According to the almighty Wikipedia, a remix is a song that “has been edited to sound different from the original version.” Though sometimes a remix can be as simple as changing the pitch or tone of a piece, we wanted to show 10 songs that are so massively removed from the original they’re almost unrecognizable. Yet, they somehow work; for example, consider and take a listen to songs that combine things like …
10. Snoop Dogg and Kirby
Snoop Dogg is best known for slinging sick rhymes over a phat beat while smoking a whole heap of drugs, and his songs are usually only heard in smoke-filled nightclubs or big-ass SUVs with black tinted windows. However, for reasons we don’t quite understand but are super happy to know exist, his song “Drop it Like it’s Hot” syncs perfectly with a song from a video game about an anthropomorphic pink ball. Seriously, just listen to this remix once and you’ll wonder if these songs weren’t specifically meant to be smashed together. Though we don’t know why a song sung by a one of the most famous rappers of all time syncs with a song so saccharine it causes diabetes, we should have at least suspected something, considering how much Snoop loves video games.
9. A Creepy Instrumental Track From The ’60s And Electronica
Popcorn is arguably one of the very first electronic music tracks ever made, being released way back in 1969 by Gershon Kingsley. Though the song is over 40 years old, the original is still being covered and remixed by DJs today. Though no artist has never managed to equal the haunting beauty of Gershon’s original track, they do tend to cram it full of synth, which is nice. Yet it’s the 1972 remix by Hot Butter that deserves the mention here. Why? Well, because it was so good that it completely overshadowed the hell out of the original, to the point people assume that it is the original. When your remix is so good people forget the guy who actually composed the track in the first place, you win at music.
8. PSY And Half Of The Charts
The fact PSY’s “Gangnam Style” has over a billion views would indicate that it’s more than a little popular. The song has been covered so many times by so many different artists, that if you were able to throw stones online you wouldn’t be able to find any because they’d all be replaced by covers and remixes of “Gangnam Style.” By far though the most ambitious effort is this one by DJ Penetration, in which Gangnam Style is mixed with songs by 2NE1, Fatman Scoop, Major Lazer and a bunch of other artists with way less cool names. The reason you should listen to mix though, isn’t because it’s impressive (which it is,) but because it shows how all chart songs, even ones from literally thousands of miles apart, sound exactly the same. And they say music is unoriginal.
7. 15 Seconds Of Daft Punk And The Will Of The Internet
Daft Punk’s 2013 album, Random Access Memories marked the French duo’s deserved return to the top of the music charts. However, due to the band’s immense amount of fame and reputation, the demand to hear something, anything from their new album was huge. Daft Punk, seemingly just to be huge teases, released a 15-second sample from their album in a short SNL ad. Though the album is now out, and all of the songs from it can be easily found online, it’s worth noting that prior to the album’s release, dozens of fans remixed this 15 second clip into a veritable plethora of awesome gooey musical goodness. You may not be a fan of Daft Punk, but come on; even you have to admit that people being able to remix a 15 second sound clip, from an advert, into a full 5-minute song is pretty damn impressive.
6. Eminem And Bhangra
Eminem is best known for being the angriest (and only well-known) white man in in rap. Though rap is ripe with remixes and what not, we wanted to introduce you to this remix of one of Eminem’s most famous tracks, “Lose Yourself,” in which Mr. Em’s track is mixed with a Bhangra song. We don’t know why this works, but hot damn is it catchy as hell. But the real reason we love this remix is because it’s a song sung by a white guy, in a genre of music most associated with the African-American community, remixed with a song of Indian origins. If this song was any more politically correct, it would have its own show on PBS.
5. Beethoven And Funk
Beethoven is probably one of the most famous musicians in history. If you have any doubts about the level of musical skill Beethoven possessed, you only need to watch this clip of him in action in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Contrary to popular belief, that wasn’t an actor; the film actually went back in time to get Beethoven himself for that scene. The Fifth Symphony is probably one of the more famous classical musical pieces ever composed, which is why it’s awesome that someone decided to give it the one thing Beethoven was unable to give it in his lifetime: funk. Dubbed A Fifth of Beethoven, this remix by Walter Murphy takes Beethoven’s classic track, injects it with a bunch of 70’s style funk, and lets it do its own thing. If you don’t find the fact that someone took a two-century old song and made it into a 70’s hit awesome as hell, we honestly don’t know how you function in the real world.
4. Mario And Epic Metal
The Super Mario theme is has leaked so far into pop-culture, that if you cut a media journalist you’d hear the opening bars. Though dozens, if not hundreds of covers of this song exist, this is a list of remixes, and a remix has to contain some semblance of the original, which is why SSH’s remix of the theme is so badass. The original theme is still there, though you have to dig through 30 kilometres of rock to hear it and that, well, that’s pretty radical. Listening to this is like having someone tickle the pleasure center of your brain with a feather made of nostalgia, only less disgusting and with a more kickass riff. We’re pretty positive that if you made this into every person on Earth’s ringtone, no phone call would ever be answered again, and we’re okay with that.
3. Masterchef And Dubstep
The beauty of a remix is that it doesn’t necessarily have to be of a piece of music; any sound clip can be taken and turned into a song as long as the person doing the remix has an adequate level of musical skill. This is no more prevalent than in this song, which is mostly composed of a single line uttered on the British version of Masterchef. Swede Mason, who we can only assume is God’s personal DJ, mixed the song around the line “Buttery biscuit base,” turning it into a dubstep-esque track. The best part here, is that the mix actually made it to #37 in the UK charts. Because suck it, every other musician in the world. Especially you, Nickelback!
2. Lord Of The Rings And Techno
Now, we couldn’t mention remixes of singular lines and phrases without mentioning perhaps the first one of them all. Most people watch Lord of the Rings, and see the story of Frodo Baggins’ attempts to rid the world of an infinite evil. However, at least one guy watched it, heard Legolas say the line “they’re taking the hobbits to Isengard” and thought, whoa, this would make a banging techno tune. After what we assume was, a lot of editing and a enough drugs to make it seem like a good idea, we were blessed with the aptly named song “They’re Taking the Hobbits to Isengard,” in which Legolas’ original line from the film is turned into the kind of song you can imagine Eastern Europeans in neon-filled clubs dancing to at 4 in the morning. Lamentably, the song was released way before things like iTunes were the norm, so this song sadly never saw, and probably never will see, chart success *insert Justin Bieber/Nickelback joke here.*
1. Every Song From 2012
If we’re honest, every entry above was leading up to this one. Pop Danthology 2012 by Daniel Kim is a mash-up of 55 chart hits from 2012. Featuring everything from Ke$ha to Owl City, this mix is 8 minutes of having your ears gently prodded by nostalgia-coated audible chocolate. The mix contains so many chart songs it’s considered a litmus test for hipsters. But here’s the poop-flavored lining hiding beneath the silky smooth crust: Daniel Kim has refused to try and monetize the video, and hasn’t made a penny from any of the 32 million hits and counting it has had. But Sony and BMG have. In Kim’s own words “I am not making a single cent off of this mash-up. But there are ads on this mash-up because Kobalt Music Publishing, BMG Rights Management, and Sony ATV Publishing feel that they deserve to earn revenue off of my work (even though my work includes a whole bunch of other material they do not own).” So there you have it kids. Every major song released last year sounds so similar that they can all be put seamlessly into a single mix, and the guy who arguably showed more musical talent and ingenuity than half people in his mix, isn’t allowed to make money from it. But the people who didn’t write any of the songs were. Wow, this list got real depressing, real fast.