MashAve
So, mashups. I love them. Which is kind of ironically funny since a year ago I had no interest in them. And then luciamad and ze_dragon sat me down and shoved some on me. Now I'm obsessed with them and my mashup playlist keeps growing and growing and growing. Plus Boston's got some great mashup artists, including one of my favourites, Lenlow.
What are mashups, some of you might be asking...well, think of them as the musical versions of fanfic and fanart and fanvids. Basically what you have is a DJ pulling together elements of two or three or four (or more!) songs, twining the various tracks into an entirely new song. And when it's done well, these new songs are brilliant.
Sampling of songs in other songs has been part of music for ages, particularly in club/dance and hip-hop generes. But with audio editing equipment getting cheaper and cheaper and the Internet taking off in popularity, homegrown mashups have taken the musical scene by storm over the past couple of years.
Record companies aren't particularly fond of them though they've started turning a blind eye to them, but they've made such an impact on musical culture that there was an entire mashup album of Kanye West and Fall Out Boys songs floating around last year. And um, I really hate to say this, but those mashups are horrific. Do not listen to that album, for the love of God. Kayne and FOB The DJ who put this together (thanks for the heads up, gigantic!) fell into the beginner mashup trap of just laying one song over another so it sounds like you have two different radio stations on and the same time and it makes my brain hurt, precious. Bad mashup album. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad. *shudder*
Good mashups don't do this. Good mashups blend the songs together so that they flow, lyrically, musically, rhythmically. Sometimes this is as simple as sampling a melody/bass line from one song and laying the lyrics from another over it, such as Red Umbrella by DJ Topcat and Tequila Lip Gloss by DJ Paul V, or it becomes as complex as combining lyrics, music and rhythm from several songs into one such as We Need A Filthy War by DJ Earworm and Imagine Wild Music by Lenlow and How Six Songs Collide by Norwegian Recycling (which I think is sheer brilliance, I have to say).
Anyway. I tried to winnow this list down, but it was so damn hard. So I'm putting up my current high-rotation mashups, along with some Umbrella and Muse mashups that luciamad and ze_dragon sent me. Um. There's a lot of them. *looks shifty*
Right-click, save-as, and if you like something, feel free to let me know. :D Songs will be up for one week, then taken down. Also, if you'd like more info on mashups (and a good place to start hunting for some), I'd recommend mashuptown.com.
Oh, and I should probably say before you click the LJ-cut that I'm fond of, ah, genre-bending mashups. *G*
Tom's Immigrant Diner (Suzanne Vega vs. Led Zeppelin vs. Streetlab) - Aggro1
Liar in a Brainstorm (Arctic Monkeys vs. Beyonce feat. Shakira) - Arty Fufkin
Romeo Highway (Basement Jaxx vs. America) - Bangers and Mash
Umbrella Moon (Rihanna vs Timelock) - Ben Double M
can't explain, OK? (Whitney Houston v The Who v Fatboy Slim v Elton John) - braces tower
We Want Robot Titties (P-Funk vs The Trucks vs Vampire Sound Inc vs Kraftwerk) - The Celebrity Murder Party
I Believe In a Loco Bird In Acapulco (Annie Lennox vs. Four Tops & The Darkness) - DJ Call
United State of Pop (Beyoncé v Rihanna v Gwen Stefani v Fergie v T-Pain v Carrie Underwood v Plain White T's v Akon) - DJ Earworm
No One Takes Your Freedom (Scissor Sisters/Beatles/George Michael/Aretha Franklin) - DJ Earworm
We Need A Filthy War (Fischerspooner/Scissor Sisters/Chemical Brothers/Pet Shop Boys/Culture Club/Edwin Starr) - DJ Earworm
In Da Black (AC/DC vs. 50 Cent vs. Scissor Sisters) - DJ Le Clown
Baby Arrow (Marvin Gaye vs. Mary Wells vs. The Carpenters vs. The Album Leaf) - DJ Lobsterdust
Walkin Out Yo Girlfriend (Unk vs. Avril Lavigne ft. Toni Basil) - DJ Lobsterdust
Sympathy for Teen Spirit (Queen Vs Rolling Stone Vs Nirvana) DJ Moule
Tequila Lip Gloss (Lil Mama vs. The Champs) - DJ Paul V
Losing My Advertising Space (R.E.M. vs. Robbie Williams) - DJ Payroll
Warning, Rush Where It's At (Big Audio Dynamite Vs. Beck Vs. Green Day) - DJ Peaking
Vertigo Tripper (Fatboy Slim vs. U2 & The Beatles) - DJ Reno
