Daydream Station: Featured Scene: Mash-Up

The best DJs have never been limited by the songs the artists create. Upon finding a funky bassline or grooving instrumental, the first thing a DJ does is figure out how they're going to fit it into their mix, and I'm not talking about before or after another song. We live in the digital age, and with hard work, tempo-altering and pitch-shifting you can mix and match just about any songs you like.

The first legendary mash-up album was DJ Danger Mouse's The Grey Album, on which he matched Jay-Z's raps from The Black Album with chopped up goodness from The Beatles' The White Album. These still took the form of traditional songs, matching up one set of verses with guitar-work from one original Beatles track. Soon after, Greg Gillis, recording under the moniker Girl Talk, put out his third full-length mix, entitled Night Ripper. The scope and ambition present in those 40 minutes put everyone on notice; it was possible to create an entirely new listening experience out of no more than 10 or 20-second snippets of riffs, flows and beats (Greatest Moment in Mash-Up, so far: Night Ripper track "Smash Your Head" matches Elton John's "Tiny Dancer" with The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Juicy" and blows everyone's mind).

Since Girl Talk achieved popularity, it's been amateur hour all over the internet. New mashed-up tracks are sprouting right and left, and frankly most of them are crap. Of the dross clogging the blogosphere, a couple of names have continually resurfaced for their commitment to excellent work. The Hood Internet are the new legends, with inspired source material and an already-significant catalogue of quality mixes (and an ambitious six-minute continuous mash-up of the best of the decade). The White Panda are now on my "must-listen" list as well for a few smart, fun selections. Check out my Mash-Up essential listening playlist below, and realize, this stuff is REALLY good to have around for parties...