Today we have yet another mashup, one of those simple compositions that takes two complementary songs (or portions thereof), puts them together, and steps away without too much trickery. The song combines Portishead’s best known song, “Glory Box“, with the Beatles’ “I’m Only Sleeping“, a song so obscure that I hadn’t heard until 20 seconds ago, when I searched for it online so I could hear what it sounded like. Turns out it’s pretty good, but the mashup clearly samples the highlight moment (the first 10 seconds or so of the first verse). The mashup is cleverly called “Sleeping”, and from what I can tell it comes from a 2006 mashup album by CCC dedicated entirely to Revolver–the mashup album is called Revolved (that links to a surprisingly not-defunct website with unsurprisingly dead download links).

You can download it here, or stream it below:

As part of Beatles Week I’m giving you one of the few songs off of Danger Mouse’s 2004 concept album, The Grey Album, that actually sounds good (although I love the conceit of the album–combining Jay-Z’s Black Album with The White Album–most of it sounds kind of crappy). Here’s what someone smarter than me said about The Grey Album (from Pitchfork’s 7.7/10 review):

Remix albums rarely have purely noble intentions. From underground promotional vehicles to hobbyist experiments for props at local watering holes, the concept of backing familiar voices with unexpected surroundings had been all but lost to simpler production clinics with high profile guests. That is, until Danger Mouse (best known for his work with Jemini and Sage Francis) turned a color inference into an underground phenomenon with his bootleg conceptual assault, The Grey Album, a remix album that pairs the vocals of Jay-Z’s Black Album with The Beatles’ legendary White Album.

. . . .

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Yesterday we had an all-Beatles mashup. Today, we have… an all-Beatles mashup! But it’s different because this one is completely unsanctioned, and not as good. I first heard about it on Boing Boing in 2004, when they actually posted about stuff before everyone on the internet had already seen it four times. Anyway, we’re not here to bash Boing Boing, we’re here to praise the Beatles Mash-Up Medley, by Hank Handy.

Whatever it lacks in polish it makes up in complexity and enthusiasm. It moves from one hook to another, combining them long enough to sink in but quickly skipping on to the next memorable sample. At times the combinations are really quite nice, and it’s a fun voyage through their catalog. And even if you hate it, it’s only three and a half minutes long.

Here’s the song: Beatles Mash-Up Medley – Hank Handy

Okay, for the next six days we’ll be focusing on one artist–the Beatles. They’re so well known I’m not even going to bother giving you the Wikipedia link. Before we move on to consider how their music has been adopted and messed with by other people, let’s keep it in the family and look at a song that’s written, performed, and produced by the Beatles. Well, kinda. In 2006 the surviving members of the Beatles released Love, an album of Beatles songs remastered and remixed for Cirque du Soleil’s Las Vegas show of the same name. It was approved by the living Beatles and the dead ones’ heirs, put together using nothing but Beatles recordings, and was produced by George Martin (their original producer) and his son, so it’s as close to an authentic Beatles production as time and human frailty allowed. And, at least as importantly, it’s really good!

The remastering is excellent, so the sound quality is great, and the production choices the Martins made were actually quite adventurous. You might not blame them for being conservative, considering the fact that the Beatles’ discography has been treated with kid gloves for decades^*. But instead, Love is a very interesting composition–an unbroken album-length medley of great songs, put together to sound like something new, not just another “best of” album.

Worked late today, so didn’t have a chance to write much about this. This song, possibly my favorite mashup ever, is from, of all things, a Stereogum mashup album, 2007 Mashed Up. Here’s what they had to say about it:

In what is fast becoming a Stereogum tradition, we’ve once again conspired with master bootlegger team9 for a celebration of the year in singles. Of course “the year in singles” is a loaded term coming from us — relatively massive as they are, Arcade Fire, M.I.A. and Band Of Horses aren’t exactly Hot 100 fare — so we opened the door to OneRepublic and Sean Kingston. It’s not a time capsule look-back without a dash of some ubiquitous pop tracks, anyway. All free and just for you, presented on this day made for remembering and rejoicing and drinking. If you’re DJing tonight for an indie-friendly crowd, add these to your playlist and thank us tomorrow.

I added them to my playlist and, although some of them weren’t anything special, several of them were really good! I’m partial to “Smalltown Apology” and “Ratatat Under Ether, but my favorite is, without question, “Smokey Fire“. This one is really built on Arcade Fire’s “Ocean of Noise” and Smokey Robinson’s “Being With You“. The mashup is so good that it makes you go back and appreciate the originals even more. It’s radical. So yeah, listen to it now–you can stream it here or download it here.

I’m not sure today’s song is good, but it is definitely amazing. It’s a truly bizarre mashup combining the Clash and a song called “The Power” by a band called Snap!. There are actually a ton of mashups featuring the Clash, but this is the only one that includes a clip of a guy saying “copywritten lyrics so they can’t be stolen”, which is a pretty hilarious thing to sample when you think about it. Anyway, the mashup is by “cry.on.my.console“, who I remember was responsible for a ton of fun/weird mashups in 2004 or so. In summary, this song is kind of great and very weird. Listen to it here:
00100011.I.snapped.the.Casbah!.! – cry.on.my.console

Tomorrow: one of my very favorite mashups ever.

Today’s mashup comes to us from SCO Network (check out that old-school website!). Unfortunately it appears that sometime between posting all of these songs in 2002 and today, they lost or gave up their webhosting, so the only download you’re going to get is from me.

Anyway, the mashup combines one song by an artist I love (Morcheeba) with another song I don’t think I’ve ever heard outside of this mashup (Sean Paul & Beyonce’s “Baby Boy“). And wow, now that I have done so, you too should listen to the original and marvel at how much better the mashup version is. I mean seriously. Geez. Ah well, Beyonce was at her most sultry during this song/video, so that’s something at least. What ever happened to Sean Paul, anyway? He was the thinking man’s Shaggy!

Okay, here’s the song: SCO Network – Morcheeba’s Baby Boy (Morcheeba vs. Sean Paul)

Here’s what I thought about last night’s episode of Lost. I semi-live-blogged it as I watched it on DVR-delay because I stopped at ChurchKey on my way home from work so I could have some Hopslam and eat a grilled cheese sandwich. Obviously, spoilers ahead.