five mashups

First: geographically speaking, "mashups" are to "bootlegs" as "soccer" is to "football." I think.

I like the way european DJs parse it better, even though I say "mashup," because "mashup" sounds sort of indiscriminate - for me it evokes the image of Marty McFly Jr watching six tv channels at once in 2015. (the "vs" notation that the titles of mashups usually employ is also misleading, I think, because of the discretion and care it takes to weave two songs together.) if you engage people on this, the Back to the Future scene tends to signify the primary argument against mashups - that they're basically another new-fangled and faddish way to multitask. "What's next!!!" the critics cry, punctuating incorrectly in my mind. "So-called 'mashups' of famous works of art? Isn't this just another..."

Quoting the argument against mashups in its entirety is unnecessary, mostly because I made it up. Admittedly, at ther worst, mashups are actually just that - two songs layered on top of each other, hopefully with the tempo matched up. But at their best, or even at their good, they're more like statements. The best mashups are like, I don't know, carefully constructed essays, and they all begin with the creator having the same realization - Hey, this is sort of like this!!

When Ted Leo plays Maps in the middle of his cover of Since U Been Gone, it's the same basic principle: a) look what I figured out and b) look what I can do. In fact, I'm going to go ahead and say that's a mashup too, because what are you going to do about it.

anyway, mashups bring me incredible amounts of joy. here are my favorites.

dsico - love will freak us
(joy division / missy elliot)
get your freak on is one of the most frequently mashed-up songs, but this version wins.

go home productions - sexual high
(radiohead / marvin gaye)
#1 most played on my itunes. no shit.

dunproofin' - janet jackson is playing at my house
(lcd soundsystem / janet jackson)
1 + 1 = 3.

freelance hellraiser - a stroke of genius
(the strokes / christina aguilera)
"freelander" is sort of a mashup of "freelance" and "hellraiser", isn't it? still, i didn't make this

loo & placido - dj love affair
(the notwist / curtis mayfield / indeep / daft punk)
i can tell you that daft punk is in this, but you still won't see it coming.


these are all mashups I've had for a while. next time: top five mashups I found on the internet this week.