Knock Em Out Girrl (Lily Allen vs. Who Made Who) - DJ Rokk Pie
Hamma Princes (Spin Doctors vs. Culcha Candela) - DJ Schmolli
Umbrella Hips (Rhianna v Shakira) - DJ Spider
Red Umbrella (Rihanna vs. UB40) - DJ Topcat
Young Folks Rehab (Amy Winehouse vs. Peter Bjorn & John) - DJ Topcat
Come Closer (Beatles vs. Nine Inch Nails) - DJ Zebra
Umbrella Splendid (Run DMC v Shameboy v Rihanna) - Dustria
Fake Pop (Arctic Monkeys vs. Afrika Bambaataa) - El Barta & Liam B
Be My Useless Husband (Nina Simone vs. Depeche Mode) - Empire State Human
Don't Start Me Down Green (Pink vs ELO) - Go Home Productions
Jet Lady (Jet vs. The Beatles) - Go Home Productions
Passenger Fever (Peggy Lee Vs Iggy Pop) - Go Home Productions
If I'm Ever Around (Hall & Oates vs. Phoenix) - Immuzika
She Drives My Heartbeat (Fine Young Cannibals vs. Tahiti 80) - Immuzika
I Love New England (The Standells vs Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers vs Big D & the Kids Table vs Aerosmith vs Boston vs J Geils Band) - Lenlow
Imagine Wild Music (John Lennon vs Lou Reed vs. G. Love and Special Sauce) - Lenlow
Just For Van the Man (Imogene Heap vs. Van Morrison) - Lenlow
Mercedes Beck (Beck vs Janis Joplin) - Lenlow
Horny As a Dandy (Dandy Warhols vs. Mousse T) - Loo & Placido
Safari Love (Beatles vs. Pixies & Aretha Franklin) - Loo & Placido
Lethal Cantrell (Blu Cantrell vs Eric Clapton & Sting) - Matt Bland & Bobby Martini
How Six Songs Collide (Jason Mraz vs. Howie Day vs. Five For Fighting vs. Angela Ammons vs. Boyzone vs. 3 Doors Down) - Norwegian Recycling
Boulevard Of Broken Songs (Green Day vs. Oasis & Travis) - Party Ben
Hung Up On Soul (Death Cab For Cutie vs. Stuart Price) - Party Ben
What's Going On with the Pain That I'm Used to? (Depeche Mode v Marvin Gaye) - Renton F
Whatever Happened To My Head (B.R.M.C. vs. Basement Jaxx) - Soundhog
Something About Starlights (Muse vs U2 vs Jamelia) - synchronoize
Thunder Busters (AC/DC vs. Ray Parker Jr.) - Wax Audio
What are mashups, some of you might be asking...well, think of them as the musical versions of fanfic and fanart and fanvids. Basically what you have is a DJ pulling together elements of two or three or four (or more!) songs, twining the various tracks into an entirely new song. And when it's done well, these new songs are brilliant.
Sampling of songs in other songs has been part of music for ages, particularly in club/dance and hip-hop generes. But with audio editing equipment getting cheaper and cheaper and the Internet taking off in popularity, homegrown mashups have taken the musical scene by storm over the past couple of years.
Record companies aren't particularly fond of them though they've started turning a blind eye to them, but they've made such an impact on musical culture that there was an entire mashup album of Kanye West and Fall Out Boys songs floating around last year. And um, I really hate to say this, but those mashups are horrific. Do not listen to that album, for the love of God. Kayne and FOB The DJ who put this together (thanks for the heads up, gigantic!) fell into the beginner mashup trap of just laying one song over another so it sounds like you have two different radio stations on and the same time and it makes my brain hurt, precious. Bad mashup album. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad. *shudder*
Good mashups don't do this. Good mashups blend the songs together so that they flow, lyrically, musically, rhythmically. Sometimes this is as simple as sampling a melody/bass line from one song and laying the lyrics from another over it, such as Red Umbrella by DJ Topcat and Tequila Lip Gloss by DJ Paul V, or it becomes as complex as combining lyrics, music and rhythm from several songs into one such as We Need A Filthy War by DJ Earworm and Imagine Wild Music by Lenlow and How Six Songs Collide by Norwegian Recycling (which I think is sheer brilliance, I have to say).
Anyway. I tried to winnow this list down, but it was so damn hard. So I'm putting up my current high-rotation mashups, along with some Umbrella and Muse mashups that luciamad and ze_dragon sent me. Um. There's a lot of them. *looks shifty*
Right-click, save-as, and if you like something, feel free to let me know. :D Songs will be up for one week, then taken down. Also, if you'd like more info on mashups (and a good place to start hunting for some), I'd recommend mashuptown.com.
