Jay-Z & Linkin Park "Collision Course" (2004)

 

Delighted by the recent Rap Metal adjacent works of Hackivist, I found myself thinking back to this record, which I had barely paid attention too upon its release. Back then I probably had my mind deep in the world of Extreme Metal and nose turned up... But with age, a renewed fondness for the music of my teens now has me wide eyed getting into this collaboration by two of the industries biggest names of the era.

Born of MTV's Mash Ups show and masterminded by Mike Shinoda, the brief six track Collision Course sounds born of that spirit, the interchanging of instrumentals and accappelas between opposing musicians. As a collaboration its sounds just like that, however the enthusiasm shared between the two camps had Linkin Park and Jaz-Z meeting in the studio to re-record parts of Shinoda's arrangements to ensure quality.

It speaks volumes to the seamless nature, everything aligns sweetly. Crunky percussive kicks and snappy snares give the metallic aggression of the guitars a ground to the Hip Hop persona. Both Chester's moving cleans and raw screams match the Rap instrumentals, Mike's roll as a rapper obviously fits but its mostly Linkin Park who dominate the vibes with their songs taking up most the runtime.

Big Pimping and Izzo stand out as the cuts which hold onto their original beats but the other songs get overridden by the metallic energy when the guitars arrive. Its all fantastic but perhaps my emotional attachments have me reveling in nostalgia from these re-worked bangers. Points Of Authority and One Step Close overload 99 Problems for goosebumps inducing mania as Jay-Z drives the crossover with his raps.

I am ultimately left fascinated by this EP, a commercial peak at the end of an era when my two favorite genres rubbed shoulders. For all the Rap Metal I've adored, missing out on this was a major fumble. I can't get past how wonderful the chemistry is. It feels like an obvious mash up yet that doesn't hold it back where you might expect. Its like bottled lightning, perhaps amplified by my own personal excitement. Given the two toured this together, the accompanying DVD is now mandatory viewing for me.

Rating: 7/10

Neil Cicierega "Mouth Moods" (2017)

To describe "Mouth Moods" as a comedy record would be a fatal mistake. Although it provides plenty of laughs and giggles, it is a far more impressive artistic mashup experiment than it is purely for laughs. Artist Neil Cicierega is a creative individual and as a musician has struck gold with his collection of "Mouth" record, this being the third and best yet! If your from the 90s, 00s generation then this will be a trip down memory lane as many popular songs of the era find themselves stitched together with a touch of genius, inducing one into a state of confusion, "how is this even possible".

"ACVC" has to be the records finest moment on the confusion front, AC DC's "Back In Black" mixed with Vanessa Carlton's "A Thousand Miles". Sounds like a recipe for disaster but somehow its fantastic despite the contrast of Johnson's raspy, scratchy snarls and the lush piano led instrumentation behind it. There is a selection of crossovers involving two contrasting songs that have somehow been fit together. If I'm not careful Id simply end up writing a list with all the popular music included in the record. Not everything is a straightforward mash up. Neil finds themes in the music to include other coherent samples from TV commercials, shows and pop culture in its audio form. If not Tony tiger shouting "There great!" alongside the classic "Eye Of The Tiger" vocal, Neil also lets these non musical samples set the tone, either an advert for CD-ROM's or a Blockbuster Video commercial can lead the song to its point. There is also two fantastic vocal snippet songs with a large string of vocal hooks stitched together in maddening style!

There aren't weak points to be talked about, everything works, some with a little more charm than other but every experiment is rewarding, even odd moments where Chester's vocal from "In The End" is alarmingly transformed and distorted it somehow sounds fantastic. For an audiophile like myself its a very engaging listen. Between the light bulbs popping off at all the nostalgic samples I recognize, I find myself mystified as to how he has found so many instrumentals, acapellas and carefully extracted samples. I'm assuming its likely he doesn't have access to the masters of so many pop songs and I'm left with a curiosity to the production techniques deployed. Its a fantastic sounding record despite some obvious problems you'd expect to encounter however Neil has remixed everything to a fine art. Bravo, a brilliant musical experience, especially for my generation.

Rating: 8/10