M Is FOR MASHUP - February 6th, 2013
Bootleggers Celebrate Worlds' Greatest Divas!
By DJ Useo
One of the best features of the SoundUnsound mashup forum
( sound-unsound.com/ ) is that it releases 4 or 5 mashup collections a year. Me, Chocomang, and mARKYbOY, acting under our authority as moderators take turns picking a theme for the album, and then we coordinate the release in conjunction with the pre-release team. We feel it works out for the best to have as much input as possible on issues like pitching and timing. I'm sure it would be different if at least one of us was omnipotent, but since that would raise the bar to an unreasonable level, we share the praise and the blame. After past successes like
the 70s album
( www.groovytimewithdjuseo.blogspot.com/2012/04/sus-70s.html ),
two complete volumes of 80s mashups
( groovytimewithdjuseo.blogspot.com/2011/04/all-new-sound-unsounds-uk-80s-mashed.html ),
( www.groovytimewithdjuseo.blogspot.com/2012/09/soundunsound-80s-mashed-2.html ),
a punk collection
( groovytimewithdjuseo.blogspot.com/2012/01/never-mash-punk-rock-mashup-album.html ), and many more over the past 5 years, I chose the latest theme of DIVAS.
Divas struck me as a very appealing theme, much more so than the wonderful, but not so widespread appeal of the
SURF mashup album
( groovytimewithdjuseo.blogspot.com/2011/10/sus-mash-wave-new-surf-mashups-album.html ) . I still adore that one and play it plenty, but I was looking to pull in more listeners with a DIVAS comp. I've heard from a good batch of listeners that they'd like to hear more tracks featuring the best of the female performers. I've also seen some very popular blogs devoted to exposing us to more DIVAS music. So, I dropped my thought of doing an electro-themed comp, and boldly declared the DIVAS theme. I may be pushing it, or not, but I set a normal deadline (for me) of six weeks. It's not a problem if we need to extend it, as I suspected we might, since the deadline period fell over Christmas and New Years. The response surprised me, though, because the DIVAS theme really got a great response from the potential mixers. It seems many of us bootleggers hold the divas music in high regard, and welcomed the chance to honor them.
Within days of the DIVAS comp announcement, I began to get GREAT tracks. Pilchard, a long-time favorite bootlegger of mine dropped an instant classic right away with his Shirley Bassey/Prodigy mix. My instructions to use the DIVAS singing over any kind of music was perfect for Pilchards' purposes, resulting in a track that set a high standard for everyone following him. Some contributors, like Chocomang, Sjoersie, and mARKYbOY found themselves right at home to such an extent that they delivered as many as 5 tracks! Meanwhile, I quickly discovered that doing a DIVA mashup takes hard work. My problem was I normally start any mix with the music and then decide on the vocals later. In this case, I was required to start with the vocals, and then finish by adding the instrumental music.
It didn't take long for me to abandon a Barbara Streisand / Donna Summers acapella. I just couldn't get the 'feel' for it. Next up, I thought I was on the right path with Destiny's Child singing "Bootylicious" over the Doors "Touch Me". Unfortunately, the pitching gave me some probs, so I moved on to newer tracks that seemed to click effortlessly.
Over the next few weeks, I came up with seven terrific mashups that I felt very confident about. I dropped two of them, & we went with the five best. I was knocked out during much of the deadline period with that badass flu we all caught, but luckily, Chocomang was thriving so he picked up tons of loose slack resulting in 2 complete discs of finestkind mixes. The final record features awesome mixes by topnotch talent like ToTom, Rappy, DRA' man, Oki, Alan Black, and Tweylo. There's even wonderful tracks by some skilled 'newbies' (at least to me) like Ayee Mashup, and MashupBambi. On top of that there's tracks by DJ Mashup, DJ MXR, 2 of the most experienced, and gifted bootleggers out there.
Do yourself a favour and check out the large, full playlist here
( chocomang.org/mashup/NeverMashADiva.htm )
There's mirrored links for both discs, and also for Chocomang's two long mix versions. No charge!
Remember, it's 'SoundUnsounds' "NEVER MASH A DIVA".
Mix Of The Week
DJs From Mars do EXCELLENT mashups, but they also excel at long mixes. 'Djs From Mars - Alien Selection 2012 09 27' shows them at their gosh darn best. It's chock full of mashups, bootleg remixes, & the best modern pop you'll hear.
Listen, or stream here
( soundcloud.com/djsfrommars/djs-from-mars-alien-5 )
Mashup Tip
Don't concern yourself about what others want. Mix tracks according to what you want.
Latest Useo Thing
'Misery For Me' (James Talk, Ridney Feat. Max'C vs Good Charlotte vs Steve Aoki)
Dancey electro with gripping vocals.
