Hate (2006)
Everyday Chemistry (2009)
The Fabs & Ex-Fabs Re-Realized
Two clever mash-ups of The Beatles’ music from two different angles. Hate came out around the same time as The Beatles’ own official, Cirque du Soleil mash, Love. And, while its title seemed an obvious pun, its anti-war sentiment actually generated its own measure of hate in the often uptight Beatles community (seemingly insulted by all the title bastardization). When I finally heard it, I was pleasantly surprised by its professionalism and sonics. I quite liked “Horny Pie,” dubbed and slowed to a crawl (making beats sound like distant bombs) infused with “Blue Jay Way”-ish atmospherics. Lennon’s overdubbed harmonies on “War Fields Forever” is a cool listen, acting as an introduction to a series of war-related sound clips, some from FOX “News.” EMI was not amused (naturally) and – according to a deleted wiki page – they issued a cease and desist. But… the files are still freely available at the Hate website. So, maybe the wiki entry (temporarily cached here) was just myth-building, along with the mention of its purported 17 million downloads and the name behind it all. (@192)
Everyday Chemistry, on the other hand, purposely began with mythology, at a website called The Beatles Never Broke Up, which tells a first person story of someone finding a cassette tape filled with unknown Beatles songs. As hooks go, there have been worse, and the ruse is designed merely to drive clicks, not to fool anybody. The collection is unique as it’s a mash-up of The Beatles solo work, presenting choruses from one ex-Beatle gracing another’s songs backed by guitars or background aahs from more exes. Like a swirling loop of phrases and clips weaving in and out of each other – all driven by independent beats. While the juxtapositions are pretty well done, the overall effect is rather claustrophobic and busy, what with all the audio layering and all. “Saturday Night,” below, is one of the cleaner fusions. Still, if (like myself) you’re an irreverent type, you understand that The Beatles are already etched in stone for whenever anyone needs them – and what others decide to create from the debris is nothing to get hung about. (@224 VBR)
HATE
Revolution 23 (Intro) (1:00)
Drive My War (2:25)
Tomorrow Never Blows (3:13)
Day Reaper (3:33)
From Me To Whom? (2:13)
Bomb Together (3:18)
What’s The New Sarah Jane? (1:01)
I’m Nuking Through You (2:26)
Lovely Retard (2:40)
You’ve Got To Hide Your Hate Away (2:39)
Horny Pie (2:34)
Why? (3:10)
Buddy Girl (3:01)
Sadness Is A War Gun (1:51)
War Fields Forever (13:01)
EVERYDAY CHEMISTRY
Four Guys (4:18)
Talking To Myself (3:38)
Anybody Else (6:02)
Sick To Death (2:55)
Jenn (3:34)
I’m Just Sitting Here (3:22)
Soldier Boy (3:22)
Over The Ocean (3:36)
Days Like These (3:22)
Saturday Night (3:22)
Mr Gators Swamp Jamboree (3:24)
Plus Five More …
We’re Late For Class The Act You’ve Known For All These Years (2010)
Sacred Cowboy Mutation (2006 )
dj BC The Beastles (2004)
dj BC Let It Beast (2006)
Danger Mouse The Grey Album (2004)
A big thanks to Contact for generously providing links to his collection of Beatles mash-ups. We’ve also included We’re Late For Class’s all-Beatles mash (more cut and paste than mash) that came out a month after we first posted this. It’s cool because, instead of the typical beats-on-top-of-music or the fusion of two melodies blueprints, WLFC uses only individual Beatles music (from their experimental solo albums) so every sound is The Beatles… in a more avant-garde setting (“Space Fantasy Peace (Intro)“). The Grey Album is probably the most famous of all these posted here as Danger Mouse uses Beatles samples as a backdrop for an original rap attack (“Encore“). Sacred Cowboy’s Mutation is a skewed mix of the original tracks (“Assault On Pepper“), while dj BC performs a loving mash-up of The Beatles & The Beastie Boys across two releases, The Beastles (“Tripper Trouble“) & Let It Beast (“Buildin My Life“). Thanks again, Contact.
36 Comments
.
.
.
Find Them All HERE
.
.
.
I hated "Love" and now, I can almostly safer than not, say: I hate Hate. Maybe not as much, but still, I hate it. THANX!
I liked Love. I enjoy hearing the old stuff in new ways (one of the reasons I'm into session outtakes). What I didn't like about the new remasters was the rigid adherence to the old mixes. Yes, the sonics were greatly improved, but there are bootlegs of the early albums that sound more alive than the remasters, and that's not right. I know why it had to be that way (purists), but still…. The remasters should have sounded like we were live in the studio with The Beatles. Instead… they sounded like we were in the studio with The Beatles' tapes. But, what do I know?
