Because I love you all so dearly, gentle readers, I have put together another mixwit tape for your enjoyment. In this installement I share with you a variety of delightful mashups. What is a mashup, you may ask? Something akin to a remix, but in this case more focused on taking two (sometimes more) songs and melding them together in such a way that you’d never want to hear them any other way. Generally speaking, this mix is intended to at least get you chair dancing, if not full out dancing your ass off. Three from A plus D, three from Instamatic, three from DJ Lobsterdust.
A plus D - Love Will Tear You Apart (She Wants Revenge vs. Joy Division vs. Bauhaus)
Not much to say about this one. Consider it an appetizer for what A plus D has to offer.
A plus D - Sexy Peek-A-Boo (I’m Bringing Siouxsie Back) Justin Timberlake vs. Siouxie & The Banshees
Ordinarily I’d have nothing to do with Justin Timberlake. I really don’t go in for “pop” music. This changes things a lot. Trust me. Also, accordian.
A plus D - Don’t Stop Believin’ In Planet Rock (Journey vs. Afrika Bambaataa)
Journey never had so much funk. Nor did they expect to have it. Yet… it feels so right.
Instamatic - Crazy Marvin (Gnarls Barkley vs. Marvin Gaye)
That song you couldn’t get away from meets a soul master for a refreshing look at both.
Instamatic - Electric Loop (Judas Priest vs. Pendulum)
Chosen mostly for the liberal Willy Wonka (original film thankyouverymuch) sampling, in all honesty. Fast-paced and fun.
Instamatic - Ghetto Tits 2006 (Benassi mix of Outkast vs. Peaches vs. Scissor Sisters)
This is mostly Peaches, and therefore has liberal use of various sexually charged terms some folks consider foul. NSFW I guess. Probably my fav of the Instamatic remixes.
When they call this an allstar jam they aren’t at all kidding. This is my favorite mashup of all time. Just listen. The transitions are masterful, the songs flow like an undeniable force of nature, and I pretty much guarantee you’ll smile at least a little.
DJ Lobsterdust - RightNowRightNow (Beastie Boys - Love Psychedelico)
I think if the Beastie Boys had met Hot Chip, or hung out with the guys hacking their C64 to make chip tunes they might have made something like this on their own.
DJ Lobsterdust - Glass Octopus (The Beatles vs. Blondie)
This may be the most approachable mashup for people who don’t really care for hip hop or techno or dance-oriented music. It’s Blondie’s Heart of Glass mixed with The Beatles’ Octopus’s Garden in a really fun, natural way. Still got a great beat for those who do enjoy a good excuse to dance.
That’s all for now! I hope you have as much fun with this as I have!
Image on the tape is art from P. Robertson’s Kings of Power 4 Billion %. Download it. Watch it. He’s great.
Did I happen to mention that I love making mix tapes?? I am already hopelessly in love with Mixwit.
On this mix:
Blonde Redhead
Sonic Youth
Of Montreal
Royksopp
David Bowie
SUPER SECRET SPECIAL THING! FOR YOU!
The Knife
Shael Riley (AKA Disk Masta Smokabitch) x 2!
Jose the Bronx Rican
I just signed up for Mixwit! The interface for this “mix tape” making web app is a joy to work with. I can’t wait to get some of my other cohorts in on this, because I’d like to make this a regular blog feature. I have always enjoyed making mix tapes and cds for friends. It was always a very involved and heartfelt process. There’s something about music that speaks directly to the heart, and sharing your favorite music is a really good way to give people insight into who you are and how you think. (Which is why differences in music are so often dealbreakers in otherwise perfectly legit relationships, I think. Although I know that it’s not always the case. You’re a lil bit country, I’m a lil bit rock’n'roll, etc etc.)
J-Dilla, also known as Jay Dee, is widely regarded in the hip-hop community to be one of the most innovative producers ever to grace the turntables. Known as a “producer’s producer,” Dilla’s work was so highly esteemed that many of the biggest and most important names in hip-hop (like Common, Talib Kweli, ?uestlove, Erykah Badu, A Tribe Called Quest and Madlib) looked to him not only for inspiration, but for actual production work on what ended up being some of their most accomplished albums to date.
