Dec. 10, 2002

DJs Mash It Up

by
David Jenison
Dec 7, 2002, 7:35 PM
PT

There's a new British invasion in the works, but this one's not headed
for the record stores. The Brit bootleg fad known as "mash-ups" or
"bastard pop" has finally hopped the Pond.

Empowered by software programs like Acid, mixers worldwide have
embraced the trend that lays one song's vocals over another's music.
America got its first taste earlier this year, when select indie stores
briefly carried the seminal comp The Best Bootlegs in the World
Ever, which collected such groundbreaking mash-ups as "Stroke of
Genius" (Christina
Aguilera over the
Strokes) and "I Just Can't Get Enough Pills" (Eminem/D12
over Depeche
Mode). With no rights clearances, however, record labels quickly nixed
the album's availability.

But while copyright laws might keep mash-ups underground, it's not
stopping their proliferation.

Best Bootlegs managed to land at number four on Blender
magazine's Top 50 albums of 2002. Both club and radio deejays are playing
homemade mash-ups, and New York designers have used the tunes as
soundtracks to their fashion shows.

DJ Jesuspants of Jersey City's WFMU was one of the first Stateside
deejays to play mash-ups on the radio. He first spun Evolution Control
Committee, who put Public
Enemy over Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, back in 1994.

"We got a huge response," recalls Jesuspants, who also hosts the
mash-friendly radio show Re:Mixology during the summers. "The
phones went wild every time it played."

Club deejays quickly picked it up, too. Hollywood's perfekt, a
guest-list only club Tuesday nights at On the Rox, regularly includes
mash-ups in the mix. The promoters-- A&R vet Bobby Carlton and Orgy
guitarist Amir Derakh--actually played "Smells Like Booty" (Destiny's
Child over Nirvana)
with Courtney
Love present.

"Everyone expected her to come back there and sock me in the eye, but
instead she was totally cool and charming," laughs Carlton. "Once you
start spinning bootlegs nothing brings people into the booth quicker to
find out what it is you are spinning and where they can get some."

In England, mash-ups' instrumental FM force was The Remix, a
popular show on London's Xfm radio. Cohost James Hyman played the show's
first mash-up in 1999, a boot he made himself of Eminem over Fatboy
Slim. Several songs that debuted on the show went on to chart
nationally, and two Remix compilations were eventually released
through Virgin/EMI.

But even with label support, Hyman sees the tracks ruffling feathers.
"The problems come when a bootleg is good and can't help but get played
and therefore sold. A&R people and record companies start sniffing and
want to stamp it out."

Still, some U.K. labels are taking a different approach. Glasgow's
McSleazy--whose "Don't Call Me Blur" (Madison Avenue over Blur)
is a Best Bootlegs highlight-- has been recruited by Polydor to
make official boots of their artists. Equally significant, McSleazy has
become a bootleg cultivator of sorts with his definitive Website
(www.mcsleazybootleg.co.uk). In addition to resource information and
do-it-yourself tips, the site's forum includes participation from the most
famous mash-up mixers, who often use it to debut new tracks.

"The forum has helped tremendously," says McSleazy. "There are hundreds
of people who regularly post links to their own bootlegs. It's a
wonderfully inventive place to hang out."

A regular contributor to the forum is Australia's Dsico that No-Talent
Hack, best known for his albums I'm Not Retarded and Booty of
Choice (featuring a Pink-David
Bowie track that Us Weekly declared a "Must download!").
Dsico's advice to home deejays: "The vocals need to sit right in the mix
and compliment the backing track, and there needs to be some thematic or
cultural distinction between the two. There's no point in mixing Destiny's
Child with the latest Nelly
track."

Considering the Napster-hating fear driving the U.S. recording
industry, it's hard to imagine mash-ups becoming as mainstream here as in
England. For now, fans must content themselves by scouring the Web or
seeking out cutting-edge club and radio deejays. Still, despite stringent
copyright laws (forcing some sites to make statements like "don't sue me
please"), the labels haven't stomped out mash-ups.

"This is culture jamming in its purest form," says perfekt's Bobby
Carlton. "Some major artists and labels will have a problem with it, but
once again kids with computers are doing revolutionary things with music."

To track down mash-ups, start with the following Websites:

mcsleazybootlegs.co.uk

xfm.co.uk/theremix

soundhog.org.uk

4trak.net/Dsico

soulwax.com

boomselection.net

gohomeproductions.co.uk.

For CD compilations, see evilclowncd.com.

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