Mash-ups - muscal genius or degeneracy?

[Jez]

I'm not sure how familiar you folks are with the 'mash-up' but it's basically home brew remix of elements of several different songs and artists to create a Frankenstein's Monster of a new track. And like most horror films, you either love it or hate it.

I both love horror films and the nerdy 'spot the tune' appeal of a good mash-up. I guess I first came across the idea with the 2 Many DJ's stuff Soulwax do. Now I've found Mark Vidler, aka Go Home Productions, who does some great work and offers a whole bunch of MP3's on his website at http://www.gohomeproductions.co.uk/

Anyway, I hope to spur a little healthy debate and maybe some recommendations.

[radish]

I love good mashups, but it's a diamond in the rough scenario - the vast majority are awful pap.

As for it's validity as a genre - music is a creative artform which (like all art) is always based on taking elements of previous works (either literally or via "inspiration") and creating something new. The mashup is really just the logical evoloution of sampling, remixing and DJing. In short I'm less concerned with how something great came to be and much more concerned with how it sounds.

My vote for best full mashup album is without a doubt the original Soulwax bootleg (not the volume 2 commercial release which was nowhere near as good), but a very close second is American Edit (http://www.americanedit.net/) which is just fantastic. I'm not a rock fan in general but I do like Green Day, and the combo of Holiday and the original Doctor Who theme makes me smile every time.

[dSw]

Some of the Soulwax stuff is OK but not really my taste to be honest - I see it as a bit gimmicky.

You know it's a fad when the Ministry of Sound release a 'Mash up mix' CD! ;-)

[Jez]

I'm not a rock fan in general but I do like Green Day, and the combo of Holiday and the original Doctor Who theme makes me smile every time.

I must give that a listen . . . I wonder if the Radiophonic Workshop (Delia Deryshire, I think) realized exactly what they were unleashing. That's reminded me of the KLF's (or was it The JAMM's?) earlier meddlings with Dr Who and Rock n Roll part 2 . . ah good times.


Then there was the time Fat Boy Slim opened his Glastonbury set with a proto-mash-up of the Stones' Satisfaction leading into The Rockerfeller Skank . . now THAT was a killer gig.

I've also come across a San Francisco guy called DJ Earworm who hass some great mash-ups for download.

[radish]

Another album worth mentioning although not strictly on topic is Erland Oye's DJ Kicks mix. He's more a singer/writer than DJ and the album is a very eclectic combination of musical styles that you really wouldn't normally hear together. What makes it even more interesting is that he adds instrumentation and vocals over the top of many of the tracks - often borrowing lyrics from other totally unrelated songs. Very crazy but a really really nice album to listen to.

[jaybeee]

Mashup or Bastard Pop is not new. Have a look here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastard_pop). There's no point me repeating any of that so it's worth a read.

Also, come and join the fun at http://www.themixingbowl.org/ and do a search in the 'eclectic/mashup' genre section. Lots & lots of great non-commercial DJ mixes (all music on that site is strictly non-commercial, of the electronic musical genre).

[snarlydwarf]

Does Negativland's U2 count as a mashup or abuse of samples?

[jaybeee]

Does Negativland's U2 count as a mashup or abuse of samples?
abuse of samples