Know your classics

If your father is like mine, and thus tried desperately to talk some sense into you when it comes to music, preferably by playing records. You know what I'm talking about. I vividly remember afternoons in the living room, playing around with those funny vinyl covers containing big pictures of men with moustaches, and listening to music that 'would never die'.









Well, eventually some of it did, and I might have turned out a mixed blessing. I know every song in the Beatles catalogue by hard, whilst still enjoying the other sides of the musical spectrum - pounding, pounding techno music. You tried, dad, you tried, but Kraftwerk might have been a mistake.

Then again, any of the following would drive him nuts. Please turn away from what I'm about to reveal to you now:

Hippocamp is a collection of electronic artists which are all working in a different field, ranging from classic to dubstep over techno and home again. As an experiment, they sometimes recontextualize classic albums, in this case: Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys, containing the hits God Only Knows and Sloop John B. This album was recorded when Brian Wilson was still a genious. The album was recorded in 1965, using only four track recorders. And now, 40 years later, Hippocamp ruined it.

This has a variety of implementations: stripping a song to its bare minimum and make something new out of it, or seperating the seperate beats, guitar riffs and vocals and do an alternate mix of the song.

Although obviously, the samples used on this release haven't been cleared - and they never will - I warmly recommend giving this a listen. Another HippoCamp project is the ruining of Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The Fred Viola version of For the Benefit of Mr. Kite is brilliant.