I Own Nothing But Smoke In Heaven

Coming in at number nine, for no real easily explained reason, is Fissunix and his awesome bootleg of Marvin Gaye's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" mashed with the Gramatik instrumental remix "Stairway to Hip Hop Heaven". Amazing. The video is equally impressive. Fissunix is one of my favorites, and choosing 5 songs was brutally hard. Luckily I have a few ideas I'm working on for the near future, so I already have a number of his tunes earmarked for later... All the songs can be played from the playlist at the bottom, if you prefer to skip the videos.

Fissunix - Ain't No Stairway High Enough to Hip Hop Heaven (Gramatik remashed)
http://youtu.be/iooXLA8-La0 - https://vimeo.com/19142214 - mp3 - Marvin Gaye "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" vs Led Zepplin v Gramatik "Stairway To Hip Hop Heaven"

http://soundcloud.com/fissunix/stairway-gramatik-remashed - http://official.fm/tracks/356673 - Ain't No Stairway High Enough to Hip Hop Heaven (Gramatik remashed)

Fissunix - Smoke on Babylon
http://soundcloud.com/fissunix/smoke-on-babylon - mp3 - Deep Purple "Smoke on the Water" vs The Black Keys "Goodbye Babylon"

Fissunix - I Was Made Just For Show
http://soundcloud.com/fissunix/i-was-made-just-for-show-kiss-vs-atmosphere - mp3 - Kiss "I Was Made For Loving You" vs Atmosphere "Just For Show"

Fissunix - Nuthin' But a George Thang
http://soundcloud.com/fissunix/nuthin-but-a-george-thang - mp3 - Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg "Nuthin’ But a G Thang" vs George Michael "Faith"

Fissunix - I pOWNer YOU of equality
http://soundcloud.com/fissunix/i-powner-you-of-equality-red-hot-vs-wax-tailor - mp3 - Red Hot Chili Peppers "Power of Equality" vs Wax Tailor "I Own You"

Fissunix MashList

I Feel Billie Jean Is Still No Good To Me

Only after looking at the date on the last update I made on my Top Ten List did I realize that it has been nearly 15 months since I last updated it. Wow! I hadn't realized I hated arbitrarily assigning rankings to other people's stuff so badly (I stole that from PartyBen ;-) I have been mostly satisfied to use the two widgets on the right, which let us all know the ten "most viewed posts", and the 10 "most popular in last 30 days". I believe my reluctance to update my personal list is likely due to the amount of work involved in making such a list the way I want to do it. That and being so far behind on sharing so much of the music that I still haven't shared that I am loathe to go back over stuff I already have. I now find myself a little more motivated since a good deal of what I am putting on my new list hasn't been posted to the Pit yet. I am going to make a new post for each entry on the new list, with a final recap at the end going over all ten. This new Top Ten list of mine could also be considered a "Best of 2011" list, since I believe that is basically what it is. Better three months late than never, right?

Coming up with ten songs, which accurately reflect what I consider to be the very best mashups of 2011 is a very difficult task for me, so instead of "best of", It would be better to think of it as "Ferency's Favorite Mashups From 20011". Or whatever floats your boat. I have actually spent the last 6 months refining this list. And even now I still have a few doubts, but believe this best reflects the songs that are the most effective at convincing ordinary people who are unfamiliar with mashups that mashups are indeed cool, and worth listening (and perhaps even dancing) to. In a sense I often think of myself as a bit of a mashup ambassador, and this is my diplomatic tool-kit. Here in Vancouver, I very rarely run into people who are familiar with mashups, so I find myself explaining them a lot, and then demonstrating what they are all about. The songs on this list are the songs that I turn to most often to help me do this.

