I was quite excited to check my email a couple days ago and find a message from Jonny Ragel of Boy Eats Drum Machine, announcing a new live mashup he is letting loose to the masses. Here’s an excerpt of his message:
Oh what fabulous times we live in. 15 years ago I would have had to use 2 turntables, massive amounts of dexterity on the cassette four track, a pot of coffee (likely folgers) and a high speed dubbing tape deck to finish this free mix and get it to all of you by Monday morning. But thanks to laptops that weigh less than 50 pounds and the scary wonder of the mp3, throwing this mix together was almost as easy as baking a Totino’s party pizza.So without any further blabbity here’s a link to stream/download BEDM’s live mashup 2, which is basically Michael Jackson ‘Billie Jean’ with Talking Heads ‘Psycho Killer’ over the top of it. It features me on vox/turntable/cabasa, Dave Allen on bass, and Benjy Rickard on guitar/synth.
Dave Allen, who’s funky fresh bass playing smothers this track like jelly on—well—pancakes (I’m a breakfast guy), has been blogging in the last few days about mashups. There’s been some fun reaction from people on the musicality of the art form (*link below). Meanwhile, Localcut got some great blog response to BEDM live mash 1 (**link below). I was even inspired to comment with a four page essay on which Hendrix riff I’d couple with the theme to Gilligan’s Island and how my dad and I bonded over Animals’ bass lines. This to support my idea that memories are often just as important as melodies when it comes to loving a piece of music. Needless to say, whatever side of the fence you stand on regarding the musicality of mashups and their possible fad appeal (although in reality DJ’s have been doing this shit for decades, right?), one thing that is certain is mashes are fun to make and fun to talk about.
This is truly a sweet cut, complete with artwork. Check it out:
And….in case you missed it…here’s BEDM’s Live MashUp 1:
You can catch the latest iteration of Boy Eats Drum Machine THIS SATURDAY NIGHT at the Wonder Ballroom in Portland, Oregon. It’s the Talking Heads + Cure tribute night. Jonny’s got a band comprised of Dave Allen (Gang of Four), BEDM alumni Benjy on guitar and keys, and Paul Alcott on drums. BEDM will be joined by Caves, Xploding Boys and Dat’r. Good times, for sure.
You can check out Boy Eats Drum Machine at:
I love it!