M Is FOR MASHUP - August 31st, 2011
August's Best Mashups
By DJ Useo
Feedback from readers indicates that recent 'M Is For Mashup' articles have TOO MANY great mashups for some of you to keep up with. I don't agree entirely, as I don't expect everyone to appreciate every style featured here, & would hate to abstain from mentioning many notable projects if I held back. But in response to the emails, today I am streamlining to allow you a sleaker mashup experience. I am selecting 6 of the best new tracks I can find. Among the many mashups posted there's always some with production problems like voices off pitch or missmatched beats. There's also plenty that are done correctly, yet without offering the sheer appeal of the better tracks. Then there's the best mashups with immaculate production & combos that are penetrating & memorable. The following 6 tracks all qualify as 10 out of 10 on a scale of 10 in my book.
01 - You would be hard-pressed to find anyone who does better mashups than
Go Home Productions
( www.gohomeproductions.co.uk ) . To prove that statement simply listen to 'Imagine The Game' (John Lennon vs Wings) on his new release 'Super Bastard' EP. The other 2 tracks 'Little Shakie Roxanne' (The Police vs Armando Trovajoli) & 'Easy Divide' (Linkin Park vs The Commodores) are also utterly great.' & best for all involved is the 3 fantastic videos that accompany them. This is a must-not-miss opportunity for mashup lovers. Thanks to GHP for the gifts. Also, don't miss the incredible ADDICTIVE TV content that GHP has on his site. It's the future of entertainment.
( www.gohomeproductions.co.uk )
02 - Dan Mei has made consistently great mashups since before I heard of him. The pattern continues presently with his new floorfilla '
Burn! Divide! S&M! Amaranth!' (Nightwish vs Carpark North vs Rihanna vs Linkin Park) is one superior mix. The sound is as fine or better than many label tracks, & the bootleg appeal is unmistakable. This is my personal fave of all 6 featured tracks today. Hear it
here
( www.xstreamist.com/members/4177/audio.php )
03 - Voicedude's latest mashup is one that friends have often mentioned as a favorite. '
Moves Like A Dead Mau5' (Maroon 5 & Christina Aguilera vs Deadmau5 vs Mick Jagger) has all that & more when it comes to modern pop bootleg mixes. The ultra-modern electro of the Deadmau5 elevates the splendid vocals into great new territory. I understand Deadmau5 is not a fan of bootlegs with his work, but I think this Voicedude track brings the potential of all artists involved to a new audience, perhaps an audience that is yearning for a new sound.
( official.fm/tracks/291336 )
Video available also
( www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOIz-l1achs )
04 - LeeDM101 has achieved a high level of quality for a long time now with no trace of letup. 'A Better End' (Chase & Status vs Hard-fi) has total breakthough potential to a big mainstream market dying for aggressive melody & rhythm. Of course both source artist tracks are wonderful listens to begin with, yet the combined effect is so satisfying it screams turn me up & play me again. No lie. Check it out
here
( soundcloud.com/leedm101 )
05 - Protesta's new track '20 Red Hot Cents'(Jurassic 5 vs 20 Cent Riddim) is all that you could want in a funk bootleg. It has all that's great in the source track & then jazzes it up a few more notches by skilled mixing. It has such a wonderful sound to it, that like me you'll want to drive around with it cranked up loud! Enjoy the fine mashup life with
this hot track.
( djprotesta.wordpress.com/2011/08/26/jurrassic-5-vs-20-cent-riddim-20-red-hot-cents-dj-protesta-mash-up-remix/ )
06 - MightyMike is mighty regular with strong mashups, so it's no surprise that lightning strikes again with his new post. '
Crazy Time To Relax' (Frankie Goes To Hollywood vs Seal vs Chic vs Lenny Kravitz)
( mightymikesnewboot.blogspot.com/2011/08/chic-vs-frankie-goes-to-hollywood-vs.html )
Video version available!
( vimeo.com/28072221 )
These 6 awesome blends are only the tip of the iceberg. Avail yourself of
Mashuptown
( www.mashuptown.com/ ),
Audioporncentral
( audioporncentral.com/ ),
or
Mashtix
( www.mashstix.com ), where they offer different methods of high quality track selection, saving you much effort. Actually, any of the many mashup forums you can find linked at my site will provide you a rich & satisfying mashup experience. There's plenty more out there beyond these 6 iffen you've a mind to hear them.
