Photo courtesy of Thomas Purves photostream

My friend Brett has been making "RiP: A Remix Manifesto" over the last six years and it's screening in Montreal this week.

Seeing as it's early in the morning and I'm generally distracted by a tiny person with a loud voice... my Facebook invite explains the film better than I can. So here is that invite:

RIP: A REMIX MANIFESTO

Cinéma Impérial, Friday Oct. 17 at 7:30 PM
Parallèle Ex-Centris, Saturday Oct. 18 at 7:20 PM
Fellini Ex-Centris, Wednesday Oct. 15 at 11:15 AM
(press screening)

Imagine a world where ideas and culture, from “Happy Birthday” to Mickey Mouse, are horded under lock and key by copyright laws. Even ideas that could lead to a cure for cancer would be off-limits. Stop imagining now, because this is the world you live in.

Web activist and filmmaker Brett Gaylor’s feature documentary, Rip: Remix Manifesto, explores the concept of copyright in the era of Napster, Bit Torrent and peer-to-peer file-sharing. Rip is the world’s first Open Source documentary, shattering the wall between consumers and producers, and challenging the thresholds of “fair use.” At the outset, Brett threw his raw footage up on the Internet, at opensourcecinema.org, for anyone to remix. Rip’s movie-as-mash-up method allowed these remixes to become an integral part of the film. With Rip: Remix Manifesto, Gaylor and Girl Talk sound an urgent alarm and draw the lines of battle. Which side are you on?

The premier of 'RIP: Remix Manifesto' is the beginning of a conversation that will continue around the world, with a film that depends on YOUR participation. We want everyone to keep on remixing!

RIP: A REMIX MANIFESTO is produced by EyeSteelFilm in co-production with the National Film Board of Canada. Produced in association with Documentary and Canal D.

Click here to see the trailer.

Anyway...

This time around, for your intimate pleasure, i present the Daily Mail's favourite son, Eminem, this time performing his playful and yet thought provoking "Ass Like That" alongside The Coral, for an indie-pop mash-up that'll please everyone...you've been warned...

Dreaming Of An Ass Like That

an epic mash-up...kick back and enjoy...

Ooh La Breathe, It's My Supermassive Army Love

Diplo has taken M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" and added his own twist to it. He uses two freestyle verses from Jim Jones and Freeway, as well as some verses from Bun B and Rich Boy to form a semi-megamix of the original track. It's a small step towards someone creating a complete "Paper Planes"-freestyle-mashup, but it looks like we'll have to wait a little longer for that to arrive. Listen to the track after the break.

[audio http://definerapture.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/diplo-ft-everyone-paper-planes.mp3]
Diplo - Paper Planes

Yep, the nice people @ The Pavilion in association with the Cork Film Festival
have invited this wannabe recluse down to do a audio-visual set. Helluhcool!
Stay posted for further details...

One of MGMT's songs has been used in another mash-up, this time by Eve Massacre. Called "Fuck the Kids", the song also features the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Peaches, and Soulwax. Check it out after the break.

[audio http://definerapture.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/eve-massacre-fuck-the-kids-peaches-vs-mgmt-vs-soulwax-vs-yeah-yeah-yeahs.mp3]
Eve Massacre - Fuck the Kids (MGMT vs Peaches vs Yeah Yeah Yeahs vs Soulwax)/a>

I love Radiohead. I find their music soothing, agitating, melodic, and inspiring all at once. I also enjoy the different ways in which the band has embraced technology over the years through mash-ups, remixes, innovative music video techniques and live performances on YouTube. 

In the band's latest endeavor to appeal to a hyper-responsive consumer base that fingerprints everything they touch online, Radiohead has released the "Reckoner Remix".

According to the band's site: "After the overwhelming response to the Nude Remix Project, Radiohead, iTunes and Garageband are teaming up again giving you the opportunity to remix "Reckoner", another track from the band's latest album "In Rainbows".

To make remixing easy, the separate 'stems' (the component parts of a song) are available to purchase from iTunes_here_. The 'stems' available are bass, lead vocals, backing vocals, guitar, piano/strings and drums. All six stems are available to buy for the price of a single track. You can mix them in any way you like, either by adding your own beats and instrumentation, or just remixing the original parts.

