I wasn't able to get around to posting this last night. Under normal circumstances, I would have just waited until next week to post again. These aren't normal circumstances.
Last week, I did a "Mashup Monday" post from a new artist named SpareElbowSkin. He has only been on the scene for a few weeks, but his first mashup, a mix of Goldfrapp's 'A&E' and Snow Patrol's 'Chasing Cars', was quite impressive. Last week, he released another mashup.
I have been chomping at the bit to post it. It is easily...EASILY, one of the best mashups I have ever heard. In my opinion, it is the best mashup since Norwegian Recycling's September track, 'Miracles'. In many ways, though, it's better.
Mashups today have become a conglomeration of tracks that come together to a point that you almost have to pick them apart with a microscope and a pair of tweezers. "I think I hear such and such's beat." Or, "Wait. Did you just hear Jay-Z? I think I heard Jay-Z just then. Rewind it." When a DJ is mixing as many as 16 tracks together in a matter of three and a half minutes, it shows both the apex of talent and lunacy.
S.E.S. is different. He sticks to two tracks. He doesn't try to make his mashup "dance-able". In fact, he sticks to tracks that you normally wouldn't think of mixing together. This week's mix is a mashup of Adele's 'Rolling In The Deep' with Snow Patrol's 'Set The Fire To The Third Bar'.
Since Adele released her latest album, '21', about a month ago, I have heard literally dozens of mashups involving 'Rolling In The Deep'. Some good. Some...well....um..yeah, no. Some of the better ones have been mixed with The Rolling Stones, Britney Spears, and even Gnarls Barkley. When I saw the song that S.E.S. had selected to pair up with Adele on this mix, my first thought was, "You've got to be kidding me. There's no way in a million years that this will work. For the beats to even match up he's going to have to slow her voice down considerably. It's going to sound horrible."
Boy, was I wrong. When Adele's voice comes in, it gave me goosebumps. The mix is one of the most haunting songs I have ever heard. And that is what I quickly learned about SpareElbowSkin. He has an appreciation for the music that other DJs don't. That's what sets him apart from other artists. He creates his mashups while still keeping the emotion, the heart, of the music in tact. That is something that has been lost over the years with everyone else. Their goal is to make something that sounds cool, or to make something with a cool beat. SpareElbowSkin does it for the love of the song. He's a fan. He's not putting these two songs together simply because he thinks they would sound good together, but because he's a fan of Snow Patrol and of Adele. He's showing his respect for the artists and their music.
If you need further proof, he even re-edited the video so that it was in 2.39:1 format, just so it would look nicer on screen. Enjoy 'Rolling In The Third Bar'.
Last week, I did a "Mashup Monday" post from a new artist named SpareElbowSkin. He has only been on the scene for a few weeks, but his first mashup, a mix of Goldfrapp's 'A&E' and Snow Patrol's 'Chasing Cars', was quite impressive. Last week, he released another mashup.
I have been chomping at the bit to post it. It is easily...EASILY, one of the best mashups I have ever heard. In my opinion, it is the best mashup since Norwegian Recycling's September track, 'Miracles'. In many ways, though, it's better.
Mashups today have become a conglomeration of tracks that come together to a point that you almost have to pick them apart with a microscope and a pair of tweezers. "I think I hear such and such's beat." Or, "Wait. Did you just hear Jay-Z? I think I heard Jay-Z just then. Rewind it." When a DJ is mixing as many as 16 tracks together in a matter of three and a half minutes, it shows both the apex of talent and lunacy.
S.E.S. is different. He sticks to two tracks. He doesn't try to make his mashup "dance-able". In fact, he sticks to tracks that you normally wouldn't think of mixing together. This week's mix is a mashup of Adele's 'Rolling In The Deep' with Snow Patrol's 'Set The Fire To The Third Bar'.
Since Adele released her latest album, '21', about a month ago, I have heard literally dozens of mashups involving 'Rolling In The Deep'. Some good. Some...well....um..yeah, no. Some of the better ones have been mixed with The Rolling Stones, Britney Spears, and even Gnarls Barkley. When I saw the song that S.E.S. had selected to pair up with Adele on this mix, my first thought was, "You've got to be kidding me. There's no way in a million years that this will work. For the beats to even match up he's going to have to slow her voice down considerably. It's going to sound horrible."
Boy, was I wrong. When Adele's voice comes in, it gave me goosebumps. The mix is one of the most haunting songs I have ever heard. And that is what I quickly learned about SpareElbowSkin. He has an appreciation for the music that other DJs don't. That's what sets him apart from other artists. He creates his mashups while still keeping the emotion, the heart, of the music in tact. That is something that has been lost over the years with everyone else. Their goal is to make something that sounds cool, or to make something with a cool beat. SpareElbowSkin does it for the love of the song. He's a fan. He's not putting these two songs together simply because he thinks they would sound good together, but because he's a fan of Snow Patrol and of Adele. He's showing his respect for the artists and their music.
If you need further proof, he even re-edited the video so that it was in 2.39:1 format, just so it would look nicer on screen. Enjoy 'Rolling In The Third Bar'.
1 comments:
Eeeeenteresting! I love both songs, but not sure I can quite buy in to the mash-up. I think it's more that I know both of the songs pretty well and it's dischordant to me to hear them overlapping, however smoothly.
I love the iconography in Adele's video of the dancer with the chalk dust. It's glorious.
Post a Comment