Smashing Mashups

If there's one thing that can drive traditional music lovers crazy, it's mashups. Take the vocals from song A, the bass-line from song B and that funky synth sound from track C, and put them together so it sounds like something new. Blasphemy, you say ? I don't think so.

I recently discovered The Kleptones. They are a Brighton-based DJ collective who mixes rock/R&B instrumentals with rap and hip-hop bits. The albums get released online for free, as "promotional material", because the samples obviously weren't cleared. Be sure to check out their conceptual album 24 hours (which is indeed, a two disc soundscape) and the registration of their show at the Bestival in 2007. A comprehensive list of samples used can be found on Wikipedia.

Tracks to check:

• War of Confusion (Genesis, Edwin Starr and Bush samples)
• Underground Hand (The White Stripes, Nine Inch Nails, Primal Scream, Tori Amos)
• Cymbalicker (Aphex Twin, Bon Jovi)

Another good place to look for recent mashups and remixes is The Hype Machine, which is a tracker of music blogs and creates charts for popular tracks. Lots of free music up for the grabs there !