Mix Of The Week
lenodd's all-Rave Mix 'Wasted Youth' is overwhelmingly a HIT! Old Skool Rave handled by an experienced hand, this set is destined to remain on your mp3-player for a long time. Another great B00MB0X mix
here
( www.bmbx.org/2011/08/wasted-youths/ )
Mashup Tip : Add lots of bass & heavy beats if you want listeners.
Latest Useo Thing
'Perfect Legs' (The The vs Art Of Noise) Is a combo mix of The The's 'perfect' vs The Art Of Noise's 'legs'. Spa fon!
( groovytimewithdjuseo.blogspot.com/2011/08/perfect-legs-the-vs-art-of-noise.html )
Podgornio, The Mashup Psychic Predicts
Several major Southern US States will ban all mashups involving Lynyrd Skynyrd, as they feel none due the band justice.
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Best Of Hurricane Irene Store Signs
Though it was ultimately short-lived, business owners across the east coast were not pleased to close their doors because of Hurricane Irene, and used their storefronts to vent frustrations. Here are the best ones.
Robert Kuttner: It's Not a Great Recession (Huffington Post)
So while today's economy is surely more like a depression than a recession, we are still seeking the right adjective. How about The Needless Depression?
Andrew Tobias: The Divide
When everyone joins the fight to modernize our infrastructure, achieve energy independence, and spur innovation, we'll have even more to feel hopeful about. There shouldn't be an unemployed construction worker anywhere in America.
Paul Krugman: Republicans Against Science (New York Times)
To hear some of the G.O.P. presidential candidates talk, it would seem as if willful ignorance has become a litmus test.
Richard Rothstein: Grading the Education Reformers (Slate)
Steven Brill gives them much too easy a ride.
Joseph Epstein: What Killed American Lit. (Wall Street Journal)
Today's collegians don't want to study it-who can blame them?
Tanith Carey: A very muscular brand of Christianity (Guardian)
Why Jesus has undergone a macho makeover.
Geoff Boucher: Tom Morello channels his rage into the world of comics (Los Angeles Times)
Tom Morello, a man with searing musical ability and scorching political passions, is famous as the guitarist in Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave and, increasingly, for his solo folk project The Nightwatchman. Now, like his friend Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance, the amplifier auteur is moving into a new career as a storyteller in the comics world. "Orchid" arrives in October from Dark Horse Comics, with art by Scott Hepburn.
Glen Campbell: One last love song (Guardian)
In June, Glen Campbell announced that he had Alzheimer's. As he releases his final album, he talks to Simon Hattenstone about memory loss, drug addiction and telling Elvis he was too fat.
David Bruce: Wise Up! Husbands and Wives (Athens News)
Art Linkletter is famous in part because of his interviews with children. For example, he asked a small girl what she wanted to be when she grew up. She replied, "An airline stewardess. My aunt was one, and she told me you can marry rich millionaires." When Mr. Linkletter asked her whom her aunt had married, she answered, "The airport janitor."
David Bruce has 42 Kindle books on Amazon.com with 250 anecdotes in each book. Each book is $1, so for $42 you can buy 10,500 anecdotes. Search for "Funniest People," "Coolest People, "Most Interesting People," "Kindest People," "Religious Anecdotes," "Maximum Cool," and "Resist Psychic Death."
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Lovley marine layer delayed the sun til lunchtime.
Sparks Twitter Record
Beyonce
Beyonce's pregnant performance at the MTV Video Music Awards sparked a Twitter record.
When Beyonce performed at 10:35 p.m. EDT Sunday night, there were 8,868 tweets per second. Twitter said that rate was a record for the service.
At the VMAs, Beyonce revealed a baby bump, cupping her growing belly for photographers as she arrived and rubbing her tummy when she performed. The 29-year-old singer is married to Jay-Z.
The VMAs drew MTV's biggest audience since the network began measuring its viewership. Sunday night's show attracted 12.4 million viewers.
Beyonce
Plan Anniversary Tribute
Cartoonists
Sept. 11 is etched in the memories of millions, and as the 10th anniversary nears, cartoonists are etching their thoughts and emotions about 9/11 into comic strips.
