If you've read my VOX at all, you know I'm a passionate fan of mashups-- I created an individual group called Monday Monster Mashup, just to document some of the better pieces out there. It is very unapologetically MTV-ish in its presentation, as I actually search out YouTube videos where an accompanying video has been mashed up in complimentary fashion. It's actually pretty common for mashup artists to leave no stone unturned, sometimes mingling elements of cover art as well to create new cover art for the songs.
Sometimes DJs/VJs release mashup tracks individually, and others create compilations, often where the tracks have common elements or a unifying theme. Mark Vidler, as the one-man Go Home Productions, released Spliced Krispies in May 2008 and I was very interested in the content. Not only had he created videos (in the manner I described above), but he also had chosen a lot of older material. I'm a very firm believer that mashups are not a passing fad and the music can be very accessible to everyone-- if only to show that history can very much repeat itself in the music business, especially in popular genres.
Mark Vidler is based in Watford, UK and produces remixes as well as mashups. His work extends into radio and television, such as XFM's 'The Remix' and 'Rinse' radio shows as well as projects with MTV Mash. His hit mashup "Rapture Riders" was included in Blondie's Greatest Hits on the EMI label, and his "Ray of Gob" mashup of Madonna and The Sex Pistols (featured on Pistol Whipped on Half Inch Recordings) has become quite notorious. (I've referenced the "Rapture Riders" video here. I was very surprised that for a time, an excerpt was featured on the Blondie official website.)
As I said before, Spliced Krispies features a lot of older tunes, and I think that's a very good thing. It gives both the younger and older generations a fresh perspective on some old favorites. As some mashups are, it sometimes takes a few listens to get used to the songs if you're very, very familiar with the original tunes. While it would be nice for Vidler to have some studio magic to make the tracks very clean and smooth-sounding (say, compared to Simon Iddol), I think he's worked very well with the material and likely the recordings that were available to him.
My favorite on the album was "3 X A Raindrop", which takes Burt Bacharach's "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head", and the Commodore's "Three Times A Lady". The video splices scenes from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, in which movie "Raindrops" was featured, with cuts of Lionel Ritchie singing the other song in a live performance.
"Luther's Orange Crush" which mashes Luther Vandross's "Never Too Much" and R.E.M.'s "Orange Crush" is also worth a listen. Vidler's own words on the track are especially amusing:
"This one will probably piss-off the purists, I dunno. After acquiring the REM 'parts' I thought it would be funny to put them with something completely alien to their style. Don't get me wrong, I'm a massive fan of REM's early stuff. Chronic Town, Murmur and Reckoning [were] definitely brilliant...but to put them with something more disco or funk was the intention."
The album with mp3s and videos is available at the Mark Vidler // Go Home Productions site here.
Links: www.gohomeproductions.co.uk myspace.com/markvidlerGHP
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