( official.fm/tracks/805Q
Podgornio, The Mashup Psychic Predicts
Next Month, French bootlegger ToTom will make a track so good, that it will actually blow up!
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Noam Chomsky: US control is diminishing, but it still thinks it owns the world (Guardian)
The United States has long assumed the right to use violence to achieve its aims, but it is now less able to implement its policies.
Andrew Tobias: Will Jack Welch Apologize?
It's now clear Jack Welch exercised poor judgment in thinking - let alone tweeting- that the Bureau of Labor Statistics was in the tank for Obama, fudging its numbers in advance of the election. … As you may have read …, "The economy added 335,000 more jobs than originally estimated during all of 2012, including an additional 150,000 in the last quarter of the year." So the Bureau was estimating low, not high, in the run-up to the election.
Charles Kaiser: Koch a friend and force to the end (CNN)
He revered friendship; he loved food, and Israel, and gay people, and he adored New York City. He also loved himself. When Edward Irving Koch died early Friday morning in a New York hospital at age 88, it had been almost a quarter of a century since he had left office.
Oliver Sacks: Speak, Memory (New York Review of Books)
All of us "transfer" experiences to some extent, and at times we are not sure whether an experience was something we were told or read about, even dreamed about, or something that actually happened to us.
Chelsea Welch: Tips are not optional, they are how waiters get paid in America (Guardian)
An Applebee's diner refused to leave a tip for religious reasons. The waitress who exposed it wonders if Jesus will pay her bills.
Stewart Lee: Pop culture's past is growing faster than its present (Guardian)
I can now listen to music that was never aimed at me, from a time and a place I have no connection with - and even nearly enjoy it.
Not That Abbey Road (Neatorama)
Hey! The Abbey Road train station in London isn't the Abbey Road you're looking for. Luckily, Docklands Light Railway is not only aware of your mistake, but they go all out with the Beatles puns to make it seem more like a lark than an error.
Roger Ebert: Review of "Stand-up Guys" (3 ½ stars)
This [city] is no place for enterprising young men. Every location, we feel, should have one of those London blue plaques, informing the tourist what unspeakable things happened there. These men move through the monuments of sad lives. They have not lost the gift of bitter amusement.
"From Up on Poppy Hill" Trailer (YouTube)
Ghibli's new movie includes coming-of-age-in-tranquil-1960s-Japan action.
Poor Pluto (Imgur)
The artist didn't forget Pluto.
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog
David Bruce's Lulu Storefront
David Bruce's Apple iBookstore
David Bruce has approximately 50 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Return of the soupy marine layer.
Factual Flaw
'Lincoln'
As Rep. Joe Courtney watched the Oscar-nominated "Lincoln" over the weekend, something didn't seem right to him.
He said Tuesday he was shocked that the Oscar-nominated film, about President Abraham Lincoln's political struggle to abolish slavery, includes a scene in which two Connecticut congressmen vote against the 13th amendment to the Constitution, outlawing slavery.
He said a cursory Internet search confirmed his suspicions that the movie, directed by Steven Spielberg, was historically inaccurate. He asked the Congressional Research Service to investigate, and it reported that all four Connecticut congressmen backed the amendment in a January 1865 vote.
Courtney praised the film's acting and cinematography but said artistic license does not permit it to inaccurately put Connecticut on the wrong side of history, particularly on an issue as powerful as slavery. In a letter to Spielberg, the four-term Democratic congressman includes a tally of the 1865 vote by the state's congressional delegation and a passionate defense of the state's role in emancipating millions of blacks.
"How could congressmen from Connecticut - a state that supported President Lincoln and lost thousands of her sons fighting against slavery on the Union side of the Civil War - have been on the wrong side of history?" he said in his letter.
'Lincoln'
Stand-Alone 'Star Wars' Films
Disney
Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger said Tuesday that screenwriters Larry Kasdan and Simon Kinberg are working on stand-alone "Star Wars" movies that aren't part of the new trilogy that's in the works.
Iger said the movies would be based on "great 'Star Wars' characters that are not part of the overall saga." The films would be released during the six-year period of the new trilogy, which starts in 2015 with "Star Wars: Episode VII."
Disney confirmed last month that "Star Trek" director J.J. Abrams will direct the seventh installment of the "Star Wars" saga.
Disney bought "Star Wars" maker Lucasfilm last year for more than $4 billion.
Disney
Scratch The Surface
Internet Cat Stars
They frolic in empty boxes and stick their heads under faucet streams of water. They dance on tippy toes and fly through the air with Pop-Tarts. They play piano wearing little frocks and get tickled to distraction to the delight of millions onYouTube.
I speak, of course, of the cat stars of the Internet, a place filled with felines and their wacky uploading humans since the dawn of bandwidth. Now, after years of viral viewing, they're coming into their own in lucrative and altruistic ways.
