FREEZE| ROCK WARS MASHUP

EAR CANDY. That’s how I think of a well-remixed mashup. A mashup is a song or composition created by blending two or more pre-recorded songs, usually by overlaying the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the instrumental track of another. To the extent that such works are transformative of original content, in the United States they may find protection from copyright claims under the fair use doctrine of copyright law.

Various suppliers of dance music materials for clubs – like DMC or Disco Mix Club and Ultimix – have been including mashup songs in their catalogue for the past few years. Veteran DJs like Big Ben and Eric Generic of WAV Entertainment Central feel glad to include mashups in their sets to give the dance experience new twists.

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Imagine Robin Thicke singing Blurred Lines over the instrumental track of YMCA by the Village People or Adele belting out Rolling in the Deep over Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger music.

Those who keep up with the evolution of music are familiar with thousands of similar materials found on YouTube. Many of those ear candies get multi-million views because they’re fun to hear. There are even video mashups that present both visual and audio wizardry of the producer.

A little known site called www.rock-wars.de has uploaded a two-part mashup album called Rock Wars Episode One, The Mashup Menace. It’s free to download with a disclaimer that says: All mixes on “Rock Wars” are created for entertainment and as demonstration of mixing and production techniques only. “Rock Wars” is fully NON-COMMERCIAL!

The copyright for the individual tracks used in the mixes remains with the artists. If you like the mixes on the album, please buy the original songs and support the artists.

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Rock Wars contains Whole Lotta Rockin’ Beats by Robin Skouteris. The track puts Led Zeppelin, Chemical Romance, and Red Hot Chili Peppers together  in a creative way. DJ M.I.F. welds John Williams and Metallica in a track called Lightning Wars. We Will Scream Beat It Mama is a mashup of Bullet for My Valentine, Genesis, Michael Jackson, and Queen – remixed by MJ Fandango. Psychosocial Ice Ice Baby is for metalheads. The short track made by DF Firth features Slipknot, Vanilla Ice, Linkin Park, and Five.

DJ J-Brew’s Sleepwalk ‘Til Brooklyn combines foot stomping materials from Beastie Boys, Aerosmith, and Run-DMC. Bruno Mars’ voice from Uptown Funk is mixed with a heavy metal tune by Rammstein – presented by DJ Surda in Du Funk. Rage Against the Machine sings over the Blurred Lines beat in Blurred Testify by Rabbit. Voicedude playfully combines B.O.B., Bruno Mars, and John Williams in a track called Nothin’ on You Darth. MixmstrStel contributed Always Love Me Like You Do, a chill down track featuring Saliva and Elie Goulding.

Baby One Last Resort is a mashup of Britney Spears and Papa Roach by G3rst. Voicedude executes Hot Blurred-ed featuring Foreigner and Robin Thicke. Lizzart features Joe Satriani and Stevie Wonder in Peregrine Superstition. Walk With You is a strange brew of Dire Straits and Mr. Big songs remixed by MatzeMix.

Unlike other mashup materials made by amateurs, Rock Wars is a display of remixing excellence because the beat and melody of the featured tracks blend well.

Rock Wars is free to download but the disappearance of its Facebook page makes me wonder if the copyright owners are happy with the project.