Oh, and I should probably say before you click the LJ-cut that I'm fond of, ah, genre-bending mashups. *G*
Tom's Immigrant Diner (Suzanne Vega vs. Led Zeppelin vs. Streetlab) - Aggro1
Liar in a Brainstorm (Arctic Monkeys vs. Beyonce feat. Shakira) - Arty Fufkin
Romeo Highway (Basement Jaxx vs. America) - Bangers and Mash
Umbrella Moon (Rihanna vs Timelock) - Ben Double M
can't explain, OK? (Whitney Houston v The Who v Fatboy Slim v Elton John) - braces tower
We Want Robot Titties (P-Funk vs The Trucks vs Vampire Sound Inc vs Kraftwerk) - The Celebrity Murder Party
I Believe In a Loco Bird In Acapulco (Annie Lennox vs. Four Tops & The Darkness) - DJ Call
United State of Pop (Beyoncé v Rihanna v Gwen Stefani v Fergie v T-Pain v Carrie Underwood v Plain White T's v Akon) - DJ Earworm
No One Takes Your Freedom (Scissor Sisters/Beatles/George Michael/Aretha Franklin) - DJ Earworm
We Need A Filthy War (Fischerspooner/Scissor Sisters/Chemical Brothers/Pet Shop Boys/Culture Club/Edwin Starr) - DJ Earworm
In Da Black (AC/DC vs. 50 Cent vs. Scissor Sisters) - DJ Le Clown
Baby Arrow (Marvin Gaye vs. Mary Wells vs. The Carpenters vs. The Album Leaf) - DJ Lobsterdust
Walkin Out Yo Girlfriend (Unk vs. Avril Lavigne ft. Toni Basil) - DJ Lobsterdust
Sympathy for Teen Spirit (Queen Vs Rolling Stone Vs Nirvana) DJ Moule
Tequila Lip Gloss (Lil Mama vs. The Champs) - DJ Paul V
Losing My Advertising Space (R.E.M. vs. Robbie Williams) - DJ Payroll
Warning, Rush Where It's At (Big Audio Dynamite Vs. Beck Vs. Green Day) - DJ Peaking
Vertigo Tripper (Fatboy Slim vs. U2 & The Beatles) - DJ Reno
Knock Em Out Girrl (Lily Allen vs. Who Made Who) - DJ Rokk Pie
Hamma Princes (Spin Doctors vs. Culcha Candela) - DJ Schmolli
Umbrella Hips (Rhianna v Shakira) - DJ Spider
Red Umbrella (Rihanna vs. UB40) - DJ Topcat
Young Folks Rehab (Amy Winehouse vs. Peter Bjorn & John) - DJ Topcat
Come Closer (Beatles vs. Nine Inch Nails) - DJ Zebra
Umbrella Splendid (Run DMC v Shameboy v Rihanna) - Dustria
Fake Pop (Arctic Monkeys vs. Afrika Bambaataa) - El Barta & Liam B
Be My Useless Husband (Nina Simone vs. Depeche Mode) - Empire State Human
Don't Start Me Down Green (Pink vs ELO) - Go Home Productions
Jet Lady (Jet vs. The Beatles) - Go Home Productions
Passenger Fever (Peggy Lee Vs Iggy Pop) - Go Home Productions
If I'm Ever Around (Hall & Oates vs. Phoenix) - Immuzika
She Drives My Heartbeat (Fine Young Cannibals vs. Tahiti 80) - Immuzika
I Love New England (The Standells vs Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers vs Big D & the Kids Table vs Aerosmith vs Boston vs J Geils Band) - Lenlow
Imagine Wild Music (John Lennon vs Lou Reed vs. G. Love and Special Sauce) - Lenlow
Just For Van the Man (Imogene Heap vs. Van Morrison) - Lenlow
Mercedes Beck (Beck vs Janis Joplin) - Lenlow
Horny As a Dandy (Dandy Warhols vs. Mousse T) - Loo & Placido
Safari Love (Beatles vs. Pixies & Aretha Franklin) - Loo & Placido
Lethal Cantrell (Blu Cantrell vs Eric Clapton & Sting) - Matt Bland & Bobby Martini
How Six Songs Collide (Jason Mraz vs. Howie Day vs. Five For Fighting vs. Angela Ammons vs. Boyzone vs. 3 Doors Down) - Norwegian Recycling
Boulevard Of Broken Songs (Green Day vs. Oasis & Travis) - Party Ben
Hung Up On Soul (Death Cab For Cutie vs. Stuart Price) - Party Ben
What's Going On with the Pain That I'm Used to? (Depeche Mode v Marvin Gaye) - Renton F
Whatever Happened To My Head (B.R.M.C. vs. Basement Jaxx) - Soundhog
Something About Starlights (Muse vs U2 vs Jamelia) - synchronoize
Thunder Busters (AC/DC vs. Ray Parker Jr.) - Wax Audio