If you purchase the 'stems' from iTunes during the two weeks they're available, you'll be sent an access code to a GarageBand file ready to open in GarageBand or Logic. However, you don't need GarageBand to do a remix, all the stems are in iTunes Plus format and compatible with several music software platforms. The GarageBand file will be emailed before October 8th.

Finished mixes can be uploaded _here_ where the public will listen and vote for their favourite remix (submissions end October 23rd). You can also create a widget allowing votes from your own website, Facebook or MySpace page to be counted as 'mix votes' back on radioheadremix.com. Radiohead will listen to the best remixes.

EXPOSED!
So this is what happened when Madge took a wrong turn at taboo and ended up in Winosville...

Sounds like: A shocking sonic page torn from the heart diary
of a Beat-Generation High-School Gal.
File Under: They gave her a bad name... and she's about to live up to it!

Oh yeah there's a complimentary lifetime supply of "Catholic Guilt"
for the first 50 downloads...

[audio http://philretrospector.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/phil-retrospector-back-to-virginity.mp3 ]

GET BACK TO VIRGINITY!

Another Kanye West remix has popped up on the internet. Thanks to Mighty Mi and Steve1der, we now have an interesting mash-up of Kanye West and MGMT, entitled "Electric Touch". You can listen to it after the break.

[audio http://definerapture.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/kanye_west_v_mgmt_-_electric_touch_mighty_mi_steve1der_mix.mp3]
Kanye West vs. MGMT - "Electric Touch (Mighty Mi Steve1der Mix)"

For instance, right now I'd like to talk a bit about music mash-ups. These audio contents are best define by the ones who produce them online. For instance, BootieInternational is a community of DJs making mash ups and broadcasting them online. They describe music mash ups this way:

"Mixing and matching every conceivable musical genre, era, and style into one song"

Get it?

...

Okay, maybe you want a private lesson with Sue Teller.

Basically, a music mash up is mixing at least two songs (for instance an Elvis song with a Block Party song), and therefore making a brand new song. Sounds a lot like what DJs do, right?

Pretty much, yeah. Except you don't really have to be a DJ to make mash ups. Here's an example of a fun mash up made by Party Ben. The title is self-explanatory I guess; it mashes up one of Star Wars' most famous music theme and Galvanize, a title by The Chemical Brothers. PartyBen-GalvanizetheEmpire.mp3

Other mash ups I've been listening to recently: Standing in the Way of Connection, Gossip VS Elastica (A plus D); Break Through Love, The Doors VS Led Zeppelin (DJ Zebra).

Last but not least, this one goes to my friend JV; a mash up featuring a female band dear to his heart.

Jimmi James - Are you gonna grow up? The Pussycat Dolls VS Lenny Kravitz

And if you like clubbing or just hanging out with good background music, why don't you try the Bootie Parties? Those are parties hosted by DJs, members of the BOOTIE network where you can listen all night long (well, until 2 am in Paris) to the best mash ups of the moment. Bootie parties take place in most major cities of America (LA, NYC, San Francisco), in Paris, Copenhagen, Hong Kong, Munich...

Don't forget to go to the next Bootie Paris on Saturday, October 4th (see first poster)!

Before that, here are a few definitions and terms to remember:

Clothesline: The same thing as a grapevine in gossip-based conversations.

"Oh man, I heard on the clothesline, that M.I.A just did the Diesel party."

Deck: A key word for most Hipsters, similar in meaning to the antiquated fresh. To be deck is to be up on the latest trends, cutting edge, and/or hip.
"That tassel we met at the gallery opening sure looked deck in her cowboy boots."

Chipper - a woman who's easy
sentence: "She's a real chipper and will sleep with anyone after one bronson." (Bronson=Beer)

Fin - the opposite of deck, similar to outdated terms like "wack" and "lame." Something that is fin is bad or undesirable.
sentence: "How can you like that Vin Diesel movie? Every film he's ever starred in has been fin."

The Frigidaire - the cold shoulder
sentence: "I don't know what her problem is, but she gives me the frigidaire every time I see her." 

Here we go!

