DJ Wüdi Mashup: Just Can’t Get Flexible in 1999

JCGF Cover ArtOkay, folks — for better or for worse (but hopefully not too much worse), I spent some time playing around in GarageBand over the past couple of days. The result: Depeche Mode’s ‘Flexible’ and ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’ plus Prince’s ‘1999’ equals DJ Wüdi – Just Can’t Get Flexible in 1999 (7.8Mb MP3).

It’s my first attempt at creating a mashup rather than just listening to ’em. Probably not likely to make it to the top of the charts, but I don’t think it’s too terribly bad for a first try.

Give it a listen, and feel free to let me know what you think (good or bad)!

Update: I’ve made some slight tweaks to the track (mostly moving the rap section back by a few bars, it was coming in too early in the first version) and replaced the download file with v2. If you haven’t downloaded this yet, you’re set, otherwise feel free to re-download the updated mix.

Update 5/2/2008: Mini-review by Mashuptown: “wow! floor filla’. quite splendid indeed.” Sweet!

Cards, anyone?

Arboretum, Seattle, WA I got a nice compliment from mom on one of my recent photos earlier today:

You sure have some beautiful photos. You could open a side business (in your spare time) selling them for cards.

Thanks mom!

This makes me curious, though….

Might this be a viable idea? While I’m still not sure I’d call myself a “photographer” — I generally tend to prefer “some guy with a camera” — I do think that I do occasionally manage to get some pretty decent shots. If I could find a good way to produce cards or prints, anyone think there might be an interest?

And if so…any ideas where to look as far as vendors go? I know CafePress is one option — I’m using them now (if you can call the five or six sales I’ve made so far “using”) for my I’m Just Here to Get Laid, I’m Too Sexy for My Blog and I’m Too Sexy for Your Blog t-shirts, but the profit margin is so miniscule there that I’m not really sure I see using it for anything more than the occasional hobbyist cute idea (like the aforementioned t-shirts). Of course, if anyone is using CafePress more seriously than I am and finds it worthwhile, feel free to let me know. Any options other than CafePress?

I’m not entirely sure how seriously I’m thinking about this just now, but it’s at least worth poking around at a bit to see what I can find out.

iTunesAttached” by Orbital from the album Snivilisation (1994, 12:25).

Two brief bits…

…mostly because I hate letting a day go by without tossing something up here (even though that happens fairly often).

  • Prairie and I went to the Seattle Aboretum on Sunday along with her sister Hope and Hope’s puppy, Loodie. Pictures of flowers, trees, cherry blossoms, and various and sundry other people enjoying this last weekend’s gorgeous weather have been added to my Seattle Arboretum photoset, starting here.
  • I really, really, really want a copy of Native InstrumentsTraktor DJ Studio 2. I’ve been feeling the DJ itch lately, most recently at a party this weekend, and this is the first time I’ve seen a software package that looks like it can do a good job of replicating (and expanding on) the functionality offered by my old CD DJ deck. The downloadable demo is very impressive, but as it’s a demo, it’s limited in what it can do (no saving of files, 30-minute run time limit, etc.). The only downside is that it’s $220 that I don’t have expendable at the moment — but since my birthday is coming up on May 3rd, perhaps someone out there will feel generous? ;)

iTunesHaloes” by Christian Death from the album Gothik (1993, 3:37).

Trek in the 2100’s?

Yesterday I pointed to this article about Star Trek XI. According to the article, this will be a prequel movie not directly associated with any of the existing shows, story lines — or casts.

What we know so far you could pretty much write on the back of a comm badge but it breaks down to this: Picard and the gang will not be involved, it’s going to be a prequel film set before Kirk, the Enterprise TV crew will (thankfully) not be involved.

[…]

“We’re going 160-odd years before Kirk is born. It’s an earlier time, and I think it would be really refreshing to feel something in the course of telling this tale, instead of being wowed by special effects, or presenting another crew in jeopardy where, in the end, the captain does something brilliant, and all’s right with the world. By the end of this story, everyone isn’t fine. I can safely say as a storyteller with certain standards… my intention is literally as a writer, as a storyteller, as a filmmaker, to go boldly where no one has gone before.”

This got me thinking about the timeline of the Trek universe. I remembered that Enterprise was set roughly 80 or so years before classic Trek — so this new movie will be going another 80 years before that? Considering that Enterprise is set in the era immediately preceding the formation of the Federation of Planets, what was going on in the Trek universe during the time period of this new movie?

According to Memory Alpha’s timeline, Classic Trek is set in the 23rd century, between 2264 and 2269.

