December 2005:
Number 500
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A newsletter for the students, faculty and staff of the Collin County Community College District. Published monthly. For information or submissions, call 972.758.3849. Cougar News welcomes student and faculty submissions. Next deadline: Dec. 2 All submissions are due by 5 p.m. on the due date. Photos cannot be returned. Text should be emailed to mrobinson@ccccd.edu or sent on disk. Please submit copy that is proofed, edited and saved in Word format. Cougar News staff: Lisa Vasquez, director; Mark Robinson, editor; Marcy Cadena-Smith, contributor; Sydney Portilla-Diggs, student correspondent; Stephanie Hall, student correspondent; Nick Young, photographer; Layout by Publications
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Music genres swirled with mash ups
By Mark Robinson
New Media Review
It is said among naysayers and artistic doomsdayists that everything is derivative.
Music, art, literature – it is all dependent on the past, lines already crossed, envelopes already pushed.
With that said, the only way, it seems, to be entirely original, is to, ironically, become entirely unoriginal.
Look on the Internet, and it is easy to tell that there is a new age of expression upon us. There are tons of examples and none are more fun than mash ups.
Mash ups are created when the instrumentation of one song is bundled with the melody/vocals of another. It is what rap producers do with sampling. There is a little track manipulation to match the vocal and instruments, and neither side of the collaboration is original. One of the first successful mash ups was Christina Aguilera vs. The Strokes titled “A Stroke of Genius.”
Now the options are potentially limitless. Lenny Kravitz vs. Eminem. Justin Timberlake vs. The Dandy Warhols. Rod Stewart vs. Stevie Wonder. Tenacious D vs. Jennifer Lopez.
The point of mash ups are, essentially, to be ironic and nothing really more. Granted, some songs are improved such as Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone” which was mixed with the deep groove of the Eagles’ “One of These Nights.” Both songs by themselves are give ups. However, when melded together they are 100 percent better.
On a grander scale, Danger Mouse mashed The Beatles with Jay-Z for “The Grey Album” and an entire Weezer vs. Jay Z album, “The Black and Blue Album” is available via download.
Mash ups are probably meant to be funny more so than an expression of canonized artistic flair, but why should it not be that way? The worst kind of art is the kind made by an individual who takes him or herself too seriously.
Plus, it makes for pretty good dance music.
[PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION]
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