7. The remix and the mash-up

With the advent of digital recording software, and the ease at which someone can just cut and copy a song, we've seen remix and mash-up tracks pop up everywhere. These "new ideas" don't just occur in the realm of hip hop and rap music, they're everywhere! We've seen acts like Girl Talk take the indie hipster scene by storm this year and the scene will only get bigger and bigger as time goes on. As for the remix. most itunes released indie albums include someone's remix of one of the popular songs on the album. For instance, we have Crystal Castles remixing everyone from Liars to Uffie and let's not forget all the remix tracks of "Paper Planes" (Yes i know that you knew about that song when Kala was released, well before Pineapple Express, and that you are a "True Fan. Listen to "Sunshowers" on Arular and claim it as your own... Give it up) 

Listen/Download:Sunshowers

8. Skinny Clothing

All hipsters wear skinny clothes... Mostly... All

There are a lot of rules... Skinny shirts, skinny jeans, skinny underwear, all of these fall into this hipster fave. Whether you've just begun wearing American Apparel's boxer briefs or you finally picked up your 510's, be assured that you will be declared hipster scum upon stepping onto 18th street (DC not New york). On the right we have some typical skinny jeans. 

Skinny is in. Fat is not. Go hit the Gym  dance-floor!

9. Obscure Bob Dylan material

Bob Dylan has recorded something like 7 billion songs. Outside of his major works lie bootlegs, demos, rarities and live recordings. Here we find Bob Dylan's most obscure flashes of brilliance. Of my limited Bob Dylan knowledge i've chosen "Talkin Hava Negeilah Blues" for your listening pleasure. This is a great example of an obscure Dylan song to show your friends. This will help your claim the title, "Best Itunes Library ever". If they don't understand or believe you, go into the classic 1966 Royal Albert Hall argument. 

Talkin hava negeilah blues

Enjoy!

Things to look forward to:

Record reviews of Kanye West, Ben Folds, The Cure, Land of Talk, High Places, Gentlemen Jesse and his Men, Of Montreal, Vivian Girls and The Sea and Cake.

A Fabakis remix of "Reckoner"

On repeat articles about The Mountain Goats, Jeff Buckley, The Byrds, and The Zombies

The Fabakis October playlist

Halloween Party!

and more articles and interviews

DOWNLOAD

FDIC May Need $150 Billion Bailout as Local Bank Failures Mount

The IndyMac debacle is taking a large bite out of FDIC reserves, and if scores of other banks fail in the year ahead, the fund will be depleted. Taxpayers will have to step in. Full read : http://tinyurl.com/5yt6o8

Buffett Buys Goldman Stake in `Economic Pearl Harbor'

Billionaire Warren Buffett, calling turmoil in the markets an "economic Pearl Harbor,'' said his $5 billion investment in Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is an endorsement of the Treasury's $700 billion bank rescue plan. Full read: http://tinyurl.com/4t98sr

Warren Buffett stake in Goldman Sachs earns $783 million return

Within hours of revealing his dramatic, confidence-boosting investment in Goldman Sachs yesterday, Warren Buffett had made a $783 million (£424 million) notional profit. Full read: http://tinyurl.com/43ntgu

Stocks rise on bailout hopes; credit remains tight

Financial markets grew more upbeat Thursday as lawmakers moved closer to hammering out a deal aimed at reviving the crippled financial system. The Dow Jones industrial average at times rose more than 300 points on optimism about the plan and demand for short-term, safe haven assets eased slightly as some investors bet the move would help unclog credit markets. Full read: http://tinyurl.com/3eknzr

OTCBB LIGHTENS UP

Here's a comparative look at the total dollar value of all securities traded on the OTC Bulletin Board over the past 7 yrs

As the chart indicates, dollar value dipped below $44 billion for the first time in '07 since '03.

The OTCBB also provides a graphic depiction of the monthly dollar value of securities traded on the exchange from 8/07 to 8/08

OTCBB: Total Dollar Volume by Month

(August 2007 - August 2008)

As depicted by the chart to the right, total dollar volume has been dropping considerably over the past year with August figures representing a nearly 60% decrease. In addition, total share volume is down almost 20%. So, things have certainly been better for the exchange in past months.

While the overall Bulletin Board exchange may have seen better days, there are still a great number of compelling plays in this arena and a great deal of money to be made in playing BB Stocks.

Here's a few examples of some recent small cap success stories:

Quest Minerals & Mining Corp. (OTCBB: QMNM) recent advanced more than 4,000% in just 3 trading sessions, running from $.0016 to $.075 from 6/18 to 6/23. Roughly every $1,000 invested at the recent low yielded profits of approximately $43,000.