Enterprise takes place in the 22nd Century, between 2151 and roughly 2155 (I’m assuming that last date, given the four-year run of Enterprise).

This actually puts Enterprise roughly 110 years before Classic Trek, not 80 — so the new film should take place roughly fifty years prior to that, right around the early 2100s.

So what do we have in the established Trek universe in the 2100s that might factor in to the new movie?

I haven’t snagged character births or contact between races that Earth wouldn’t have come into contact with yet in what I’ve listed above. Of those listed events, the only one that seems even remotely important enough that it might make an appearance in the new film is the establishment of the Martian colonies, but I don’t really expect that to show up.

First Contact with the Vulcans was in 2063, so having the Vulcans involved is a possibility — unfortunately, if they keep continuity with Enterprise, they’ll be the uppity, meddling Vulcans of Enterprise rather than the stoic, respectable members of the Federation that we’re more familiar with.

Neither the Klingons nor the Romulans had been encountered yet, so unless there’s some even more serious meddling with the established universe coming up, we shouldn’t be seeing either of them in the film.

Essentially, it appears that we have a fairly open slate for this one. I just hope that writer Erik Jendresen isn’t just mouthing empty platitudes when he says this

“I can certainly say that the story concept, the basic idea of this thing, is pretty damn big,” says Jendresen. “It’s a noble enterprise, pun intended. When I heard the notion, I realized that the people I was talking to were serious, and genuinely dedicated. I started to really think about it, and, ultimately to develop a story. And it’s a pretty good one.

Rumor mills — warp seven — engage!

Update: On a second reading — because sometimes I’m dumb, and one reading isn’t enough — I realized that I may have goofed up the dates by about three decades. I’d thought that the article said that they were going “160 years before Kirk’s time”, so I counted backwards from the beginning of the original series. However, I just realized that the article actually says “160-odd years before Kirk is born“.

Kirk was born in 2233, so that puts the approximate time period of the new film at around 2073 or so — not even 70 years from the present day. This still puts it post-First Contact with the Vulcans, but now we’re a good thirty years away from colonizing Mars.

Again looking at the timeline, events in the 2070’s that might (but might not) factor into the film:

Again, just because these events have been established as part of the Trek universe, there’s no guarantee that they will be seen or referenced in the upcoming film — and, as noted above in regards to the Post-atomic horror seeming to be inconsistent with the TNG and ENT versions of Trek history, it’s entirely possible that some events may be flat-out contradicted once the film comes out.

Still, it’s fun to look at what’s “known” at this point, and to try to put some context to the time period the next film is likely to be in.

Update: Neuvo pointed out that there’s been an update to the original article about the film, and the writer has stated that he goofed when he gave the ~160 year date.

Erik Jendresen contacted SyFy Portal after the story published to say that he misspoke when giving the 160-year figure in the above story. He said that was not an accurate number.

Now the article gives a rough date of ~80 years before Kirk — which puts it right around the early 2150’s, or right about the same time as the first season of Enterprise. This opens up possibilities for Klingons, Andorians, and (though I hope not) Suliban and other species encountered during Enterprise’s first year(s).

That’s far too many potential options for me to do another little timeline-rundown, so I’ll just go back to keeping my fingers crossed that a new writer not previously affiliated with the Trek franchise can breathe some new life into the series.

Geek Conflicts

After two incredible trailers which were then followed up by two horrid movies, I really should know better than to put any faith in George Lucas anymore. But then I watch the trailer for Episode III…and, while I hate myself for saying it, damn that looks cool.

I’m fairly certain he’ll screw it up again. But just for a few moments, I’d like to try to believe that it will actually be worth watching.

Update: Jason’s in the same boat (though he put it better than I did…):

Once every three years, the first trailer for yet another crappy George Lucas Star Wars movie is released somewhere to great fanfare. And each time, I watch said trailer and get all excited. It looks great, I’ll say. Maybe it’ll actually be good. My hopes start to rise. And then the movie comes out, Natalie Portman is transformed by Lucas’ awful direction into the worst actress ever, and I leave the theatre disappointed that a cherished childhood institution has been handled in such a piss-poor manner. With the impending release of Episode III and the trailer during last night’s episode of The OC, I have vowed not to get my hopes up. Never again, George Lucas, will you disappoint me.

However.

OMFG THE TRAILER FOR THE NEW STAR WARS MOVIE IS SOOO GREAT AND EXCITING AND THIS MOVIE IS GOING TO KICK SO MUCH ASS!!!

Meanwhile, the other Sci-Fi franchise that heavily influenced my growing years has just announced that sometime in 2007, yet another Star Trek film will land in the theaters.