With the anniversary falling on a Sunday, more than 90 cartoonists with five different syndicates have banded together to dedicate their strips on Sept. 11 to those whose lives were lost in the attacks. Sept. 11-themed strips will appear from the writers and artists of "Family Circus," ''Mallard Fillmore," "Candorville," "Doonesbury" and "Pluggers," among others.
It's not the first time that cartoonists have banded together. Previous efforts have included topics like Earth Day or breast cancer awareness. But the scope of this endeavor is unprecedented, with five syndicates and the newspapers they serve participating: King Features, Creators Syndicate, Tribune Media Services, Universal Press Syndicate and Washington Post Writers Group - and the strips they provide to newspapers participating. The artists produce the strips independently.
The comics, each produced independently by the artists, will be featured in a separate, full-color pullout section and online the same day at www.cartoonistsremember911.com. Afterward, exhibits on the strips are planned for the Newseum in Washington, San Francisco's Cartoon Art Museum, the Toonseum in Pittsburgh and the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art in New York.
Cartoonists
Kronos Quartet & Patti Smith
2011 Polar Music Prize
American string quartet Kronos Quartet and rocker Patti Smith have received the prestigious 2011 Polar Music Prize from Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf.
The musicians accepted their awards at a glitzy ceremony in Stockholm on Tuesday. Each award is worth 1 million kronor ($159,000).
A moved Smith said she was "humbled and inspired" to receive the award. She thanked her family and band members and appealed to the audience to "turn their hearts and minds and resources" toward the famine in Africa.
The Polar Music Prize is typically shared each year by a pop artist and a classical musician. It was founded by the manager of Sweden's legendary pop group ABBA, Stig Anderson, in 1989.
2011 Polar Music Prize
Drops Out Of Broadway Debut
James Franco
James Franco can't make time for Broadway.
Publicist Robin Baum confirmed Tuesday that the workaholic actor has dropped out of a planned production of the steamy Tennessee Williams play "Sweet Bird of Youth."
It was to mark Franco's Broadway debut and would have created one of the hottest tickets of the season because he was to be paired with Nicole Kidman, who is still on board.
The play tells the story of an aging actress and the gigolo paramour who uses her as he tries to help her get back into movies. David Cromer is scheduled to direct.
Franco, last seen in "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" and "Your Highness," is shooting the film "Oz," appearing on "General Hospital" and earning a doctorate in English at Yale.
James Franco
Cancels China Performances
Seiji Ozawa
Seiji Ozawa, Japan's most famous conductor, will not take part in a music festival in China later this week, organizers said, with media reporting that he was in hospital in Tokyo for tests.
The 75-year-old former Vienna State Opera musical director, who for many years was also conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, was diagnosed with oesophogeal cancer in January 2010 and completed treatment later that year.
In January, he had endoscopic lower back surgery for chronic back pain and took a six-month break from conducting. But his comeback at the Saito Kinen Festival in the Japanese castle town of Matsumoto ran into trouble last week when he was diagnosed with dehydration and a light case of pneumonia, forcing him to cancel two of four performances.
Ozawa was one of the first Asian classical musicians widely recognized abroad and has strived to revitalize the classical music scene in his native country by founding the Saito Kinen Festival.
Born the son of a dentist in 1935 in Shenyang, part of what was then Japanese-occupied China, Ozawa spent much of his early childhood in Beijing and has kept up connections with China since the late 1970s, when he was invited to work with a Chinese orchestra for a week.
Seiji Ozawa
Rejoining NBC
Dick Ebersol
Dick Ebersol's exit from NBC may turn out to be more of an extended vacation.
The NBC Sports veteran will return to the network as a senior advisor, just three months after stepping down as its chairman, the New York Times reported Tuesday.
Ebersol will be involved with both the Olympics and "Sunday Night Football," both of which he negotiated to bring to NBC, the Times said. He was expected to serve in an advisory role for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
The news came on the same day NBC announced that "Today" executive producer Jim Bell would executive produce its coverage of the Olympics. Ebersol hired Bell to help cover the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.
Dick Ebersol
Gawker Digs Dirt
O'Really
The war between Gawker and Fox News just got a little uglier.