J-Dilla was also one of the first to release entire albums of sample-heavy, instrumental work, which incidentally is how he ended up collaborating with another master of the genre: Madlib. Madlib had been extremely impressed with Dilla’s innovative style and couldn’t help himself but to play with some beats for inspiration. The compliment didn’t escape Dilla and this initial meeting led to the creation of the now somewhat legendary JayLib.
Part of what makes their album, Champion Sound (2003), so distinctive stems from the way it was recorded. The duo met only once during the making, and the rest of the album was recorded by sending beats and vocals back and fourth. The collaboration ended with half of the album consisting of Dilla beats with Madlib’s vocals and the other half Madlib beats with Dilla’s vocals. I hesitate to call the final vibe earthy but for lack of a better word, it does feel somewhat organic in that there is nothing forced about the way these two artists blend their individual styles.
Dilla was a pioneer in blending hip-hop with a kind of neo-soul music that brought to life both genres and infused the result with a little bit of jazz, funk and a personal touch that can only be described as heart.
I think I mentioned once before that I’m not dreadfully astute when it comes to the world of hip-hop, mainstream, underground, or otherwise. I fibbed a little there. I am a budding fan of what’s been dubbed as “nerdcore”. While I’m sure anyone familiar with nerdcore has heard the name MC Chris (and possibly controversy surrounding his involvement with the term/movement nerdcore), I’m not as sure you’ve heard this spacey, minimalist remix of his better known track: Fett’s ‘Vette. N8ur also did a pretty sweet job remixing MC Chris’ Tractor Beam.
For more on MC Chris, check out his Slashdot interview, or really any of the resources listed at the bottom of the wiki page. Also, be sure to let n8ur know what you think of the remixes!
The reason it struck me is I was over at a friend’s house last night (against my better judgement as I felt like crap yesterday and still do) and what did I end up playing on his PS3? Yup. flOw! I played it back in the flash game days, although I’m not 100% sure where I heard about it. The grape vine for these things has many strong branches and tendrils, and there are a few really established ones that always seem to bear fruit for me.
Like Jay is Games, for example. If you enjoy flash games, that’s definitely a good site to hit. The favorites option is great there, also. You can quick bookmark 18 flash games from everything they ever covered. I myself have great games bookmarked like flOw, Nanaca Crash, Poom!, and Samarost 2. But as LeVar Burton used to always say: “You don’t hafta take my word for it!”
All fandom of JiG aside, flOw on the PS3 really is mind-blowing. As a fan of the original flash offering I really have to say that I found the PS3 version even more immersive and addicting. The controller took a minute or two to figure out, the up-down axis didn’t work the way I expected it to so I had to keep correcting myself on that. Still it didn’t detract from the game play at all. I took over for my friend who had already turned into this crazy swirling triangular thing, and I manged to turn it into a fish shaped thing. The music is just as ambiently lovely in the console version as it is in the original flash. I really can’t say enough good things about flOw as an experience and as a game. Edit: Check out my totally bitchin screenshot from the flash edition!
The other game I got to see last night was a demo version of a racer called GripShift. I tried to play for a couple minutes but the steering is so delicate that I fell off the sides too easily. I found it was a lot easier with the D-pad rather than the analog stick. It’s got elements of Marble Madness, Super Monkey Ball, and any number of high-speed fantasy racing games. The game play per area was short and goal-oriented like Marble Madness, the sound effects were adorably cartoony like Super Monkey Ball. Some of the physics behaved in a Monkey Ball-esque way also, since if you played your cards right you could launch yourself off an edge and fly over large distances with super human (sapien?) speeds and angles. The soundtrack was upbeat and highly entertaining, and I personally think it’s just dying to be OCremixed. (It would certainly add a few more unique tracks to even out the glut of Final Fantasy[192] and Chrono Trigger/Cross[93] mixes!)
Some kids play in the sandbox. We play in the.... litterbox??? The RKNet staff is pleased that you decided to stop by. Currently this is a multi-author project, with a rotating cast of totally kooky characters. Contact giania [at symbol] gmail [dot] com if you'd like to play here too.