The first Internet Cat Video Film Festival drew a Woodstock-esque crowd of more than 10,000 - people, that is - to a Minneapolis art museum in August. Police closed a span of highway clogged with cars trying to get to the Walker Art Center for the free outdoor slate of 80 videos culled from 10,000 submissions that covered the simple, funny moment to polished animations and works made by trained filmmakers.
Corporate kittydom is happy with the higher profile for the cat meme, which actually goes back to the '70s, when swapping VHS tapes was big and the word meme was barely known. It means, by the way, all the crazy, viral themes that spread online faster than you can say nom, nom, nom (cat-vid speak for the sound of a cat eating.)
Internet Cat Stars
Henri, le Chat Noir
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Simon's Cat
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Maru Greatest Hits VI
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Internet Cat Video Festival
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Catdance
Mainstream Websites More Likely to Harbor
Malware
Despite the common belief that "sketchy" Internet sites are more likely to host malware than their mainstream counterparts, the reverse may be true.
Internet users are 21 times more likely to become infected by visiting a legitimate online shopping site than by visiting a site used for illegal file-sharing, according to Cisco's latest annual security report.
"Web malware encounters occur everywhere people visit on the Internet - including the most legitimate of websites that they visit frequently, even for business purposes," Mary Landesman, Cisco senior security researcher, said in the report.
The problem isn't in the sites themselves; it's in the ads.
At first glance, Web pages appear to be nice neat little bundles of information. But in most cases, when you load a webpage, that page makes "calls" to third-party servers that host images, video content and advertisements that are syndicated to thousands of public-facing websites.
Malware
Rupert Cuts Ties
Dick Morris
Political commentator Dick Morris' prediction of a huge landslide for Mitt Romney didn't pan out. And now he's lost his job at Fox News Channel.
Network spokeswoman Dana Klinghoffer said Tuesday that Fox wasn't renewing its contract with Morris, who was steadfast throughout the campaign in his prediction of a big Romney win over President Barack Obama. He has made few appearances on Fox since the election.
Morris had also been criticized for accepting paid advertisements on his website from candidates that he discussed on the air at Fox.
On his website, Morris said he'll be appearing on CNN's Piers Morgan show Wednesday to talk politics.
Dick Morris
Kashmir Girl Band
Pragaash
The first all-girl rock band in Indian-controlled Kashmir has decided to disband after only one concert because of threats its three teenaged members received on social media and criticism from a top Muslim cleric and separatists.
The fate of Pragaash highlights the simmering tension between modernity and tradition in Muslim-majority Kashmir. The region has been plagued by violence during a two decade-long uprising against Indian rule.
Adnan Mattoo, the group's music teacher and manager, said the three high school students in the band are scared and want the controversy to end.
Pragaash performed in public for the first time in December at a "Battle of the Bands" organized by an Indian paramilitary force. It won third place.
Pragaash
Japan Pop Idol's Head-Shave Apology
AKB48
A member of a hugely popular Japanese girl band has shaved her head and issued a tearful videotaped apology for violating the megagroup's no-dating rule.
The spectacle has sparked debate in Japan over whether the band AKB48 exerts too much control over its performers.
Minami Minegishi made the video, posted on AKB48's website, after the 20-year-old was caught by a gossip magazine coming out of her boyfriend's apartment.
AKB48 says it forbids its members from dating to project a clean image and signal their devotion to the group and their mostly male fans.
The band is made up of more than 90 teenage girls and young women divided into several teams. Minegishi belonged to the most prestigious team but her manager said she will be demoted to "research student" status.
AKB48
Portrait Fetches Near $45M
Picasso
A Picasso painting of his muse has fetched 28.6 million pounds ($44.9 million) at a London auction.
The 1932 work, "Femme Assise Pres d'une Fenetre (Woman Sitting Near a Window)," is a portrait of the artist's "golden muse," Marie-Therese Walter.
Picasso first met his muse in Paris in 1927, when she was 17 years old, and the pair subsequently became lovers.
Helena Newman, who heads Sotheby's Impressionist and Modern Art department in Europe, called the painting a "stunning and monumental portrait" from one of the most celebrated periods in Picasso's life.
Picasso
Mixer Affects Intoxication
Diet or Regular?
The simple choice of whether or not to mix liquor with a diet or regular soda may affect how intoxicated you get, a new study suggests.
In the study, men and women ages 21 to 33 who drank vodka mixed with diet soda had breath alcohol concentrations that were 18 percent higher after 40 minutes compared with people who drank the same dose of vodka mixed with regular soda.
In fact, after three to four drinks, people who used diet soda as a mixer had a breath alcohol level that exceeded the legal limit for an adult operating a motor vehicle. People who used regular soda in their drink did not.