The songs that finally made it onto this list I can live with more easily than the order I am presenting it in. It really is more arbitrary than any thing else. Add to that personal tastes, and popular feedback, and voila! You have Ferenczy's Top 10 Mashups of 2011! Today I am starting at number ten (I've long felt that the beginning is always the best place to start). Holding the (arbitrarily assigned) number ten spot, is Amoraboy's great Commodores vs Michael Jackson (ft Slash) mashup "Give In Easy To Me". I still remember when I first discovered this back in the spring/summer. I was smitten immediately, and really received allot of positive feedback from many of my friends. This was a great tune for winning over new fans to the realm of the mashup. To round out this post I have followed it up with a nice little quad-pack of killer Amoraboy tunes. Deciding which Amoraboy songs to share was nearly as hard as coming up with my top 10 list. Just do a little browsing through his SoundCloud or Official.fm feeds and you'll hear what I mean. The dude has a sweet collection of mashups. It's too bad nobody has made him any cool videos, but a good thing that I don't focus on them any more, or he would have never made the top 10 list.

Amoraboy - Give In Easy To Me
http://soundcloud.com/amoraboy/amoraboy-commodores-vs-michael - mp3 - Michael Jackson ft Slash "Give In To Me" vs The Commodores "Easy"

Amoraboy - I Heard I'm No Good
http://soundcloud.com/amoraboy/amoraboy-marvin-gaye-vs-amy - mp3 - Amy Winehouse "I'm No Good" vs Marvin Gaye "I Heard It Through The Grapevine"

Amoraboy - I Feel Loved With Sultans of Swing
http://soundcloud.com/amoraboy/amoraboy-depeche-mode-vs-dire - mp3 - Dire Straits "Sultans of Swing" vs Depeche Mode "I Feel Loved"

Amoraboy - Billie Jean On The Storm
http://soundcloud.com/amoraboy/amoraboy-the-doors-vs-michael - mp3 - Michael Jackson "Billie Jean" vs The Doors "Riders on the storm"

Amoraboy - Still loving Roxanne
http://soundcloud.com/amoraboy/amoraboy-the-police-vs - mp3 - Scorpions "Still Loving You" vs The Police "Roxanne"

Here are all five mashups in one playlist.
Amoraboy MashPit List

Poker In The Rain

Before I (finally) get started on my next big project here (you know, the arbitrary ranking of other people's stuff) that I've been putting off for so long, I thought I would squeeze in one more post. One more great post about some great tunes. Party Ben tunes, so you know they are going to kick ass. Now let the ass-kicking begin!!

Speaking of asses in need of kicking, I thought I would post a couple of his tunes which show him at his poppiness, his most compeletely sold-out-for-a-seat-on-the-bandwagon-ness. Hehe, just kidding, both of these mashups are awesome, I don't care what anyone else says about them! Even if they do have Lady Gaga, or Adele, the two most over-mashed artists in the history of mashups on the interwebs! Seriously though, these are great mashups. Even if he didn't think this first one was good enough to put into his Soundcloud account, I like it ;-)

Party Ben - Poker's Just What I Needed
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9p5y7_lady-gaga-vs-the-cars-poker-s-just_music - (youtube fan video) - mp3 - The Cars "Just What I Needed" vs Lady Gaga "Poker Face"

Lady Gaga vs The Cars: Poker's Just What I Needed by revilo87

http://soundcloud.com/ferenczyram/partyben-pokerface - @PartyBen - Poker Face (Just What I Needed)

Here is his "latest" mashup, where he decides after all that the Adele bandwagon ain't such a bad place to hang.... I get a big kick out of what he has to say about this mash:

(looks around at everybody making Set Fire to the Rain mashups) (feels left out) (throws together something that's basically no different from the throwaway junk he made in 2003) (doesn't care)

Party Ben - Set Fire to True Faith
http://soundcloud.com/partyben/set-fire-to-true-faith - mp3 - Adele "Set Fire To The Rain" vs New Order "True Faith"


Or you can just listen to it right here, as the first track in his latest (and totally killer) Set on SoundCloud
Party Ben - Party Ben New Stuff

I should probably point out to the e-mail subscribers, that every song (and every video) in every post is embedded in it's own player here on the site (except when there is both YouTube and Vimeo, in which case I usually just embed the YouTube video) so it is always worth it to actually click the link at the bottom of the email to view each post the way it was meant to be experienced.

