My Spilt Milk Goes Under Covers

We've assembled a Spotify playlist of cover versions and we need your help with it.

[Updated] Cover versions have been on our minds here at Spilt Milk World HQ. We're giving away tickets to see Jake Shimabukuro, who has made his reputation by adapting rock and pop classics to the ukelele, and I knew I wanted My Spilt Milk to present Los Angeles' Superhumanoids at the Circle Bar June 28 after hearing their dream pop version of The Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated." Around the same time, friend of Milk Michaelangelo Matos wrote a piece on the challenge of covering dance music tracks (and references The Madd Wikkid's Brassft Punk project in the process). That confluence got us thinking, and we have pulled together a Spotify playlist of cover versions. We have left it open to collaboration because we want you to add your favorite covers to the playlist as well. 

This is contest of sorts. If you have favorites, please add them, but those who add 10 or more will be eligible to win tickets to shows at area clubs in July. We value covers that blow your mind, covers that people didn't know existed, covers of songs or artists rarely covered, and covers that reflect knowledge and/or commitment on the part of the people who added them. In general, think about what makes good covers. To our minds, they make a meaningful change to the original, and at best they give listeners something new to think about. They're better if people know the original because you can think about the cover and it's relationship to the original, but that's not necessary. We've all discovered a band through someone's cover of a song by that band.

The playlist is open for business; enjoy. The covers contest will close at 6 p.m. June 20 and winners will be announced via Facebook and Condensed Milk on June 21.  

Updated June 18, 12:37 p.m.

We've had a lot of great entries so far, but I want to remind people that this is a contest. The House of Blues, The Howlin' Wolf, Tipitina's, One Eyed Jacks, and The Republic have each contributed a pair of tickets to a show of the recipients' choice in July (depending on availability). The winner will get first choice of what pair he or she wants, followed by the runner-up, and so on. So we will give away prizes to five contributors to the covers playlist. One contributor has come strong with quantity, but there's definitely room for the smart, incisive collection of covers that blows us away. Thanks to The House of Blues, The Howlin' Wolf, Tipitina's, One Eyed Jacks, and The Republic for their contributions.