Thanks to Glee, mainstream America was introduced to the term mashup in 2010.  But to some of us, we’ve been listening to mashups for years.  Bootie, started in 2003 by DJs Adrian and Mysterious D, hosts monthly dance parties featuring mashups.  Starting in 2005, they started publishing the year’s best mashups on their website.  I’m not into pop music and Bootie is what introduces me to what’s been popular in the past year.

The 2010 Best of Bootie was just released, and you can download the MP3s, which play as one continuous mix, or, for the first time, the unmixed files, allowing you to mix and match songs without having the beginnings and ends cut off.   (If you you choose the MP3s and do want to burn it, remember to choose gapless burn in your software!)

And now, not so much a mini review of the Best of Bootie 2010, but some observations and thoughts:

  • Track 2 – The Face Melters – Ice Ice Tik Tok (Ke$ha vs. Vanilla Ice) – Who knew Vanilla Ice would still be relevant 20 years later?  Great mix to kick it off with a bang.
  • Track 3 – DJ Tripp – Dynamite Pressure (Taio Cruz  vs. Queen & David Bowie) – Always good to hear Queen, a popular band for mashups. I like how Vanilla Ice’s hook for Under Pressure transitions from the previous track into this song. (The Kleptone’s A Night at the Hip-Hopera was one of the first mashup albums I ever got into. Still one of my favorites, featuring all Queen songs overlaid by other’s vocals)
  • Track 5 – DJ Lobsterdust – Knock Out Eileen (LL Cool J vs. Dexy’s Midnight Runners) – When I first saw this track title, I thought no way could that work. It’s a knockout (pun intended).
  • Track 6 – Rad Bad – Moving Da Royalty (Will Smith vs. Daft Punk) – Same as 5. Can’t think of the last time I heard Will Smith rapping about Bel Air – it’s been years!. Great mashup with the bass line from Daft Punk.
  • Track 7 – Mashup-Germany vs. Faroff – Everybody & Ray Speaks No Americano (Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP vs. Backstreet Boys vs. Ray Charles vs. Benny Benassi) – Amusing. Wins longest title of the year. They should have given a credit to C&C Music Factory too.
  • Track 11 -DJs From Mars – Enter Telephone (Lady Gaga vs. Metallica) – As the song opens, you get a combination of the famous guitar lick form Enter Sandman with Lady Gaga’s unique vocals. As the song progresses, the Metallica is not overwhelming, but when you overlay the keyboards it’s really well done, especially the chorus, at the guitar from Enter Sandman ratchets up.
  • Track 12 – DJs From Mars – Teenage Gay (Katy Perry vs. O.M.D.) – To an uneducated ear, you would think this is just a Katy Perry remix. Hearing the Enola Gay synth from OMD is a treat. It’s obvious at the start of the song, but much more subtle as the song progresses.
  • Track 14 – DJs From Mars – California Jump (Katy Perry vs. Van Halen) – Katy Perry’s vocals overlaid with the keyboard parts from Van Halen’s Jump. The first of 3(!) songs featuring Van Halen’s Jump in this years Best of Bootie.
  • Track 15 – The Kleptones – Jump You Fucker (Cee Lo Green vs. Van Halen) – Cee Lo’s smash hit Fuck You with Van Halen’s Jump. I’m surprised more Cee-Lo mashups didn’t make Best of Bootie this year – but it’s clear why this one did.
  • Track 16 – DJ Le Clown vs. Ludachrist – Pon De Billie Foley (Major Lazer vs. Michael Jackson vs. Harold Faltermeyer) – Axel Foley approves.
  • Track 19 – DJ Topcat – Folsom Prison Gangstaz (Eazy-E vs. Johnny Cash) – Easy-E and Johnny Cash. What else do they have in common besides this great mashup? They usually wore black. Another mashup on paper that you wouldn’t think goes together, but works really well. Speaking of Easy-E, takes me back to the first time I heard the Best of Bootie 2005 with Smells Like Compton – N.W.A vs Nirvana. Who thought that would work and it was one of the best mashups of 2005, if not all time.
  • Track 22 – LeeDM101 – (Find Myself) A Heap Of Love (Florence & the Machine vs. Depeche Mode vs. Imogen Heap) – Slowing it down as the album starts to come to a close, Florence + the Machine was one of my favorite albums this year. Add some Depeche Mode some Imogen Heap, mix well, and kick back in listen.
  • Track 23 – Mighty Mike – Imagine A Jump (Van Halen vs. John Lennon) – The album winds down with John Lennon’s Imagine mixed with Van Halen’s Jump. David Lee Roth’s vocals actually work pretty well.

Thanks again Bootie! (Follow them on Twitter too!)