Swing Sultans My Way

Today I am in the mood for a little Dire Straits. First up is a Swingin' Sultan sandwich - with instrumentals for the bread, and a down-tempo acapella for the filler. To wash it down I have a two-course desert!

Let's kick it off with the Mashup Master known as Go Home Productions (Mark Vidler). The man is amazing. Check out his download's page if you have a day or two to spare (and a mind left to be blown!) He definitely is one of the best. Not only does he do great audio mashups, but he is just as good with the videos. Add an abundance of talent for performing and producing music on his own, and your looking at the ideal recipe for perfection in the art of The Mashup.

Go Home Productions - I Can't Stand Sultans Of Swing
http://youtu.be/vDf0j3SEseU - mp3 - Dire Straits "Sultans of Swing" vs The Police "I Can't Stand Losing"

The filler for this little "mashwich" is an interesting down-tempo mash from COTXETXE (don't ask me how to say his name!) I've been listening to this one for a bit now and still haven't decided if I like it, lol! It is interesting, to say the least. And original! Since he couldn't be bothered to come up with a name for his match, I did it for him ;-)

COTXETXE - Sultans Don't Swing Anymore
http://soundcloud.com/sonikx-1/dire-straits-vs-james-morrison - mp3 - Dire Straits "Money For Nothing" vs James Morrison "The Pieces Don't Fit Anymore"

Completing our tasty Sultan Sandwich is this sweet little morsel from Martinn Bootlegs. I just can't get enough of Fleetwood Mashed!

Martinn Bootlegs - Way Of The Sultans
http://youtu.be/wPepeYZKe54 - mp3 - Dire Straits "Sultans Of Swing" vs Fleetwood Mac "Go Your Own Way"

http://soundcloud.com/ferenczyram/way-of-the-sultans-martinn - Way Of The Sultans (Martinn Bootleg)

The first part of the "desert" is DJ Moule's rocking Straits mashup "Money For The Queen".

DJ Moule (Audio) BorisB (Video) - Money For The Queen
http://youtu.be/YacdDyzYZUM - https://vimeo.com/30950321 - mp3 - Dire Straits vs Sex Pistols vs Basement Jaxx vs Simian vs Fatboy Slim

Saving (what may be) the best for last, here is a masterpiece from Fissunix. I've been listening to this amazing song for awhile now, and I continue to love it more and more. Speaking only for myself, I have to say that this one really grows on you.

Fissunix - The Dore Straits "Once Upon A Time On My Shoulders"
https://vimeo.com/19989547 - mp3 - Dire Straits "Once Upon A Time In The West" vs The Do "On My Shoulders"

http://soundcloud.com/fissunix/dire-straits-vs-the-do-once-upon-a-time-on-my-shoulders - Once upon a time on my shoulders

Somebody I Was Game To Pump

I really love it when a DJ (aka a "Mashup Produce") takes an over-hyped (and over-played) pop song and makes it better. Which is what today's three remixes do very well indeed. These are three songs which all did very well (commercially and critically), yet I didn't care for them a whole lot, especially Video Games. But I do like these bastard-pop bootlegs. In life, everything is a remix.

DJ Copycat - Lana del Rey "Video Games (Copycat Night Drive Version)"
http://vimeo.com/36291130 - mp3 - Lana del Rey "Video Games (Copycat Night Drive Version)"


http://soundcloud.com/copycat/lana-del-rey-video-games

Party Ben - Gotye "Somebody That I Used To Know (Party Ben Power Mix)"
http://soundcloud.com/partyben/gotye-somebody-that-i-used-to - mp3 - Gotye "Somebody That I Used To Know (Party Ben Power Mix)"

MashMike - Foster The People - Pumped Up Kicks (hypnotic extended dance mix)
http://soundcloud.com/mashmike/foster-the-people-pumped-up - mp3 - Foster The People "Pumped Up Kicks (hypnotic extended dance mix)"