After months of digging up dirt on Roger Ailes, the chairman and CEO of the top-rated cable news network, Gawker sleuth John Cook has unearthed some potentially damaging dish on Fox News primetime stalwart Bill O'Reilly.
In Cook's latest investigative report, he writes: "Last summer, Fox News anchor Bill O'Reilly came to believe that his wife was romantically involved with another man. Not just any man, but a police detective in the Long Island community they call home. So O'Reilly did what any concerned husband would do: He pulled strings to get the police department's internal affairs unit to investigate one of their own for messing with the wrong man's lady."
Last week, the Fox News show "Fox & Friends," as well as the channel's website, ran stories claiming Gawker's traffic has recently dropped 75 percent, a claim Gawker refuted while also suggesting that the negative press was a pre-emptive strike against a story Cook was working on, which turned out to be today's O'Reilly expose.
According to Adweek, "the network denies that it was attempting to preempt Cook's story by dumping on Gawker, saying that there was no link, that the decision to report on Gawker's traffic figures was purely editorial, and that producers at 'Fox & Friends' wouldn't have had knowledge of the impending O'Reilly story."
O'Really
New Releases
WikiLeaks
The accelerated public disclosure of tens of thousands of previously unreleased State Department cables by the WikiLeaks anti-secrecy organization has raised new concerns about the exposure of confidential U.S. embassy sources and is proving a source of fresh diplomatic setbacks and embarrassment for the Obama administration, current and former American officials said Tuesday.
The Associated Press reviewed more than 2,000 of the cables recently released by Wikileaks. They contained the identities of at least nine sources who had sought protection and whose names the cable authors had asked to protect.
Officials said the disclosure in the past week of more than 125,000 sensitive documents by WikiLeaks, far more than it had earlier published, further endangered informants and jeopardized U.S. foreign policy goals. The officials would not comment on the authenticity of the leaked documents but said the rate and method of the new releases, including about 50,000 in one day alone, presented new complications.
The accelerated flood of publishing partly reflects the collapse of the unusual relationships between WikiLeaks and news organizations that previously were cooperating with it in exchange for being given copies of all the uncensored State Department messages.
WikiLeaks
Site Under Attack
WikiLeaks
The WikiLeaks website crashed Tuesday in an apparent cyberattack after the accelerated publication of tens of thousands of once-secret State Department cables by the anti-secrecy organization raised new concerns about the exposure of confidential U.S. embassy sources.
"WikiLeaks.org is presently under attack," the group said on Twitter late Tuesday. One hour later, the site and the cables posted there were inaccessible.
WikiLeaks updated its Twitter account to say that it was "still under a cyberattack" and directed followers to search for cables on a mirror site or a separate search system, cablegatesearch.net.
The apparent cyberattack comes after current and former American officials said the recently released cables - and concerns over the protection of sources - are creating a fresh source of diplomatic setbacks and embarrassment for the Obama administration. It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack.
WikiLeaks
Judge Limits Damages In 'Housewives' Case
Nicollette Sheridan
A judge urged attorneys to try to settle Nicollette Sheridan's wrongful termination lawsuit over her ouster from "Desperate Housewives" on Monday after limiting damages the actress may recoup if she wins at trial.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Allen White ruled that Sheridan can seek damages for only one year's pay on the show, not for the entire length of the series. The show is entering its eighth and final season.
Sheridan's character, Edie Britt, was killed off in the fifth season. Attorneys for the show claim it was a creative decision, but the actress says she was wrongfully fired for complaining that "Housewives" creator and executive producer Marc Cherry struck her during a fight in September 2008.
White has pared down the case since Sheridan sued ABC, the network that airs "Housewives," and Cherry in 2010. The judge previously threw out Sheridan's harassment claims against Cherry, and ruled Monday that the actress cannot make reference to his alleged rude behavior toward others.
If Sheridan wins, she may be entitled to punitive damages. But her actual damages would be limited to the roughly $980,000 she would have earned during Season 6 had she not been written off the show.
Nicollette Sheridan
Judge Blocks Med Records
Britney Spears
A judge won't give a company suing Britney Spears access to her medical information.
The pop star is still under court-ordered conservatorship after a bout of erratic behavior in 2008. Her father and attorneys control her personal and financial affairs.