Again, after the last few films, I really shouldn’t be excited about this.

But I want to be.

iTunesAsk Why” by Candyflip from the album Madstock…the Continuing Adventures of Bubblecar Fish (1990, 4:16).

Beautiful!

I’ve decided it’s going to be a good day today. I woke up in a good mood, felt more rested than I have fairly often recently, and there was gorgeous golden sunshine coming in through the windows.

Therefore, it’s going to be a good day.

‘Cause I said so, and I’m God today. :)

Going to? As in, future tense?

Saw this on Scripting News, regarding “just updated” pings to weblogs.com:

Search Engine Optimizers have discovered blogs, specifically blogspot. We’re going to have to develop some systems for dealing with this.

No kidding? And what’s with the future tense? With the ever-increasing spam attacks over the past year, did nobody stop to think that this might end up being a possibility?

Just struck me as odd.

iTunesSheep” by Pink Floyd from the album Animals Trance Remixes (1995, 16:03).

Another convert

Last week, Seattle was in the midst of an unusually warm spell of weather for this time of year (which doesn’t seem to have ended — it seems we’re in for an early spring this year). With the weather warming up, I’m starting to occasionally bring my kilt to work with me so that I can change before leaving. One of the days I’d done this, I had to head over to one of my job’s other downtown branches to fill out some paperwork.

Yesterday I again had to run by their store after work, this time to drop off a job. When I walked in, the guy manning the front counter waved me over. “Tell you what….”

“Yeah?”

“I saw you in here wearing your kilt. Went out and got one for myself the next day.”

“Excellent!”

“I go past their shop every day, and kept thinking about getting one. Saw yours, and got mine.”

And another man escapes from the tyranny of trousers.

iTunesYallah Habibe” by Cirrus from the album Drop the Break (1997, 7:44).

Boom!

Mt. St. Helens eruption, Mar. 8 2005

Wow. I so want to be able to actually see this happen someday. Not from too close, you understand…but from a nice safe distance. Just incredible.

Mt. St. Helens eruption, Mar. 8 2005

Mashups

Lately I’ve been getting more and more into Mashups — songs created by taking two or more different songs and “mashing” them together into one. While some aren’t much more complex than the simple beatmatching I did while I was dj’ing, others I’ve found are jaw-droppingly cool, with layers of multiple tracks that really shouldn’t work together as well as they do.

The first one I can remember finding I stumbled across a few years ago, long before the term “mashup” gained popularity. A fairly simple mashup, it laid the vocal track from Public Enemy’s “Bring the Noise” over the acid electronica of Winx’ “Higher State of Consciousness”.

Over the past few months, as the mashup trend has become more and more mainstream, I’ve been able to find a lot of really good stuff, often thanks to links on either Boing Boing or Waxy.

The Kleptones‘ “A Night at the Hip-Hopera“, for instance, combines Queen’s music with a lot of old- and new-school hip-hop. More recently, they’ve released “From Detroit to J.A.“, which plays similar tricks with a ton of old Motown tunes.

DJ Danger Mouse‘s “Grey Album“, combining vocals from Jay-Z’s “Black Album” with The Beatles’ “White Album” got a lot of attention last year, leading to the “Grey Tuesday” campaign. It also led to more experiments with Jay-Z’s vocal tracks, including Cheap Cologne’s “Double Black” album using Metallica’s “Black Album” as the musical background.

The Beatles have proven to be a favorite of the mashup scene (much to the consternation of their record company and the RIAA). DJ BC combined the Beatles and the Beastie Boys to create The Beastles; and ccc just released Revolved, a re-working of their Revolver album.

The Who Boys is a mashup of The Who and The Beach Boys — not one of my personal favorites of the mashups I’ve found, but still interesting.

I also just grabbed a torrent of tracks from DJ Earworm that has some incredible work.

So, then, I’m curious about two things.

Firstly — is there anyone else dropping by here that’s been following this trend? If so, are there any mashup artists or particular tracks that you’d recommend?

Secondly — all the “how-to” tutorials I’ve seen for creating mashups so far have been PC-oriented. I poked around a little bit at GarageBand, but it doesn’t seem to be the best tool for this kind of work (specifically, while I can easily import tracks from my music library, there doesn’t seem to be a way to time-stretch or -compress imported audio to ensure that the tempos match). Any recommendations for Mac-specific audio software or tutorials in this realm? I may not actually be able to come up with anything, but there are a couple of ideas floating around my head that might be fun to play with.

iTunesPolicy of Sweet Dreams” by Depeche Mode/Eurythmics from the album www.djearworm.com (2004, 4:43).