” From those featured twelve, one is chosen each year by the public for the People’s Choice Award and one is named Site of the Year by a panel of industry experts. FWA is an incredible collection of the web’s most creative sites and a great addition to your bookmarks.