Bootie Top 10 - March 2008

Yup, we skipped February. Too swamped, too busy, and too much crap to sift through.

But now we're back with a fresh (and not so fresh) batch of mashups ... a few gems in the rough here, and some that have been around for a while, but are just now starting to heat up the Bootie dance floor. Enjoy!

ABX - Bonde Do Roll Out (Ludacris vs. Bonde Do Role) - Chicago
The Hood Internet are two DJs from Chicago -- ABX and STV SLV -- who specialize in pretty much one thing: rap acapellas mashed-up with indie-hipster music. Song titles that are clever puns are a hallmark of mashup culture, but this is one of those rare instances where the bootleg actually lives up to its cheeky name. If you want a little Baile funk with your Ludacris, this is your tune.

ComaR - Shut Up On A Blue Monday (New Order vs. Rihanna) - Paris
Using the instrumental track from "Blue Monday" is such a bootleg cliché, we were shocked when we finally found one using the New Order VOCAL. Rihanna's "Shut Up And Drive," was the perfect instrumental accompaniment, since it rips nearly the exact same chord progression. Ah yes, music continues to repeat itself.

Divide & Kreate - Until It Talks (Metallica vs. Coldplay) - Stockholm, Sweden
If you ever wondered what James Hetfield would sound like doing guest vocals on an indie-rock-remix, here's your answer: pretty damn good! Here, he sings over the Thin White Duke remix of Coldplay's "Talk", to create an absolutely fresh and inspired pairing. This is seriously a very unique and breathtaking track - which says a lot considering there are so many mashups that repeat the same artists or ideas. A welcome return to form from our favorite Swedish bootlegger.

Electrosound – 19-2000 Funk (Re-Edit) (Gorillaz vs. Daft Punk) - France
Sure, it seems like Daft Punk's ubiquitous "Da Funk" can work over just about anything. And sure enough, here's Electrosound, using it to great effect by using it to pump up the original Gorillaz song into dance floor gold. Nothing groundbreaking here, just a really fun party jam. And no, this is not the "Feel Good Inc." vocals being used, for once!

Flying White Dots – Tonight We Play (The Cure vs. Björk vs. David Arnold) - Brighton, UK
This is a special "single edit" of our favorite song from the Flying White Dots' excellent, chilled-out psychedelic mashup album, Into The Great Unknown. It takes a particularly haunting Cure song and somehow manages to make it even more haunting. Spooky and beautiful at the same time.

DJ Fox - No One To Squeeze (Alicia Keys vs. Red Hot Chili Peppers) - San Francisco
Fox only posts his stuff to his MySpace page, which we hate (because MP3s encoded at 96 kbps sound like shit) but whenever he produces something truly special, he seems to know it, because he always sends us a higher bit rate version ... which we then pass on to you! This one's pretty, enjoy.

G3rst - Hotel California In Fire And Flames (The Eagles vs. Dragonforce) - The Netherlands
Maybe we've been playing too much Guitar Hero. Yes, we know this is ridiculous. I mean, Dragonforce's "million-notes-a-minute" prog-rock revivial is pretty ridiculous to begin with ... but throwing the Eagles classic "Hotel California" into the mix just pushes the upsurdity over the edge. Not for everyone's taste, to be sure ... but for some bizarro reason, we love it! Yes, we know it's wrong, wrong, wrong ... but it's also a ton of fun! We've been selecting so many really beautiful mashups tracks in the Top 10s lately, it's good to be reminded of the cheeky mashups out there, the ones that can't help make you smile (or cringe)!

Lobsterdust - Jenny's Superstitious (Stevie Wonder vs. The Killers) - New York City
When the acapella of Stevie Wonder's "Superstitious" started making the rounds in bootlegger circles a few months ago, seemingly everyone took a crack at it. And while there were a few decent mashups made, none of them even came close to Lobsterdust's modern-rock mashterpiece.

The Reborn Identity - G.I. Jolene (Dolly Parton vs. Stan Ridgway) - Manchester, UK
We've always had a soft spot for Dolly Parton, especially "Jolene," and it's nearly a perfect match with this Stan Ridgway song (Remember him? Lead singer of Wall of Voodoo? "Mexican Radio"? Anyone?) This track is a bit dark, yet beautiful, and also uses rarely mashed up artists together, which we like. Besides, any excuse we have to play "Jolene" at Bootie, we're taking it!

DJ Schmolli - Mash Me Amadeus (Falco vs. Nelly vs. Luniz vs. more!) - Vienna, Austria �
Nearly ten years to the day after the death of Falco from a car accident, Vienna's DJ Schmolli paid tribute to his country's biggest pop star with the release of Falco Re:Loaded, his full-length mashup tribute album. This track, our favorite from the record, is based on Falco's only U.S. hit, and is chock full of surprise samples and guest vocalists.