Sonic Collision Mk. 4 (Featuring the Kleptones)

[Reposted to the top slot by request of Mr. Kleptone himself.]

Kleptones – What’s the Matter with Your Lines, Baby?.mp3

In 1995, Duran Duran released one of the more ill-advised collection of covers ever to be released (and subsequently ridiculed). It’s not as if it was a horrible set of tunes. It was more the fact that Simon Le Bon and his backup pinups didn’t have the required street cred to pull off covers of Grandmaster Flash and (oh, lord) Public Enemy. Now, their cover of White Lines is not incredibly bad by any means. Misguided and inappropriate, yes, but it’s not a bad piece of poppish rap, if you can divorce it from the first two terms listed in this sentence.

Eric Kleptone, however, divorces the vocals from the instrumentation and this simple action  completely highlights exactly how misguided and inappropriate the cover is. This separation allows the listener to hear exactly how arch and BAD (for an honest lack of a better word) Le Bon’s vocals are. Retrofitted with Marvin Gaye (and a bit of Dr. Dre), we can now hear Le Bon’s vocal affectations in full swing, lying somewhere between half-ironic karaoke and full-ironic lounge singer and completely devoid of any redeeming sincerity. I suppose we can be thankful he didn’t attempt to sound more “black.”

I’m not sure if pointing out Le Bon’s “dramatic” vocals was Mr. Kleptone’s original intention, but lord knows he had to have heard it once he spilit off the vocals. The resulting mashup, while enjoyable and easy on the ears, can be heard as a warning shot to other white pop bands to stay the fuck out of the hood.

This track can be found on the utterly enjoyable mashup album, 24 Hours, which can be had (as so many mashups albums are) entirely for free. Also recommended: the entirety of the Kleptones output.

/s/CLT

Sonic Collision Mk. 3 featuring DJ Doc Rok

Washington, DC native DJ Doc Rok is one of only a handful of mashup producers whose most-recognized output is in the form of full albums.  Following (inadvertently) in the footsteps of Dangermouse (whose Grey Album crafted an unlikely partnership between the Beatles’ White Album and Jay-Z’s Black Album), Doc Rok first full-length mashup album, American Zeppelin, took a fistful of Led Zeppelin samples and made them play nice with Jay-Z’s American Gangster.  (Full album download here.)

DJ Doc Rok – Ignorant Shit.mp3

Speaking of ignant shit, Doc Rok has put together a rather spectacular selection of the lowest common denominator rap, featuring the sort of lyrics that make concerned parents fear for the future of America, normally in the form of letters to their Congressional representatives. Every track here is the sort of thing pointed at by the self-appointed guardians of culture as examples of What Is Wrong With Hip-Hop Today. For everyone else, it’s just a fuckload of stupid fun.

Doc Rok’s next project, The Biggie Hendrix Experience, takes two artists who went down during their prime, both of whom would be surprised to learn just how much dying increases your productivity. Jimi and Biggie have released somewhere in the area of 300 albums since their death, which puts them in Tupac’s neck of the graveyard, but still leaves them a few albums short of The Fall (est. albums – 377).  (Full download available here.)

DJ Doc Rok – Party & Bullshit vs. Foxy Lady.mp3

All this leads up to what is Doc Rok’s most masterful work yet. Take 50 Cent’s laidback low-key thugging, add some choice instrumental and vocal loops from back in the day (like possibly your parents’ day — the ’50s and ’60s), mix well and chill for an undetermined length of time. Serves party of 4. Fun for ages 7 to 70!**  [Full download available here.]

**(Theoretically. Mr. Cent’s affinity for ribald, sexually frank discussions, quite-a-bit-more-than-occasional swearing and offhand violence will most likely lop quite a few years off both ends of that spectrum. I mean, the kids will dance to it but everyone around them will be horrified and cover the kids’ ears/write letters to their Congressmen.)

Because I love you (mostly platonically, but sometimes more than that when you’re passed out) and I love this album, I’m going to give you TWO tracks to sample just in case the previous mastermixes haven’t fully grabbed your ears.

This is track that first grabbed mine:

DJ Doc Rok – P.I.M.P.mp3

And here’s the one that constantly repeats in my head (and mp3 player):

DJ Doc Rok – Rowdy Rowdy.mp3

Doc Rok isn’t solely a mashup artist, though. He’s got a long string of remixes to his name (check out his Soundcloud page for most of them) and crafts his own beats, one of which was recently used in an SNL sketch (beat kicks in at Ben Stiller’s entrance):

http://www.hulu.com/watch/287085/saturday-night-live-digital-short-v-necks

/s/CLT

Sonic Collision Mk. 1 (Featuring Smash)

Smash – Sanctuary’s Over (The Doors vs. the Cult).mp3

Ian Astbury of the Cult always wanted to be Jim Morrison. The nonsensical poetic ramblings. The appropriation of Native American imagery and knick knacks. The impossibly tight leather trousers. Smash (who we last heard pinning the over-the-top vocals of Tim Curry to Jet’s inescapable iPod-pushing hit) finally lets him have his way, sort of. She Sells Sanctuary, the pinnacle of the Cult’s musical achievements, plays backup to Jim Morrison’s vocal meanderings, to splendid effect. Rather than being forced to meander by the Doors’ wanky backup jamming, we are instead (thankfully) propelled forward and upward by one of the finest rock tracks ever crafted. The three-note acoustic guitar strum that seems tacked on at first is what really holds Sanctuary together. And She Sells Sanctuary holds Jimbo together, turning him into a Rock Star of the highest order, rather than a drug addled poet with his dork hanging out.

/s/CLT