Because of the conservatorship, she will not be required to give a deposition in the lawsuit from the company Brand Sense, which claims it helped negotiate a perfume deal for Spears but was cut out of the profits.
Brand Sense wanted to see medical records proving Spears couldn't testify. But Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Reva Goetz ruled Tuesday that Brand Sense Partners has no standing to see medical records.
Britney Spears
Throws In Towel On Lions Gate
Icahn
Activist investor Carl Icahn agreed to dump his stake in Lions Gate Entertainment Corp on Tuesday, giving up on a lengthy battle for control of the film studio and producer of television hit "Mad Men."
Billionaire Icahn and his son, Brett, will sell up to 44 million shares of Lions Gate at $7 each, the Hollywood studio said in a statement. The price is about equal to Icahn's cost of acquiring the shares.
Lions Gate shares fell 4.9 percent to $7.15 in after-hours trading, from an earlier close of $7.52 on the New York Stock Exchange.
The billionaire investor, who waged a years-long public campaign against a studio he accused of mismanagement and over-spending, had tried to appoint his own people to the board and attempted a hostile takeover. Tuesday's announcement signaled a cessation of hostilities, including in court.
Icahn
U.S. Researchers Broke Rules
Guatemala
U.S. government researchers must have known they were violating ethical standards by deliberately infecting Guatemalan prison inmates and mental patients with syphilis for an experiment in the 1940s, according to a presidential commission.
The U.S.-funded research in Guatemala did not treat participants as human beings, failing to even inform them they were taking part in research, as was the case for a similar study in the United States, the commission said on Monday.
The United States apologized last year for the experiment, which was meant to test the drug penicillin, after it was uncovered decades later by a college professor.
U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) officer Dr. John Cutler, a rather junior scientist at the time, led the Guatemala research from 1946 to 1948 under a grant from the NIH to the Pan American Sanitary Bureau and in collaboration with several Guatemalan agencies.
Dr. Cutler, who went on to take part in the Tuskegee study, also participated in a 1943 gonorrhea experiment in Terre Haute, Indiana. There, prison inmates were deliberately infected with the STD, but were informed of the study and asked to give consent. Until his death in 2003, Cutler remained unapologetic about his research.
Guatemala
Ferrari's Fine
Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber and his Ferrari are both fine after a fender-bender in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Police Officer Gregory Baek says the 17-year-old singer was involved in "a very minor collision" Tuesday afternoon in LA's Studio City.
The officer said no one was injured or cited and no police report was taken. There was no visible damage to Bieber's car or the Honda Civic involved in the crash.
Bieber recently appeared at MTV's Video Music Awards, where he won best male video for his song "U Smile."
Justin Bieber
Prime-Time Nielsens
Ratings
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by the Nielsen Co. for Aug. 22-28. Listings include the week's ranking and viewership.
1. "America's Got Talent" (Tuesday), NBC, 11.99 million.
2. "America's Got Talent" (Wednesday), NBC, 11.12 million.
3. "NCIS," CBS, 9.43 million.
4. NFL Exhibition Football: San Diego vs. Oakland, NBC, 9.27 million.
5. "NCIS: Los Angeles," CBS, 8.39 million.
6. "Big Brother 13" (Thursday), CBS, 8.15 million.
7. "60 Minutes," CBS, 8.09 million.
8. "Big Brother 13" (Wednesday), CBS, 7.95 million.
9. "Big Brother 13" (Sunday), CBS, 7.87 million.
10. "NCIS" (Tuesday, 10 p.m.), CBS, 7.49 million.
11. "The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 7.38 million.
12. NFL Exhibition Football: Green Bay vs. Indianapolis, CBS, 6.74 million.
13. "NBC NFL Preseason Pre-Kick," NBC, 6.46 million.
14. "Hell's Kitchen" (Monday, 9 p.m.), Fox, 6.42 million.
15. "Wipeout" (Tuesday), ABC, 6.25 million.
16. "America's Funniest Home Videos," ABC, 6.22 million.
17. "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 6.13 million.
18. "Bachelor Pad," ABC, 6.129 million.
19. "Hell's Kitchen" (Monday, 8 p.m.), Fox, 6.07 million.
20. "20/20: Sixth Sense," ABC, 5.88 million.
Ratings
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