The genre’s been around for years, but 2004 feels like the year that the mashup really became a common part of the music world. The year started with Danger Mouse’s heavily-circulated Jay-Z meets the Beatles work, The Grey Album; continued with London Booted, a 25th Anniversary tribute to the Clash’s London Calling; and closed down with the Kleptone’s take on Queen and rap, A Night at the Hip Hopera. Here are three of my favorite discoveries from the past year.
Aldo– I’m Sorry Mr. Smith, [OutKast v. The Cure]
This song reveals the artistry possible in a mashup. Aldo uses each song to pull further meaning out of the other. “Lullaby” suddenly gets a layer of remorse, turning the spiderman into a sleepless night’s knives of guilt. OutKast’s “Ms. Jackson” had that feeling to start with, but the Cure music adds a new level of seriousness to it. After too many listens to The Love Below, it’s hard to get back to the earnestness present in this song. In blending these tracks, Aldo makes a new statement on guilt, seeking to be both honest and frightening.
Lazy Tramp– Happy Birthday Jealous Lover, [The Beatles v. the Rapture v. the Cardigans]
“Happy Birthday Jealous Lover” is mashup as novelty act. It’s a great canonical hook, filled out by an recent indie fave’s screaming. The resulting music is ridiculous, and very fun, and that’s part of what mashups should be doing—the DJ version of a Weird Al show. What you might miss amid the silliness is the clever use of the Cardigans’ “Lovefool.” Lazy Tramp has fit the group’s harmonies in perfectly where you’d expect the Beatles to do their parts. It’s as tight a fit as I’ve heard, and quite suprising given the general feel of the song.
TiM G– Voodoo Problems, [Jay-Z v. Jimi Hendrix]
This track lies somewhere between the first two. It’s definitely meant to be fun, but it succeeds as more than a novelty. Using Jay-Z’s yelps in place of Hendrix’s guitar chunks in the opening riff sets up the song as a goofy little ditty, but the original “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” guitar is too powerful to be a throway. TiM G (unlike in the Danger Mouse version) has left in most of Rick Rubin’s production from “99 Problems,” putting this piece into overdrive. With Jay-Z and Jimi taking turns on great vocal sets, the song gets carried away until the solo guitar sounds fresh again. Here the mashup’s success stems not from art (though it’s artfully made) so much as from guts, but with the intensity kept in check by a high level of fun.