New Music Mondays: Mash-Ups & Remixes

Trying to stay ahead of the trend in music for your classes? If you're a music-download junkie like I am, you are always looking for new music to use in class or to choreograph to.  This article will give you some new resources.  Last week we focused on Pop music - by checking out Billboard.com and Radio Disney.

This week, we change genres to mash-ups and remixes.

So what exactly is a mash-up?  Well, its a mix of two songs (often from different artists or genres) "mashed" together to create a new song.  If you watch the series "Glee" on FOX, you may remember the episode from Season 1 where the club was challenged to come up with a mash-up.  Here is the girl's result which combine's "Halo" and "Walkin on Sunshine":


You can find this song and the other Glee mashups on iTunes.
Halo / Walking On Sunshine (Glee Cast Version)

Where else can you find the hottest mash-ups and remixes?  Go straight to the source: DJs.  These guys and gals mix for the hottest clubs and will usually record their own spin on songs. These are a few of our favorites - and they often have their mixes available for download right on their websites.

• DJ Earworm - creating pop remixes and mash-ups.  Check out this remix of 2010 summer pop songs:

• Norwegian Recycling - This DJ has many remixes with over 5 songs sampled.  I love using this song for warm-ups:

Norwegian Recycling - Viva La Viral on Vimeo.

• Party Ben - he has a thing for combining the most unusual sounds and making them work.  Love this remix of Amy Winehouse's "Rehab" and the Four Tops "Can't Help Myself".

Disclaimer: Of course you will still have to do the usual bad-words check before playing any song in class--which may also require translation for the world songs, which leads to my next resource:

• YouTube - It's probably not your first thought for new music, but you can find remixes, mash-ups and radio versions of popular songs that are often available to download from the user who created them. Type in a song and you will find remixed versions, mash-ups and edited radio versions.
  

Next week's New Music Monday will have another new music resource for remixes and mash-ups!

Looking for past New Music Mondays?