Mashups
"Chemical warfare . . . and don't it feel good!"
I love mashups.
While there are plenty of songs that can sound good when creatively mixed together — assuming the speed of neither track is altered so much that it becomes distracting — a great mashup — an inspired pairing and seamless mixing — should be something greater than the sum of its parts. An inspired pairing can make you wish for an album of the new musical genre (the Sex Pistols as a pop-dance backing group or James Brown fronting a metal band); a seamless mix can make you think it’s an actual single song (“2000 Light Years From Bolan”, below). As far as I can tell, the absolute masters of these things are Bill McClintock and Mark Vidler.
These are some of my favourites. Note: I would suggest listening to them first, without watching the accompanying video. While the visuals are often cleverly combined and can be another level of fun, seeing an image of another musician/band not referenced in the title just a split-second before you hear them can ruin the surprise.
Enjoy!
Also:
An informative comment to the Vank Whalen video:
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I gotta say, I don't think the casual listener can begin to appreciate what Mr. McClintock has accomplished here...
It's one thing to alter the pitch and tempo of two songs, isolate certain tracks, and mash those together. Bill is far and away the best in the business when it comes to that.
But THIS particular mashup... if you're a die hard Van Halen fan, you hear it right away... that's NOT how DLR sang the song! Bill altered the tempo, cadence and inflection of INDIVIDUAL WORDS from the original vocal track, and did it so skillfully that it comes out sounding completely natural and unedited. It's the audio equivalent of a Deep Fake... he turned DLR into a country singer. This is Next Level stuff, even for McClintock.
BRAVO, sir.
P.S. am I crazy, or did I hear like 5 notes from the bridge of And The Cradle Will Rock thrown in there? Genius
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