Taking one great track (or in Madeon’s case – 39) and blending it with another is what maketh the mash-up. But what maketh the makers?
The equation seems logical enough;
1 awesome track + 1 awesome track = A MEGA awesome tune!
But finding tracks that are both mergeable, as much as they are magical, is not quite as simple. So after a 17 year old French kid’s ‘spare time’ project Pop Culture – a collage of no less than 39 songs – went viral, the music world made note: there may be a lot more to the mash-up than we first thought. But is there?
Pop Culture by Madeon. Bet you watch this more than once…
Whilst it’s not necessarily a new concept, technology has definitely made merging songs and sampling a lot simpler – so much so that all it takes is the touch of a button. Madeon (that 17 year old French kid) and his music have almost single handily turned the underrated mash-up art form on it’s head, over night gaining a solid social media following with fans that include Martin Solveig, the Bag Raiders and just about every other electronic enthusiast alive. Not to mention all the blog coverage… (insert irony). Whilst the technique has been around for decades (I mean let’s face it, in it’s simplest form isn’t it just sampling?), this new hybrid version displayed by Madeon has been labeled as “the future of electronic dance music”. But let’s stop and take a minute to give some of this hype back those other sort of French men who first showed the world the magic of the mash-up way back in 2004 with the release of their album Any Minute Now.
Yep, I’m talking about David and Stephen Dewaele aka The Flying Dewaele Brothers aka 2manjdjs aka Soulwax aka the maddest over 40 DJs alive (in my opinion anyway)! More than just their music, the mash-up has made it’s way across to their videos like NY Excuse, their live shows via the hilarious conversion of clips like a cut out of Nicolas Cage’s head with movable mouth; not to mention their posters, record covers – even their logo.
Who else would get away with displaying the Eifel Tower as a radio antenna? They are unquestionably, still the masters of mash. And in the midst of all this merging of pop culture, they have even managed to create some of their own…
Unquestionably an inspiration for fellow Frenchy, Madeon, their appeal has made an impact all the way over here in Australia too, teaching acts like Yacht Club DJs how to turn years of misspent youth into a money making music machine. And so far for them it’s working. I for one am hoping the mash-up works it’s magic for me when I attempt to turn tunes in the DJ comp Your Shot. How’s the DJ name ‘Michmash’ sound?
Editors Note, Jan 2012: Though I wrote this blog back in mid 2011, it would be remiss of me not to include a mention of the mash-up DJ of the moment, Girl Talk. Having owned the latter half of 2011, taking a long time to come to prominence as a popular artist, his has finally (and deservedly) become one of the most hotly anticipated acts in music. Gregg Gillis, aka Girl Talk, has the skills of a surgeon when it comes to mixing tracks by punk bands such as The Ramones, with modern-day Hip-hop anthems the likes of Missy Elliot and Jay-Z. Girl Talk takes post-modernist music to a whole new level!
Check out this nice interview by Craig Mathieson for The Age on the American Monster Masher. If you are lucky enough to already have tickets (and I think there still might be some left if you don’t), you can see Girl Talk dicing and splicing at the Big Day Out 2012.
Michelle Sawyer, July 2011