This is half-pie.

OK, so I’m being a bit of a dick making a list of my ten favourite mash-ups of the year given that I’ve only been hunting them out for a few weeks. So bear that in mind: I don’t really know what I’m talking about. (The people that do live at GYBO.)

But I do know what I like. Now I’m not sure if the order of these is completely right, but these are the tracks that have made me smile the most in the last month.

So, starting at number 10…

10. War of the Worlds. Fettdog has taken the vocals only version of that 70s Jeff Wayne thing and made something new. Ambitious – it doesn’t always work, but points for thinking big. Lots of other interesting stuff on his site too.


9. Computer Talk by PartyBen. I like how the cool and detached vibe of Kraftwerk is matched with the cool and detached vibe of Coldplay. Very smart indeed.


8. Bohemian Wanksta, by The Silence X-Periment. Just one of the many tracks from a pretty good mashup album of Queen’s Greatest Hits with 50 Cent. And I never, ever thought I’d find myself listening to 50 Cent. But here I am.


7. Do you wanna cuz it’s Tricky my Sharona? by Thriftshop XL. A mash of that Franz Ferdinand song with the Knack’s My Sharona (and is there some Run DMC in there as well?). This isn’t the only mash of these two songs available out there, but it’s by far the best.


6. You Humped Me All Night Long, by DJ Mei-Lwun. AC/DC (you shook me all night long) vs. The Black Eyed Peas (that track about lady lumps). Filthy filthy stuff. But so, so apt, somehow.


5. Dr Who on Holiday by Dean Gray, from American Edit. Amusing mashup of KLF’s Doctorin’ the Tardis and that Green Day song. You mean you haven’t downloaded American Edit yet?


4. What’s Goin’ On (Unfinished) mixes one of the greatest songs of all time, Massive Attack’s Unfinished Sympathy with Marvin Gaye. Very classy, and Steve Lima (a.k.a. FuTuRo) has a lot of other cool stuff too.


3. You’re The One I Want In The Next Episode, by Disfunctional DJ. Mixing Snoop / Dre with that tune from Grease. It works, in a strange way.


2. Jesus Walked Back and He’s Black, another by the very interesting DJ Mei-Lwun. I’ve not heard lots of bogan music in my sheltered life, except for fourth form and AC/DC. Here we find Back in Black mashed together with Kanye West’s Jesus Walks, and I’m liking it, a lot.


1. Boulevard of Broken Songs by Dean Gray, from American Edit. You would never have thought that these two songs, Wonderwall by Oasis, and Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day, were once separate. Seamless, unalloyed, genius.

This stuff has been a lot of fun to find and download. It’s led me to some artists that I’d not even considered listening to that I’ll probably follow up on. And I’ve become even more of a music bore when visiting friends and relations: whipping out the iPod and hijacking stereos to spread the word.

What’s not to like?

[Later: my 2006 list is here. ]