Illinoize

January 24, 2010 5:42 PM

Illinoize - "a free remix tape put together by Montreal-based producer Tor, sampling songs from multi-instrumentalist and indie hero, Sufjan Stevens. Tracks are sampled from his 2005 LP Illinoise, as well as 3 of his other albums, 'A Sun Came', 'Seven Swans' and 'Songs for Christmas', blending Sufjan Steven's acoustic guitar, piano and horns with MC's Aesop Rock, Big Daddy Kane, Gift of Gab (Blackalicious), C.L. Smooth, Outkast, Brother Ali, and Grand Puba."
posted by Paragon (26 comments total)

MeFites...how do you just always know what I need to hear? You're in my head. You are, aren't you? Yeah, I think you are. Please never leave.
posted by iamkimiam at 5:55 PM on January 24, 2010 [2 favorites]

Nice! (At first I thought it was going to be about the Boot Camp spinoff group Illa Noyz, who I haven't heard from since the 90's)
posted by yeloson at 5:56 PM on January 24, 2010

Can't wait to check it out. Hoping it's similar to the Kleptones' classic Yoshimi Battles the Hip-Hop Robots.
posted by bpm140 at 5:58 PM on January 24, 2010 [1 favorite]

So far, so good. Thanks.
posted by fake at 5:58 PM on January 24, 2010

when i read the description, i thought, "please don't ruin Dumb I Sound."

but the remix is awesome! i love this.
posted by gursky at 6:00 PM on January 24, 2010

Yeah, alright, I am fuckin' loving this.

The Sufjan melancholy times the heavy beats divided by some not-awful rap equals a sure win.

Downloaded, seeding.
posted by fake at 6:01 PM on January 24, 2010

Something about the recent spate of good mashups reminds me of the like from Metropolitan:

I don't read novels. I prefer good literary criticism. That way you get both the novelists' ideas as well as the critics' thinking. With fiction I can never forget that none of it really happened, that it's all just made up by the author.

posted by anotherpanacea at 6:04 PM on January 24, 2010 [4 favorites]

Or the 'line from Metropolitan' if you prefer proofreading
posted by anotherpanacea at 6:05 PM on January 24, 2010

Yeah, I'm lovin' this as well. Thanks.
posted by Lutoslawski at 6:25 PM on January 24, 2010

they could at least have used the superman cover ...
posted by scruss at 6:33 PM on January 24, 2010

anotherpanacea, that expresses my feelings on mashups SO well. I do listen to regular music too, but man, so often I think the whole is greater than the sum of its parts when it comes to mashups.
posted by crinklebat at 6:51 PM on January 24, 2010

Thank You kindly for sharing.
posted by infinite intimation at 6:57 PM on January 24, 2010

I think the reason mashups work so well is because music, or at least fixed recordings of music get 'old' if you listen to them to often.

A song can can be transcendental the first time you hear it, and so of course you listen to again and again, and first it becomes great, then really good, then meh then actually irritating. But the problem isn't the song itself, it's the fact that it loses it's novelty. There's no anticipation of not knowing what's going to come next.

It's the same reason bands change up songs when they play them at concerts. But a remix does the same thing. It takes the tracks and make them new. They become new again. They become suspenseful again, while retaining their original awesomeness.
posted by delmoi at 7:34 PM on January 24, 2010 [1 favorite]

Night Zombies / Talkin' My Shit is great.
posted by KGMoney at 8:21 PM on January 24, 2010 [2 favorites]

I usually hate mashups, but this is outstanding.
posted by naju at 8:24 PM on January 24, 2010

I usually hate mashups, but this is outstanding.

Totally. "Mashup" (which really just means digital collage) often represents something snide or an unlikely juxtaposition.

But like mother of all funk chords, what I'm hearing and feeling now is genuinely great music made of other music. This is how it should be.

Seems people are really figuring out digital collage and doing a great job of it. The bar is rising.
posted by fake at 8:42 PM on January 24, 2010

As of writing this I'm only in the the first song, make that entering second song, but this really make Aesop Rock a ton better in my eyes.

And I'm loving the non-rap beats for rap songs, but that's really just something I like in general.
posted by DoublePlus at 8:54 PM on January 24, 2010

Alright, after a long night of listening, I wish it ended on a sad/beautiful night as heavy as the first track. Still a great work, just not the way I'd have closed the book.
posted by fake at 9:36 PM on January 24, 2010

Sounds nice, but it's not exactly groundbreaking.
posted by spork at 9:51 PM on January 24, 2010

Still downloading, but I'm very excited to listen to this.
posted by threeants at 1:32 AM on January 25, 2010

Nice one, Paragon.
posted by a non e mouse at 4:16 AM on January 25, 2010

Excellent...
posted by LakesideOrion at 5:41 AM on January 25, 2010

Wow. I'm surprised this hadn't been yanked as a double.

This is one of the best hip-hop hybrids I've heard, but it's been in my playlist for a couple years now.
posted by ardgedee at 6:17 AM on January 25, 2010

Wow. I'm surprised this hadn't been yanked as a double.

Probably because it's a different mashup.
posted by shakespeherian at 7:01 AM on January 25, 2010

Thanks for the link. Why is this so damn fun to listen to? I hate rap.
posted by The Lurkers Support Me in Email at 11:25 AM on January 26, 2010

It'd be great if someone could find a working link to the mashup that ardgedee referred to.
posted by fizzzzzzzzzzzy at 8:41 PM on January 26, 2010