Another step in the democratization of music

November 21, 2002 12:02 PM

Bastard Pop is one of the more interesting developments in popular music in the last few years, but copyright laws preclude its distribution in stores. To hear it, you'll need to fire up your P2P or scour the internet. If you're not satisfied with the offerings, all you need is your home computer to make your own songs. Ever wonder what happens if you cross Joy Division with Missy Elliott?
posted by mert (31 comments total)

If you haven't heard the wonderful Smells Like Teen Booty by Soulwax, you must check it out. Definitely better than the originals. Plus their website is a humorous abuse of Flash.
posted by LordMcD at 12:12 PM on November 21, 2002

Ever wonder what happens when the same trend is posted to Metafilter over and over again?
posted by jjg at 12:15 PM on November 21, 2002

I wonder what would happen if you crossed Run DMC and Aerosmith.
posted by richardm at 12:22 PM on November 21, 2002

jjg, new terms come to light when bastard pop is rechristened as mashups and cut-ups.
posted by pedantic at 12:25 PM on November 21, 2002

I might add sample-loaded mixes, soundclashes and unofficial remixes to the vernacular.
posted by pedantic at 12:27 PM on November 21, 2002

So this has been posted before? Then I shouldn't recommend the Christina Aguillerra/Strokes remix Stroke of Genius? Darn, 'cuz that one is soo my favorite. Hit it!
posted by nofi at 12:38 PM on November 21, 2002

speaking of borrowed music, I received the illegal art CD in the mail the other day. The music and the entire exhibit is recommended.
posted by gluechunk at 12:39 PM on November 21, 2002

Anyone who wants to hear some great stuff, search for Ten Masked Men on their P2P programs. They were a death metal band, from England, who covered nothing but pop songs. You've never heard Britney Spears until you've heard her covered by a gutteral growler screaming "hit me baby - one more time" over a barrage of double-bass kicks.
posted by Dark Messiah at 12:46 PM on November 21, 2002

Another term: Plunderphonics
posted by richardm at 12:46 PM on November 21, 2002

gaa, richard you beat me to the plunderphonics post
odd b-pop, using old country and funny commercials - SNAP! by a horse music presentation (18mg)
posted by Peter H at 1:16 PM on November 21, 2002

Just to be sure, is it mandatory for all of these remixes/ mash-up/ plunderphonics things to feature either Christina Aguilera or Eminem or both? And isn't this thread itself somewhat "remixed" from stuff posted like two weeks ago on this very site?
posted by 111 at 1:30 PM on November 21, 2002

Just to be sure, is it mandatory for all of these remixes/ mash-up/ plunderphonics things to feature either Christina Aguilera or Eminem or both?

I don't know, but the ragtime remix of Eminem got me hooked on this stuff.

I just wish they'd decide on a name already, so I'd know how to find more of them.
posted by oissubke at 1:34 PM on November 21, 2002

Oh come on, this is so old. Why sit at home being a computer spod cutting mashups when you can do it live? Lay-deez & Genurl-mun, I give you Hummingbird.

I've been involved with this project for a while & have used it live a few times...its fun & a change from the usual vinyl mixing routine. Ya gotta be good tho'...
posted by i_cola at 1:48 PM on November 21, 2002

I'll better post my favourite now before this thread gets deleted: Destiny's Child - Bills, Bills Bills | vs | Pavement - Silence Kit [.mp3]. From Dsico, home of many a good mix.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 2:15 PM on November 21, 2002

111: Don't forget Missy Elliott, the patron saint of boots. The artists' vocals depend on whose a capellas are available, and it seems that Eminem is very good about making a capellas available - or at least that someone is good about leaking them.

oissubke: They forgot "bootlegs," "bootys," and "boots." I used to find them all the time on Napster before the current vogue by simply searching for "vs."
posted by britain at 2:24 PM on November 21, 2002

read my comments on earlier threads for history lessons on this subject. /pomposity possibly
anyhoo

111 - ' is it mandatory...?'

i was thinking the same thing. i have the (extremely poor quality media) boomselection collection. 42 hours of the stuff. and i was thinking the same thing.
my favourite is now madonna vs. stardust. my heart is beating faster just thinking about it he admitted awkwardly. i think that it is one of the few that work well for me, because i like both songs, and they go well together.

oh, and bastardpop *officially* died when kylie performed the 'can't get you out of blue monday' version of her song at the brits.
posted by asok at 2:26 PM on November 21, 2002

search is timing out on me, but i am sure i have linked to dj z-trip and dj-p before...
uneasy listening is still my favourite mix, i have to say.
i wonder, does the major labels' attempt to co-opt the scene mean that there will be more or less good bastardpop around?
on reflection, i think the term 'bastardpop' doesn't encompass some of the best stuff, the work of dj shadow, dj shortkut, cut chemist etc. etc. is inspiring.
posted by asok at 2:50 PM on November 21, 2002

Z-Trip is fantastic. I didn't stop playing Uneasy Listening for a month after I got it.