City Loan Inc. (OTCBB: CYLN) advanced near 3,2000% Tuesday on 30K shares traded and followed up that performance today gaining 50% or $.05 on modest volume of 2.679. CYLN is now showing potential to reach higher highs as its financial situation improves and the company pushes forward with aggressive expansion plans. As I've mentioned previously CYLN operates in the somber, but prosperous auto title loan industry and could transform itself into a national market leader if growth objectives are met over the next 12-24 months.

Quantum Technologies (OTCBB: QTWW) ran from $.50 on 1/30 to more than $3.00 in July for +500% gains on sheer future potential despite a horrendous bottom line, for now at least.

Biophan Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB: BIPH) - a medical device company focussed on treatment of acute heart failure - gained 212% or nearly $.02 Wednesday on news it recently eliminated $2.3M in dilutive financing .

Location Based Technologies (OTCBB: LBAS) - a provider of personal location solutions - has seen its stock price surge from the $1.50 range back in July of '07 to a recent high of $10.61 this past summer for gains exceeding 600%.

InternetPlays.com
http://www.internetplays.com
http://www.myspace.com/internetplays

http://twitter.com/internetplays
http://internetplays.wordpress.com
Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/29fqep

And it's free!

The sound of mash-up artist Girl Talk (a.k.a. Greg Gillis) can be easily described as the severely damaged iPod owned by an avid music listener that seems to still play, but the only problem is two or more songs play simultaneously and the end result is still remarkably listenable. DJs have often told me there is nothing more annoying than a crowd at a party not dancing to your original music; audiences want only to dance to music they know.  Girl Talk has alleviated this paradigm by only playing music the audience may know, leading to more dancing.  I used to think that sample artist Girl Talk was the musical manifestation of "ironic t-shirts."  Such shirts, as worn by a particular person, cause this person to seem somehow cooler by wearing something much less cool than they are to be perceived as being, such as some ill-fitted, second-hand child's shirt featuring an animal with ambiguous sexual orientation or an obtuse, outdated drug prevention program.  The mere fact that he sampled something as obscene and ridiculous as the Yin Yang Twins and Mike Jones next to something much more obscure and respectable as a sample from Neutral Milk Hotel's "Holland, 1945," is a testament to the fact that the DJ obviously thinks he contains a mysterious amount of some sort of awesome power that causes him to overcome the ludicrousness of the Twins while retaining the indie street-cred with the help of Jeff Mangum ("Minute by Minute").   But this glitch-pop mash-up master may have deeper artistic implications than t-shirt-toting hipster shitheads.

Andy Warhol was a eccentric artist.  Vote for that as the understatement of the last half century, but Warhol made a career that has lasted past his death by making a unique brand of art based solely on pop culture images.  He was also famous for making many prints of a particular piece in the studio he called his "factory."  None of this is new information, but the art in these pieces was in the previously conceived notions the viewer or audience had for the particular object or person in the piece.  Such pieces as the famous one featuring Marilyn Monroe can have many different interpretations based on what the viewer might think about the films, stories and controversies surrounding Marilyn.  One might interpret the four faces in different colors as the different personalities of the subject and what those different personalities might mean.  This is the nature of pop culture images.  The images themselves conjure up so much of an emotional response that it is almost equivalent to that of entirely original art.

Girl Talk, on the other hand, takes this Warholian premise to another medium.  The chosen songs are much in the same way pop culture images, conjuring meaning to those who dare listen to said songs being mashed up with some shoddy crunk rapper.  In much the same way as Warhol and the t-shirt-wearing hipster populous, Girl Talk chooses songs that were often the product of massive marketing schemes and turns them around to mean the antithesis of what they were originally intended to mean.  An apt example of this is the unholy (albeit unrealistic) super group of Dave Grohl's drums, Elton John's piano, the backing vocals of  Beyoncé topped off with the rhyme and flow of Biggie Smalls ("Smash Your Head").  Girl Talk seems to satirize the process of making art the same way Worhol did with his "factory."  The songs are already structured and played back on a laptop and the screens behind him at shows occasionally read "Girl Talk is not a DJ."  Shirts with this phrase also exist, mocking his inclusion in turntable culture.

