I Heart Music Mashups
I wanted to share this music mashup I just discovered: The Beatles’ “Octopus’s Garden” mashed with Blondie’s “Heart of Glass”, appropriately titled “Glass Octopus.” You can download the track here. Both songs are hummable tunes I could listen to on repeat for an endless amount of hours. This mash up is a match made in musical heaven. Ringo’s voice blends seamlessly with Blondie’s discotheque new wave beats. You can hear some of John and George’s guitar work blending in with Blondie’s synthetic grooves and Debbie Harry’s smooth as silk vocals. Even John’s compressor backup vocals make an appearance. “Octopus’s Garden” is a classic that’s been swimming in my head for a while now (get it? swimming? in an octopus’s garden? ha ha i kill myself). “Heart of Glass” however is one of those 80′s tunes I love to hate. It’s cheesy as hell, and Blondie really sold out their punk rock mentality when they produced it, but god DAMN, it’s a really danceable tune! It’s almost worth it just so this mash up could exist.
There’s something about the subtle art of the mash up that really hits me deep down. It’s a union of two unrelated musical pieces made to conform in pitch and tempo as a single expression of pop culture spirit. This particular mash up is like an underwater disco party where every sea creature is invited. There are other mash ups out there on the Internet that can give food for thought.
Rick Astley and Nirvana are two music acts that usually incite a groan of disapproval from yours truly, but for some reason if you put the two together, all is forgiven. I can’t explain it; something about the unholy matrimony of these two songs that captivate my attention and adoration.
I don’t know if this one counts, because its sort of a remix of a remix. I don’t even know what you would call that. It’s still a great mash up.
This mash-up is nuttier than a bag of squirrels. They even kept the 11/8 time signature of the Outkast song and made it work with “We Will Rock You.”
And this is where we get into the just plain weird. I don’t know who came up with the idea of mashing a David Bowie song with a children’s TV show theme song, but whoever did is a freakin’ musical genius, even if it was made on someone’s Mac.
And so in conclusion, the musical mash up: a modern day invention made possible by means of digital manipulation of audio, an auditory oddity that defines the creative side of my generation, nostalgically looking to the past to create songs to incite a moment of ecstatic musical joy in the present.
