contest suggestion

[rachmiel]

no doubt this has been done, but just in case it hasn't ... how about an "extreme cover" contest?

each participant would create a cover of the same song.* all styles, treatments, levels of abuse would be welcome.

* - i think the song should be a great, very well known, already covered gobs of times classic. i would have chosen My Funny Valentine, but art beat me to it.

i would be very excited to hear what this group of interesting musical minds came up with: the same song filtered through 30+ imaginations.

rachMiel

[shamann]

Well, the Beatles' Yesterday is the most covered song of all time, so perhaps an obvious choice. If not a contest, maybe just a neverending theme thread. The less extreme, most technically adept entires often win such contests, which might dissuade some of the more adventurous.

[rachmiel]

> Yesterday

yes! i'm terrified (in a good way) to hear what barnadine would do with this ...

> The less extreme, most technically adept entires often win such contests, which might dissuade some of the more adventurous.

i'm glad *you* said this ... because it's the only thing missing for me (a bit) in the two contests i've participated in. i'm much more interested in idiosyncratic musical imagination than technical prowess. (though #1 without #2 can be self-defeating.)

rachMiel

[shamann]

i'm glad *you* said this

I hesitated, lest I raise the ire of the devout.

But, it's not meant as an insult so much, as it's almost inevitable. Gather a bunch of people of divergent tastes and interests and ask them to pick a winner by assigning ten ranks. It's hard not to give fair due to the entrant with the most chops, so the guy who gets straight thirds as a result of undeniable virtuosity will often win. Add to this that likely half of all music practitioners would not consider structural experimentalists to be music practitioners.

[Amberience]

Hehe. I'd be well up for doing Yesterday!

[rachmiel]

> Add to this that likely half of all music practitioners would not consider structural experimentalists to be music practitioners.

and vice-versa ... oh why can't we all just get along?

rachMiel

[Miro]

Oooh, we did one waaaay back in December 2003. Good fun it was too... here's the page from Markleford's archives - most of the links no longer work, but you can guess from the titles what kind of stuff was being made.
http://www.markleford.com/kvr/serve.jsp?page=kvr0312

Blimey - just noticed that Barnadine's winning entry link still works. Give that a listen - Wonderful

The only problem was that for artists that strayed too far from "Classic FM" territory, people often said "er...Nice tune...but..er.. I've never heard of that artist before so dunno if you're version is good or not..."

[rachmiel]

> Oooh, we did one waaaay back in December 2003.

this is great!

but i'd be even more interested in 30+ views of the same song. snowflakes: no two alike. also, by "extreme covers" i mean covers that don't necessarily try to imitate/parody the style of the original. imagine yesterday presented as a strict 12-tone piece with a measure of ueberDub for good luck ...

> The only problem was that for artists that strayed too far from "Classic FM" territory, people often said "er...Nice tune...but..er.. I've never heard of that artist before so dunno if you're version is good or not..."

yes. that's the key with covers, i think: recognizability. without it, the "joke" is lost, and a whole lot of the impact and power is dissipated.

rachMiel

[Miro]

...but i'd be even more interested in 30+ views of the same song. snowflakes: no two alike.

Now THAT's a good idea. Could be great fun