Daniel Kim, the mash-up magician, yesterday released his Pop Danthology 2013 megamix. Here it is, with the corresponding video clips:
Debate is raging as to how it shapes up against last year’s attempt, but really the debate is null and void because last year’s is a true piece of art (whichever criteria you use to define art, those criteria exist in this following mash-up):
Never mind whether you love modern pop music or hate modern pop music, the Pop Danthology 2012 is a work of historical, anthropological, sociological, political, linguistical, musicological and funological art. It’s something that has been created by a skilled technician who has also just got really lucky with the music that was available to him for that year, and yet the final result is far greater than the sum of those two elements. Perhaps this is where art lives, in that gap.
For our Music Issue (which you can still buy for just $11!) we interviewed Daniel Kim briefly about his work making mash-ups. Here is some of what he had to say:
“I first encountered megamixes in high school through listening to Australians: specifically DJ Nick Skitz and DJ Alex K. I collected every one of their hi-NRG Wild FM megamixes. Since high school, so much of my favourite music has come from Australia. I even enjoy music by Sneaky Sound System these days. I believe I have always enjoyed music from Australia because I just love dance music. I have to admit, at first, I thought all Aussies spent all their time dancing.
I’m unable to say exactly how many hours I worked on Pop Danthology 2012 as I was not keeping track of time. I was unemployed when I made it; I worked on it for three months straight like it was my full-time job. So my guess is around 500 hours. Making something like this takes so much patience, especially the part when all I’m doing is collecting my sounds and nothing is being put together. The payoff at the end is definitely much better.
I could not keep up to date with all the online viral activity of Pop Danthology 2012 because at the time it was posted I was working for Tiffany & Co. as a seasonal sales person and was not allowed to check my phone. From what I did see between work shifts, I noticed that Scooter Braun (talent manager of Justin Bieber, Carly Rae Jepsen, PSY, the Wanted) tweeted my video to Justin Bieber, Carly Rae Jepsen, PSY, and the Wanted and then PSY retweeted that tweet.”
Kim reveals his process for the latest mash-up here and the 2012 one here (his posts are full of excellent infographics and also honesty).
Happy chair-dancing!