Mommy, I Want a Mash-Up for Christmas

David Weigel | December 22, 2006

If you're hitting a holiday party this weekend and the CD mix of XTC, Slade and Wizzard songs is starting to scratch, you could do far worse for aural entertainment than Santastic II: Clausome. The second annual compilation of holiday mash-ups from US, England, France, Sweden and Holland is up for free at dj BC's website, along with a list of the DJs responsible and the tracks they sampled.

I can't promise that anything hits the heights of 2005's "Biggie's Last Christmas," which smooshed Puff Daddy's "I'll Be Missing You" with "Last Christmas" by Wham!, making it sound like the rap world was mourning the Notorious B.I.G.'s murder in a North Pole drive-by. Nothing quite that good... but I'm having trouble getting my MP3 player to quit "Rudolph the Paranoid Raindeer."

Jesse Walker took an early snapshot of the mash-up craze back in 2003.

Comments

|12.22.06 @ 11:53AM|#

Next H&R article/comments in 30 seconds or less:

Article posted:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061222/ap_on_fe_st/ex_cop_s_drug_tips

Reaction:

Well great! All the DEA should DIEEE!!!

and Jane/Juanita says something smartass. And maybe another troll. Another 30 comments of "Well great! All the DEA should DIEEE!!!"

Meanwhile there's a side argument about the minutae regarding legalities of this video, but it doesn't last too long.

Muttley|12.22.06 @ 12:00PM|#

Wow! Rudolph the Paranoid Raindeer sounds like Joy Division. LOL!!!

lunchstealer|12.22.06 @ 12:07PM|#

I feel a little ashamed that I've never heard of Wizzard.

And while I feel there's got to be some really really stiff competition for worst rock-based christmas-themed song, my current nomination is for quasi-Yes's "Run with the Fox". This effort, recorded sometime between Trevor-Horn-based Drama and Trevor-Rabin-based 90125 is vaguely baffling in lyric content, almost unrecognizable as a Christmas song, and associated with its ostensible performers only by a lightly fruity keyboardiness and Chris Squire's voice.

Basically renders the thrid disk of the YesYears set unlistenable.

To be contrasted with the deliciously cynical "I Believe in Father Christmas" by ELP, which is one of the only major highlights of Works, Vol II.

But the only Christmas song I really identify with is Robert Earl Keen's "Merry Christmas from the Family". But mostly because I want a bloody mary right now.

|12.22.06 @ 12:15PM|#

Wouldn't, as soon as the cops see that video, the video would be rendered useless?

|12.22.06 @ 1:04PM|#

Not a mash-up, but the best holiday parody I've yet heard is, "Blue Solstice," found here: http://www.cthulhulives.org/Solstice/bluesolsticeplayer.html

(How do you embed links anyway?)

I. Self. Divine.|12.22.06 @ 1:05PM|#

Jon- Not necessarily. While the cops might now know that you know what they know (yeah, that's what I said), they are not going to be able to change the practices and methods that they have been developing for years, and completely ditch the old ones. At least not immediately, which means that there will be many a individual (most likely myself included) who will be able to utilize the tactics in this video to prevent arrest. Interetingly enough, one of my good friends just got arrested and put in jail last night (he was since bailed out) because he was pulled over by a K9 unit and happened to have a pipe on him. I will make sure that he sees a copy of the video too.

|12.22.06 @ 1:09PM|#

Rudolph the Paranoid Raindeer sounds like Joy Division

I thought it sounded like a weird Black Sabbath/Joy Division ...er, mashup.

|12.22.06 @ 1:27PM|#

(How do you embed links anyway?)

Gray Ghost-

Regular ol' html tags.

|12.22.06 @ 2:19PM|#

I think the "Give Da Jew Girl Toys" mashup is pretty funny, and well-done.

Justin Slotman|12.22.06 @ 3:58PM|#

AWESOME! Thanks David.

Justin Slotman|12.22.06 @ 8:29PM|#

Upon listening to them: I don't think any of these are exceptionally successful as mashups--I'm not getting that "radio from an alternate universe" feeling that a truly seamless mashup does. I think I dug John Lennon vs the Jackson Five the most.