Driving > Disco

Can't believe it has been almost an entire month since my last #MusicMonday post. As we head into Thanksgiving, I can certainly say that I am thankful for the month of November. It has been the least stressful and most fun month of all of 2009. I hope December is half as fun as November has been, cause if it is, then it'll rock!

But, alas, I know I have left you, dear reader, in the cold so to speak, without knowing what musical goodies are bouncing around my head. Well, come inside and warm up, cause I'm about to pull back the veil and let you peak inside my head for a brief glimpse at what I am (and you should be) listening to. This will probably shock you, as I was never a fan, but today's featured artist is The Beatles.

That's right, the "lads from Liverpool," are my current listening pleasure, but not the way they intended for me to listen, of that I am confident. Surely I have mentioned the musical "genre" of mashup before, but I'm too lazy to look it up, so just in case, let's take a quick look: a song or composition created by blending two or more songs, usually by overlaying the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the music track of another.

During my time of enjoying the mashup genre, I've found that the Beatles are quite enjoyable as part of the equation. In fact, in my humble opinion, the Beatles sound much better in a mashup than they did on their own, no offense to anyone. Previously mentioned gems include The Grey Album (Jay-Z's Black album mashed up with the Beatles White album), the Beastles (various Beatles tracks mixed with various Beastie Boys songs) and of course CCC's Cracked Pepper (what seems like the entire Beatles catalog mixed with itself and some "outsider" music as well).

I've come across two other notable examples. One, is quite tame, while the other is kinda out there.

LOVE is the album that was "remixed" for the Cirque de Soleil show of the same name, in 2006. Speaking as a relative neophyte, in terms of Beatles listening, I can say that I would not be able to tell the differences in these tracks from their original counterparts, without listening to both, back to back. Any of you "true" Beatles fans out there may scoff and be able to point out every possible edit, but I cannot. For this reason, the album is more of an "alternate" mix than a remix, so while it is not a mashup by definition, it is definitely a "re-imagining," if nothing else, which is why I threw it in here to begin with.

HATE is a true mashup, that combines Beatles tracks with other Beatles tracks. I have been unable to decode them, audibly speaking, enough to know if there is any non-Beatles work in there, but either way they are definitely mashups and definitely sound great (in my opinion, at least).

After listening to both however, then going back and listening to CCC's mashup work, I can say this, neither of them hold a candle to Cracked Pepper. I don't know if it is because it was so earth-shatteringly epic to me when I first heard it or if it truly is a masterpiece, but either way, I'd listen to Cracked Pepper before LOVE, HATE or the original Beatles work, any day of the week. That sound you hear is me putting on my flame-resistant suit, so feel free to tell me how much a musical noob I am in the comments section. Thanks!

(also, before you ask, no, I do not know where to get any of these musical goodies, save for the LOVE album - see above Amazon link - and the HATE album - linked website has downloads and a torrent link...use the individual downloads, trust me - but if you are one of those needy types, drop me an email and maybe I can help point you in the right direction)