What's more, people who used diet mixers scored more poorly on a test of reaction time that people who used regular mixers, although both groups reported feeling similar levels of intoxication.
Diet or Regular?
Users Take Breaks
'Facebook Vacations'
Taking a break from Facebook? You're not alone.
More than 60 percent of adult Facebook users say they have taken a break from the social media site, according to a new study released on Tuesday by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project. And 27 percent of users say they plan to spend less time on Facebook in 2013.
"People are trying to make new calibrations in their life to accommodate new social tools," Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet Project and a co-author of the new report, wrote in an email to Yahoo News. "For some, the central calculation is how they spend their time. For others, it's more of a social reckoning as they ask themselves, 'What are my friends doing and thinking, and how much does that matter to me?' They are adding up the pluses and minuses on a kind of networking balance sheet."
Of those who took a so-called "Facebook vacation"-staying away from the site for a period of several weeks or more-21 percent said they did so because they were "too busy," while 10 percent cited a "general lack of interest." Another 10 percent blamed a "lack of compelling content," according to the Pew report.
According to internal Facebook data, the site had more than 1 billion monthly active users as of December 2012-82 percent of them from outside the U.S. and Canada. And the 8-year-old site averages 618 million active users daily.
'Facebook Vacations'
Prime-Time Nielsens
Ratings
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Jan. 28-Feb. 3. Listings include the week's ranking and viewership.
1. Super Bowl XLVII: Baltimore vs. San Francisco, CBS, 108.69 million.
2. "Super Bowl Power Outage," CBS, 106.56 million.
3. "NCIS," CBS, 22.07 million.
4. "The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 17.76 million.
5. "NCIS: Los Angeles," CBS, 17.3 million.
6. "American Idol" (Wednesday), Fox, 15.78 million.
7. "Person of Interest," CBS, 15.71 million.
8. "American Idol" (Thursday), Fox, 13.8 million.
9. "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 13.7 million.
10. "Blue Bloods," CBS, 11.5 million.
11. "Vegas," CBS, 11.23 million.
12. "Elementary," CBS, 10.9 million.
13. "CSI: NY," CBS, 10.39 million.
14. "The Following," Fox, 10.1 million.
15. "Undercover Boss," CBS, 9.94 million.
16. "Super Bowl: Greatest Commercials," CBS, 9.65 million.
17. "Bones," Fox, 9.25 million.
18. "Grey's Anatomy," ABC, 8.93 million.
19. "The Big Bang Theory" (Monday, 8:30 p.m.), CBS, 8.16 million.
20. "Scandal," ABC, 8.09 million.
Ratings
In Memory
Garrett Lewis
Garrett Lewis, the set decorator who earned Oscar nominations for his work on "Beaches," ''Glory," ''Hook" and "Bram Stoker's Dracula" has died of natural causes. He was 77.
Wendy Weaver says Lewis worked as an actor on Broadway and in films and television before becoming a set decorator in the late 1970s. He appeared in "Hello, Dolly" on stage, "Funny Lady" on film and "Shirley Temple Theatre" on TV.
He became a set decorator after designing private homes for his celebrity friends and went on to work on 39 films, including "Pretty Woman," ''Mrs. Doubtfire" and "Steel Magnolias."
Lewis is survived by his sister, Jane Peiker, and five nieces and nephews.
Garrett Lewis
In Memory
Reg Presley
Reg Presley, the lead singer of 1960s British rock band The Troggs, who scored a hit with the love anthem "Wild Thing," was reported to have died at his home in England on Monday after a battle with cancer. He was 71.
"He passed away peacefully at home and myself, my brother and our mother were with him. We're absolutely heartbroken," Presley's daughter Karen was quoted as telling the London-based World Entertainment News Network (WENN).
Presley announced in January 2012 that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer after falling ill during a performance in Germany. He began chemotherapy and announced his retirement from the band at the time.
The singer's friend and music publicist Keith Altham posted on Facebook on Monday that Presley had suffered several strokes recently.
"He was one very real person in a sometimes very unreal world," Altham said. "Our thoughts are with his wife Brenda and the family and those legion of fans who loved his music and his band. I will miss him hugely."
The Troggs catapulted onto the rock'n'roll scene with "Wild Thing" in 1966, making them one of Britain's most successful garage rock acts of the era.
"Wild Thing," which was written by American songwriter Chip Taylor, topped the charts in the United States and reached No. 2 in Britain.
Presley penned hits "With a Girl Like You" in 1966 and the band's final big hit, "Love Is All Around," in 1967.
"Love Is All Around" was later covered by the Scottish band Wet Wet Wet in 1994 and lodged itself at the top of the British charts for some 15 weeks.
Reg Presley
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