Cast Your Fate To The Weezer

It’s been a very long time since I entered a mashup contest at Mashstix. The last time I did that, I ended up winning. I was hoping to continue that streak; that task would have been easier if there weren’t thirteen other entrants!

Truth be told, the theme of January’s contest, Decades, was pretty great. Suppose you made an A/B mashup and one of your sources was from the 90s. Your other source could come from the any decade up to and including the 1970s, or from the 2010s. However, the 1980s and 2000s would be off limits. These rules were more complicated as the number of sources increased, but you’ve got the basic idea.

I didn’t plan to enter this contest, but once again, a trip to the library sparked a mashup idea. I ended up pairing a jazz song from 1965 with an alternative rock tune from 2001. If that concept sounds as interesting to you as it did to me, you’re my target market for this release.

Photo credit: Matt Schilder (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

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New Mashup: Please Don’t Fire Me (Pink vs. Vangelis)

As you may know, I’ve been getting mashup ideas in unexpected places lately. This one is no different.

A Sunday morning church service isn’t where I’d expect to be creatively inspired, although that’s not to say that it’s never happened. I’m usually too busy singing (in my church’s choir and worship team) and concentrating on the sermon to even think about what my next mashup will sound like. However, during a recent sermon, my pastor quoted a Bible verse which talks about chariots of fire.

You can guess what happened next.

When I was younger, you couldn’t escape Vangelis’ theme song from the movie of the same name. I’m pretty sure that it briefly popped up in my mind at least a few times before that Sunday morning, but until then, that song wasn’t on my list of instrumentals I wanted to use. When my pastor quoted that Bible verse, this mashup was set in motion. I don’t usually refer to my mental Rolodex of songs when I consider mashup combinations, but that’s what I did in this case. I eventually settled on Pink’s “Please Don’t Leave Me,” which seemed like a good fit as I mentally put the songs together.

When I decided to hook these songs up for real, my initial suspicions were confirmed.

Download
https://dl.dropbox.com/s/g6cxc3lzdc6lh1u/45PleaseDontFireMe.mp3?dl=0

Sources:
Pink – “Please Don’t Leave Me”
Vangelis – “Chariots Of Fire“

New Mashup: Metric Morning (Metric vs. The Chemical Brothers vs. Tom Cheek)

Despite my city being in the news for the less-than-scrupulous behaviour of Mayor Rob Ford, I’m always proud to represent Toronto on the mashup scene. I feel that this mashup is most representative of my hometown and current homebase; Metric is originally from Toronto and Tom Cheek was a legendary announcer for our Major League Baseball team, the Toronto Blue Jays. Obviously, The Chemical Brothers aren’t from Toronto, but Dig Your Own Hole was my gateway to electronic music, so they’re forgiven.

I didn’t plan to use a sample of Tom Cheek’s infamous call of Joe Carter’s World Series-winning home run when I started this project, but then I remembered that Metric’s “Stadium Love” was used by the Blue Jays as their official song of the 2013 season. When I considered possible samples to strengthen that connection, the aforementioned Tom Cheek call was the obvious choice. Heck, it was the only choice.

If you mention “touch ’em all, Joe” to anyone who was around when the Blue Jays won that second World Series championship, they’ll know what you mean.

Download
https://dl.dropbox.com/s/q14x5ndegd3vpa6/40MetricMorning.mp3?dl=0

Sources:
Metric – “Stadium Love”
The Chemical Brothers – “Morning Lemon”
Tom Cheek – 1993 MLB World Series play-by-play, game 6

New Mashup: Latin Uprising (Muse vs. Medeski Martin & Wood)

I had another mashup idea. Heck, I even started working on it. However, a sudden flash of inspiration derailed that plan very quickly.

I suddenly made a connection between two songs which I hadn’t listened to in a while. While the challenge of turning the nine-minute instrumental into something manageable was daunting, it’s also what lured me into giving this idea a chance. I ended up having to reject the second half of that song; it would have been too much to use the whole thing.

That said, there’s one part in the first half which I did use without making any alterations. Among other things, that means I didn’t use the acapella in any part of it.

Get ready for a jazzy throwdown.

Download
https://dl.dropbox.com/s/zbitv5isci5alxx/31LatinUprising.mp3?dl=0

Sources:
Muse – “Uprising”
Medeski Martin & Wood – “Latin Shuffle“