"Lock the doors and close the blinds -- we're going for a ride..."

(cross-posted to wtf )

Yes, I'm back this week. As will be socKs. It feels good to be back. I mean, not that I'm actually back yet -- but moreso the notion that I'm getting back into the swing of things.  I've missed everyone associated with WTF -- the co-hosts, the listeners, and even Glenn.

Last April I came up with a pre-show which explored several "mash-ups."  This genre of music has been catching on more and more with the advent of internet technologies like RSS, very inexpensive (or free) online storage, precision sound-editing software, and, last but not least, a pool of extremely talented "mash-up artists."  Some musicians are actually beginning to help out by releasing instrumental and vocals-only tracks.

One of the interesting mash-up stories from last Fall was the release of American Edit by a group of mash-up artists calling themselves "Dean Gray." ("Green Day." Get it?) Their project was a track-by-track mash-up of Green Day's multi-platinum selling American Idiot album.  The compilation was released to the net on americanedit.net -- and served with a takedown notice a few days later by Green Day's publishing company for copyright infringement.   But by then the damage had been done -- word of mouth (word of keys?) spread around about this amazing piece of work. Other sites came up. The album was already easily available via Bittorrent.  A group of guerilla artists organized a day on which to post links to the album on one specific day -- so as many people as possible could download it and enjoy.  If you look for it you can still find it quite easily on the Net.

"Modern Rock" commercial stations such as Atlanta's 99X also got in on the hype, releasing news blurbs about "American Edit" and the controversy behind it --something which allowed more people to get into the mashup scene. Even Billie Joe Armstrong, the lead singer of Green Day, mentioned that he was intrigued by the notion of his music being mashed up with the likes of Oasis and Aerosmith. But with the current monopoly of the music recording business, creative works like these will likely stay underground.

Here's a list of tonight's pre-show mash-ups. Tune in at 8:40pm CDT and listen to songs that the recording industry doesn't want you to hear -- at least not this way.

djBC - They Might Be Starting:  They Might Be Giants  vs. Will Smith vs. Pink
Go Home Productions - Jet Lady Joe:  Jet vs. The Beatles vs. Joe Walsh vs. Justified Ancients of Mu Mu vs. Mud
Dean Gray - Boulevard of Broken Songs:  Green Day vs. Oasis vs. Aerosmith and others
The Kleptones - Need You This Way: Aerosmith vs. Run DMC (and Aerosmith!) vs. INXS
Arty Fufkin - Beverly Hills Creep:  Weezer vs. Beck vs. Nik Kershaw vs. Radiohead vs. Harold Faltermeyer.

Exciting stuff, no?  It'll be even moreso if you take some time to answer the Questions of the Week...