Plenty. i bought the remastered white album, and the purple chick version sounds just as good, if not better.
I also liked LOVE, although a few moments seemed forced, and hope I like HATE as well.
Thanks Willard.
Hate's no match for Love… it's merely a clever spin. But, it's fun if you don't take it too seriously. Thanks for all the comments.
Never have heard the chemistry tapes looking forward to it. I know a couple of Beatles fanatics that found no humor in the "Hate Mixes" which is their loss. The Hard core Beatles fan that consider anyone plays with their music as sacrilege should probably go to the same alternate universe as the Star Trek Junkies. Thanks Willard!!!
In some of Lennon's last interviews, he spoke of how he wanted to remix all the Beatles material. I think he would be quite in favor of the mashup material out there now, especially in how the "Hate" material is being used as an anti-war prop. Like Willard said, the Beatles canon is there for the faithful, but look at all the variations that can be done with it, & it all still sounds great. That's the mark of true art.
The story behind EVERYDAY CHEMISTRY reminds of a superfilm called EL EFECTO PILGRIM. About 3 guys looking for Mr. Pilgrim, a guy who………The Beatles……….and……………but…
Willard, you'd love it.
sorry, it-s EL FACTOR PILGRIM
http://www.cuentosweb.com/cine/team.php?quina=1816&cat=cine
I've already had my say, so I'll just mention that I dreamt of monkeys last night.
In answer to Willard's thoughts on the current remasters, the new (& expensive) limited edition Granny Smith Apple USB thingie has the Beatles catalog in FLAC form & though I know you're not fond of the format (neither am I), it's supposed to be the next best thing to being in the studio with the boys. I don't have the $280 for it, so I'll stay content with my boots & mono remasters. By the way, I love Love & love Hate, but I think Mike Love is not so great.
Hey Contact,
Many, MANY thanks for the links from your Beatles Mash Up collection. Very appreciated. I went ahead and added them to the post so folks (who don't commnent) wouldn't miss them. Thanks again for the contribution.
Willard,
I thought I was being generous, but you wrote the book!
-Contact
Not at all, I appreciate the help.
The Beasties used to get on my nerves. Always liked the sample work, just couldn't stand the vocal delivery. That said, this is fuckin' brilliant.
Hats off to ya, Willard.
Thank Contact for the 2 Beasties, but thanks for commenting just the same.
had the grey album for a while but not any of the others – looking forward to seeing how a sacred cow is approached after the remasters non event
Love the blog, Willard! Thanks for this, and several other fantastic shares I've found here.
I can't believe nobody dug this up yet, but the answer to "why are there so many references to another dimension connected to Everyday Chemistry?" comes from this website which was apparently created to announce the project:
http://www.thebeatlesneverbrokeup.com/
Thanks also for publishing a cool, cool blog.
Cool… thanks for the follow up. It's very appreciated.
As requested (way back in Nov.) here is some artwork for Everday Chemistry.
http://rapidshare.com/files/351025519/folder.zip
Very interesting. Thanks
Wow, thanks Willard. These are awesome. The Beastles in particular are great fun.
Thanks Rein.
There are 7 CDs of highly interesting remashes/remixes from The Beatles Remixers Group that you might consider. They’re generally called “Tuned to A Natural E.” Some of it is superb, some of it misses the mark, but it’s all a gallant effort.
Thanks for the tip. I’m only a fair-weather mash up fan, myself. I posted the first two because the second one was brand new, and the others just kind of got added on as we went along. I’ll check them out though, thanks.
Well, if you’re curious, here’s a link describing the albums and their contents. Beatles Remixers Group is first class. http://www.jpgr.co.uk/boot_bfb58.html
I’d like to hear the early albums remixed. George Martin’s objection that they weren’t recorded in a way that makes good stereo viable is contradicted by the incredible Pet Sounds remix from several years back. I still haven’t heard the later remasters yet (I keep getting distracted by stuff like this :-). Thanks Willard!
Since the slippery slope of mashups is being approached, may I suggest CCC’s “Revolved” (http://www.revolved.blogspot.com/) and “Cracked Pepper” (http://cracked-pepper.blogspot.com/)? The files don’t seem to be available on the web sites anymore, but I doubt they’d be hard to locate. He’s working on an Abbey Road/Motown mashup, see http://mashups.blogspot.com/
Thanks Stu.
Both “Revolved” and “Cracked Pepper” are clever and entertaining. I’d forgotten about them.
Hi Willard — long time fan, first comment here. Do you know where I can get the Remixers Group Vols. 3 and 4? Thanks!!
Found some at Octaner’s Blog… http://octaner.blogspot.com.br
Thanks! I’d kicked around over there but missed these somehow…thanks again!
I think they were just posted a day or two ago… and it looks like he’s just put up another – so Octaner is the man to see for these apparently.