[Rumori] mash smarter not harder

[Steev Hise]

On May 21, 2008, at 8:19 PM, The Evolution Control Committee /  
TradeMark G. wrote:

> steev said:
>>  I would love it if I
>> walked into a club and witnessed people dancing to it, but I fear
>> that would have to be in an alternate universe.
>
>     I'm not surprised that San Francisco applies as your alternate  
> universe:

Mark you misunderstand me. I've heard mashups playing in clubs and  
parties all over the world, from the Mission to the Lower Haight but  
also from Sao Paulo to Tucson, Brooklyn to Quetzaltenango.  Rather, I  
was envisioning the world where this particular project of Stallio's  
would be found playing in a club and i feel like that's a taller  
order.  It's pretty different in that, while there is a consistent  
tempo, there's not a consistent sound. it jumpcuts back and forth  
between very sonically different material - so even though it is  
technically a regular beat that you could dance to if you tried, it's  
really pretty jarring, whereas i find "traditional," play-2-songs at- 
once mashups to often be really easily danceable, and fun too, cuz  
the whole time i'm thinking, this is brilliant, and from my  
experience I'm guessing that international clubster audiences must  
feel the same way.

btw, has anyone heard of a beatles mashup album called "Revolved" by  
someone called "ccc"?

>  I can't help but think that the club kids are there because they  
> simply feel like they're getting a good bargain -- two songs for  
> the length of one.  If there's any appreciation of the artistry, I  
> feel like the club-goers appreciate more of the "artistry" of the  
> original pop sources than of the mashup artist combining them.

I think a lot of people love mashups for more than what you're  
describing. even those poor, unartistic plebes you refer to get a  
kick out of hearing culture mixed together, especially songs they  
recognize. stuff that's danceable AND that is a little sonic and  
scenester and pop cultural joke IS appreciated, i think, even if they  
don't think about who thought of the mixture or who executed it or  
which software they used.  and afterall, who cares?  that was one  
thing that allured me to the mashup concept was the idea that anyone  
could do it, that it was a form of "active listening," to use an  
Oswaldian term, that might seep into the listening habits of average  
consumers.  Pretty quickly though, it devolved into another genre and  
craft, getting more complex and spawning reliance on complicated  
tools and techniques.

Not that I don't also like more intricate and complicated "mashups",  
but as they get more involved, they start being just more sample- 
based compositions.  i would have liked it if the term mashup  
remained the name for a simple and specific act and a participatory  
activity and attitude, rather than a spectator sport like so much  
other modern culture.

steev

Steev Hise | steev at detritus.net | http://detritus.net/steev
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"I think music is an instrument.  It can create the initial thought
  patterns that can change the thinking of people."
            -John Coltrane