In an interview for the documentary about copyright "Good Copy Bad Copy," Gillis stated that "Everyone is bombarded with media enough that we've almost be forced to take it upon ourselves and use it as an art form.  It's like anything, if people were passing out paint for free on the streets everyday, I'm sure there would be a lot more painters out there right now.  That's what's happening with remix culture on the internet."  A lot of the youth culture that Girl Talk is predicated upon is rooted in the idea of accepting one's consumption of popular culture.  Other youth movements (hardcore, punk, indie rock etc.) have shied away from the mores of popular culture because of resentment of the fact that they sold things they don't particularly need or want and are slaves to advertising.  Although this is a noble position to take, it is also a fallacy to think someone immersed in the culture is somehow above the scope of advertising, that somehow they are immune to being "sold" or being a "follower."  The other youth culture on the other hand accepts the fact that they are being sold something, inevitably enjoys that something but also realizes its ridiculousness.  Girl Talk is one of a few artists who will take this state of acceptance of popular culture and mash it together with something that is perceived to be above said popular culture (see: Radiohead/Jay-z sample in "Set It Off").

One of the amazing things about Warhol was his ability to withstand time.  He is still quite relevant and would be quite pleased that his pop culture images (and images in his style) are frequently reference and plastered all over advertising.  The real question is whether Girl Talk will stand the test of time the same way Warhol has.  Perhaps his music won't continue to be relevant as this form of art is fairly simple to make and many artists and DJs are already picking up on it, but the legalaity of the art and the copyrights is more a place where Girl Talk will stake his place in history.  With all the intellectual property and net neutrality debates coming to a head, Girl Talk's new album might be at the forefront of copyright laws in the internet culture.  Take a listen to the new album Feed the Animals to hear where the two artists collide when Girl Talk samples the Warhol produced song "Sunday Morning" by the Velvet Underground in the track "Hands in the Air" and download the album for free with the Radiohead-style pay-what-you-want scheme at illegalart.net.

The Beatles Remixers Group present: YCMT XIII
Their latest collection of all your favourite numbers from the Fab-Four,
reimagined & reloaded for your listening displeasure...

You Can’t Mash That Volume XIII

01. Til There Was You – Phattbuzz
02. There She Goes Holdin Your Hand – Phil Retrospector
03. Yesterday Hurt – Child Of Nature
04. Too Late For Eleanor – MP3J
05. Paperback Believer Revisited – MP3J
06. Paint It Pepper – BDJ
07. The Wumberlog – BDJ
08. A Sky Blue Rhapsody – CCC
09. Baby You’re Where It’s At – TJT
10. Bulldog Mash – Phattbuzz
11. Jude’s Drunken Trumpet – DJ not I
12. Why Don’t We Do It At Lucky Seven – Phattbuzz
13. Why Don’t We Revelate Together – MP3J
14. Ain’t She Sweet – BDJ
15. 10th Together – DJ not I
16. Taking Care Of Beatles – MP3J

Download YCMTXIII

I guess both these tracks have been floatin around for like years in blog time but they go well together and its puts a new slant on the fake blood instro to have rye rye's spit all over it..

The masher is Andy George who co hosts the moda parties with his steez Jaymo.. Looking forward to more from this fella.

PS The parties look ill! Where's the CMYK invite guy?

PEACE

MP3

Fake Blood- Mars Vs Blaqstar (Andy George Mash It Up Innit)

There have been many attempts to create compelling TV ads for radio stations and radio shows. Some worked and some didn't. Coming myself from a commercial background, the only one recently for my old station Capital 95.8 that I feel worked  was the one we created to launch Johnny Vaughan's breakfast show. It showed him dancing all over London to a version of "Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner". This was fairly big budget and designed to create an affinity between Johnny, Capital and London.

This new Radio 2 ad is a mash up of songs they play on  the station; Blondie’s ‘Atomic’, David Bowie’s ‘Sound and Vision’ , James Brown’s ‘Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag’, plus  Run DMC’s ‘Walk This Way’ and KT Tuntstall ‘Black Horse and the Cherry Tree’.

To me, you get hooked in by the clever cutting of the music, plus visually how the video clips are cut and recut, as if to mimic sampling of the songs. 

The ad features many of the stations star names including Jonathan Ross, Russel Brand and Chris Evans (though no Wogan). 

The clever part will be to see how they extend this message this time. I'd expect the clip (now available on You Tube) to be a viral success. They are running a version on air which includes the musical soundtrack, cut together with audio clips from all the shows - taking the idea in a different direction, but making it work on the radio station. Not quite sure how it would translate into print...talking bus shelters anyone?