I've been on one of those procrastinating funks this past week, not looking forward to the pain and misery of the possible Alito non-debate on the Senate over his nomination/confirmation. That's why I've been voogling [1] and trolling the net for some good ol'mashups. I was hoping to find a lot of stuff with Lisa Stansfield since she is so discoey.
Jesusfruggingskipes in a handbasket.
It looks she has unleashed her attack lawyers on most of what is on the net. Thankfully, she hasn't come across Steve Lima ... or, if she has, seems his message of Shame on hold [2] got through. It's a Lisa Stansfield and Evelyn Champagne mashup like none other.
This is why exclusivity copyrights are so damaging to building our humanity. They take away a part of our bodies and souls, our ideas, from the soft currency of culture and turns them into hard currency of capital; turning us, the producers, instead into commodities that in turn can be owned and traded as well.
Getting paid for one's fair share of labor is one thing. Turning ideas and expressions into cash with closed down copyrights is bad for not just for cultural production, but for our own souls as well.
Steve shows with his Futuro Mashups page [3] what a soul warrior sounds like. Some notables:
Stoned Floyd [3]
This one ought to be considered a masterpiece.
Conceptually, it's flawless.
What's Goin On(Unfinished) [3]
What Cindy Sheehan has done for the anti-war
movement, Steve has done for the ultimate
anti-war song.
Free Love Child [3]
Diana Ross and Nate? You don't have to be
a dancing queen to love how seemless they
sound here.
Born to Vertigo [3]
The most perfectly illegal use of U2's music;
Negativland [4] be damned.
Not only have these songs been given a new life, but they've gained a cultural significance that was not there until these mashups were created. Stoned Floyd is the perfect example of how two seemingly disparate songs from the same era come together stylistically when circulated for their enjoyment by people like me, hungry for the old to be new again.
In other words, there is nothing, and I mean, nothing like giving some things away for free and with no strings attached. Prestige but more importantly cultural currency are some things that money can't truly buy.
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