If you get a chance, go to one of his shows. I was blown away when I saw him on the Scratch tour last spring. Rumor has it he is working on a new album.
posted by jewishbuddha at 3:23 PM on November 21, 2002

brainfreeze, BRAINFREEZE, BRAINFREEZE
(no link, find out yer own damm way)

the ztrip+radar live at future primitive's awesome,
as is the first one with shortkut and cut chemist
posted by Peter H at 3:40 PM on November 21, 2002

I may well be wrong, but the first genuine mash up I came across was a single released on K a couple of years ago which mixed Public Enemy's Bring the noise with Cream by Herb Alpert. Now that really is genius.
posted by ciderwoman at 5:25 PM on November 21, 2002

The Herb Alpert/Public Enemy mix is by the Evolution Control Committee.
posted by monosyllabic at 5:46 PM on November 21, 2002

EBN was doing this (with cable TV feeds, movie clips and a station wagon with a revolving sattalite dish projection tv on top it) back in 1990-91.

I miss them.

Hasn't the band Negativland been doing this kind of stuff for years, too?

I guess the proliferation says something about the rise in general skill level and access to the means of production.
posted by agentfresh at 8:00 PM on November 21, 2002

hmm, comment on the different names for the same music, mention of soulwax, mention of stroke of genius, mention of matt's piano roll, what's left on this thread. . . how about an article by Pete Rojas? (forgive me if this article has already appeared on the other discussions of this topic, but I still think this article might be the best thing I've read on the subject and, yes, it's a salon link which furthers jjg's point that everyone else has talked about this, even our local alternative paper made a big hubbub when 2manydjs appeared, but i digress. . .)
posted by rodz at 8:17 PM on November 21, 2002

let's not forget frenchbloke and son. copies of their seminal haggis trax lp regularly cause a bidding frenzy when sold on ebay.
posted by jack_mo at 3:13 AM on November 22, 2002

I don't really see what the big deal is here. This is essentially a remix of a track, but a much simpler remix, where only one instrumental is used continuously. This is no different then what you hear at a club or on a mixshow, and takes all of 5 minutes to do.
posted by iamck at 4:02 AM on November 22, 2002

Okay, so I'm feeding the beast on this one, but if anyone wants to try to tell me Z-Trip: A.Didn't first popularize this style of mixing, B.Isn't the most recognizable name in the genre, and C.Shouldn't be hung out to dry for legitimizing Kid Rock in the process, then bring it on.

That said, Peter H is right: I can't think of a better live DJ Old School Hip Hop mix recording than Future Primitive with Zack and Radar (who by the way, is on the cusp of pioneering something amazing).

ASOK: any idea where a true fan can get his hands on that Lessons disc? I haven't seen it in Amoeba, and they've got EVERYTHING... [ha]
posted by birddog at 5:08 AM on November 22, 2002

bird - th'lessons disc shows up often on ebay but search for cut chemist or dj shadow, as they're the more important names (along with steinsky) my answers to your quiz: a) false, double d and steinsky, then dust bros then shadow then cut chemist, then ztrip ..b)na way, shadow yo! ..c)no comment wirdop.

currently i'm liking the wildly strange cut-n-paste stylings of a horse music presntn (mp3 link above) and a ton of other crazy mixes found at turntablelab
posted by Peter H at 10:13 AM on November 22, 2002

So good to see others mention the Evolution Control Committee, John Oswald's Plunderphonics, and Negativland.

I particularly recommend John Oswald's Plexure album (I found it on a Japanese import a long time ago.) His theory ran something like this: there are sounds that are unique in popular music and have the power to summon the entire work to your brain. For instance, the snare drum sound at the beginning of "Be My Baby"will ALWAYS conjure up that song, and it doesn't sound like anything else out there. His idea was to put together an entire album-length CD of just those moments edited together. It's quite strange and *very* cool.
posted by Vidiot at 12:27 PM on November 22, 2002

Peter, Peter, Peter. If we're talking about mixing recognizable tunes from different genres which happen to share a tempo, (a la Uneasy Listening), then I have to disagree. Shadow and Cut don't do mashups (don't even try to convince me Brainfreeze is the same as mixing AC/DC with Eminem), and neither do Double D and Steinski - it's straight-up Hip Hop DJing, and for those pioneers you need to go back much further to Bam, Flash and Kool Herc. Dust Brothers? Maybe with Paul's Boutique (a stretch), but you wouldn't call the Fight Club soundtrack Bastard Pop, would you?

Z-Trip comes from Arizona, and it shows. If you didn't have access to Hip Hop records, wouldn't you start mixing your Patsy Cline with Blue Oyster Cult? Shadow is a creator and collage artist, Z-Trip's a remixer and a damn good party-rocker. There's room for both, but they're not the same.


I'm feeling Rob Swift's new disc, speaking of Radar.
posted by birddog at 2:40 PM on November 22, 2002

ah, points taken bird. yeah too many kinds of music. some of chemist's earlier tapes with numarc have odd juxtapositions like you're referring to tho. live at the variety arts center from '97 mixes laurie anderson's superman with kraftwerk zeppelin and some other stuff. i think once a dj goes from considering himself a 'dj' to a 'turntablist' then he seems to consider anything on vinyl worth playing with. if you're gonna give geography, howbout odd nosdam (anticon) from cincinnati? sorry, leaving for the night, too late to find links. google up! fun chat, tho.
posted by Peter H at 3:58 PM on November 22, 2002

lots of b**tleggers post to the GYBO board including myself.

it's a great place to find new b**ties, now that boomselection is slow with new tunes.
posted by ewwgene at 8:22 AM on November 23, 2002