Taking Sides: Adventures on the Wheels of Steel vs. George Gets His Freak On

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or "Did The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu die for this?!"

I've been listening to the mp3s on this site (as recently plugged on NYLPM) and on the blog of "The_Dr." where other similar mixes are regularly posted. Now, I'm all for this stuff in principle, and some of the tracks in this bootleg chart are both inspired and well-executed. But is this A vs. B format not rather limiting however? Despite the fact that samplers and PCs make this stuff far easier to do, have we really advanced very far in the 20 years since Flash cut up Chic, Queen, Blondie, the Furious 5 and The Hellers?

― Jeff W, Wednesday, 16 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

This is a good/important qn and should be in new answers but I need some time before I can actually give a new answer, grr.

― Tom, Wednesday, 16 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I was struck by the fact that most of the selections went with the quick-easy-surprising juxtaposition but didn't go very far into actually creating anything with them -- the novelty impulse consistently won out over the art one. But then I thought about it, and wasn't particularly surprised: I guess I imagine those with serious aspirations in this vein are off making Avalanches records, basically, whereas those casting out mp3 bootlegs are more just looking to give you a novel contextual surprise.

The one item on there that got past the "novel contextual surprise" part of things did seem to be that George Michael vs. Missy Elliot one: the two actually worked together rather than tugging off of one another, and I sort of think it needs a cowboy-Missy riding-a-horse video to go along with it. I had mixed feelings about "Introspection," which had a few moments that seemed to be getting at something (the "Lovecats" + "Baby One More Time" was great in a Prince Paul kind of way) but abandoned them in favor of piling on the "look at our surprising juxtapositions!" thrills.

My end decision: yeah, these could be way better, but (a) the sorts of folks who could do them better are quite likely off doing something else, and (b) the sorts of people doing this are mainly interested in doing this and shooting all around the digital world as wacky surprises, not ... not making anything of it.

― Nitsuh, Wednesday, 16 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Basically these are a kind of club track - very instant. The Skee-Lo one I like because it improves on all three of the tracks it mixes up (Im not sure if the full version is on that site though).

― Tom, Wednesday, 16 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

George Michael vs. Missy Elliot

Done by Soulwax. Posers to the max. They can mix pretty good though. But it's always so tongue in cheek. Their records are pure MTV rock. bah.

― helenfordsdale, Wednesday, 16 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The one that mixes about 100 songs together is just pointless - it doesn't flow at all. Could all this lead to Jive Bunny revival?

― Robin, Wednesday, 16 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

SO I FERVENTLY PRAY!

― Tom, Wednesday, 16 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The point of the one with about 100 songs is that it's all _intros_, I think.

Gotta say, some of those are fun, but the Strokes/Christina Aguilera song is a real thing of beauty--I've been playing it a LOT over the last few months.

― Douglas, Wednesday, 16 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

three weeks pass...

the 100 song all-intros one is fave in our office. general consensus is that it fits together very well. the Brandy + Monica one over Modjo(?) was good. in my mind all these bootlegs shows up the pathetic Modjo/Phats and Small method of constructing tracks (i.e. their one vocal sample, one backing loop sample method)

― michael, Tuesday, 12 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

have we really advanced very far in the 20 years since Flash cut up Chic, Queen, Blondie, the Furious 5 and The Hellers

DJ mixtapes have gotten better, subtler, and more interesting because skills have gotten better, samplers have gotten better, and most records come with acapella and instrumental versions. These "bootlegs" are like frozen versions of what mixtape DJs have been doing for years. It's nothing new at all. It's more that the presentation of these things as discrete entities - "songs" - is new. Atlanta's DJ Jelly is one to check out if you like this kind of thing. He'll come up with 10 spontaneous "bootlegs" in the course of one tape, but with scratches, rewinds, and all manner of funky business that shakes up "A vs B" formula

― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 12 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

another mixtape show-off fave is hip hop deejays playing all accapellas over different instrumentals

― michael, Tuesday, 12 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

beaten to it by Tracer...

― michael, Tuesday, 12 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Tracer is right about the discrete entities thing making the difference - it shifts the listener into a pop mode, concentrating on the record/song not the skill or artistry of the maker. He's wrong about rewinds, scratches, etc. adding to the effect for the same reason, though.

― Tom, Tuesday, 12 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Another thing Jelly does (and what a lot of mixtape DJs do) is tease you with a bar or two of acapella from say, "That's What I'm Lookin For" and a minute later the beats from that song kick in, but now with the acapella from say, "Forgot About Dre"!

― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 12 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Judging by the club I went to last week this kind of thing is what most bootlegger DJs are doing 'live'.

― Tom, Tuesday, 12 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The "hard to freak on" (strokes vs. missy) is indeed hard to freak on. Rap over rock tracks never quite ever worked.

― Sterling Clover, Tuesday, 12 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"Don't Call Me Song #2" works great tho, which I suppose goes to show that this whole movement just reflects a lack of good female fronted pop bands and ppl. loving rock but sick of whiny indie-boi or hard-metal-kid vocals.

― Sterling Clover, Tuesday, 12 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

There are some incredible ones at teamtechno The Christina vs. Squarepusher reminds me of how prescient Tom was when he called Dream glitch-pop Christina, but also goes to show what the Dream single could have been. The Eminem is out of this world, underlining how disturbed, unhinged, and soforth his persona his. Moves him from dark comedy into just plain dark.

Now I just want to know where the rock vocals are over club trax.

― Sterling Clover, Tuesday, 12 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The Eminem is out of this world, underlining how disturbed, unhinged, and soforth his persona his.

Upon further reflection, Eminem reminds me of a bitter drunk fondling his ween. Which is not so much disturbed et al as sorta sad, really.

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 12 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

With next-to-last comment Sterling, you are [perched] on a roll... of sterling!

I absolutely agree.

If pop bands and rock groups can't make this leap, the fans will.

― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 12 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Rock and R&B used to be the same thing... now after decades of Poison and Brandy, En Vogue and Depeche Mode, etc etc they seem worlds and radio bands apart. It's stunning how EASILY they come back together. I really would like to see this happen at the songwriting stages of an album or single's recording process... somebody, somewhere, sometime. Somebody who could perform it.

― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 12 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

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