In praise of the mash-up

I've been a big fan of mash-up mixes over the last few years. When they succeed, they manage to completely reinvent a song and give it a whole new interpretation. I know it's old news now, but I really wanted to write a post about one of the best mash-ups in a long long time: the marriage of Oskar Linnros' "Från och med du" and Robyn's "Dancing On My Own". The idea isn't a new one of course, as Oskar had covered Robyn's hit during his autumn 2010 tour, before leading into his massive summer hit.



Now Patrik Berger has taken it a step further and mashed up the two songs, with Robyn singing over Oskar's backing track. The bittersweet rejection and regret of the original now becomes a good-riddance celebration set to the upbeat, feelgood backing track. To me, it now says: "I'm giving it my all, but I'm not the girl you're taking home....but do you know what? I couldn't care less. F*** you! I keep dancing on my own, and I'm very happy about that, thank you very much."

Maybe that's just my take on the whole thing, but I really was blown away by how this song dramatically changed, just by putting a different backing track to it.



I'd previously featured this next mash-up over at Planet Salem a couple of months ago but while I'm on the subject of mash-ups, my thoughts inevitably turn to a recent mix of Axwell and Ingrosso featuring Salem Al Fakir's "It's True", and Kylie Minogue's "Get Outta My Way" which I think is a pretty successful mix. There have been many many dance remixes of "It's True" over the last 3 years, and the song just refuses to go away. Not that I would ever want it to, of course!! :) This mix is by Ben Double M.



Finally, let's go further back in time a few years to one of my most favourite mash-ups ever: Shakira's "Whenever Wherever" mixed with the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive" and some Britney "Slave 4 U" thrown in for good measure. I never get tired of this mash-up, although faithful travelling companion thinks it's sacrilege!



Let me know if you've discovered any good mash-ups - particularly featuring Swedish or other European music.