I hate the music where the paperback believers find somebody to praise in the super jumper...

Some years ago, I stumbled across the idea of the mash-up.  At the time, it was a relatively new idea and there weren't many of them.  For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, it's a very clever way of mixing two songs and coming up with something that's almost a brand-new song, or at least, a whole new way of hearing one or the other, or both old songs.

Say, for example, you picked two Sixties classics, and as a result, realized they were a lot more similar than you thought:
Cool, huh?

Now, suppose you took a song you didn't care for, say, "Super Trouper" by ABBA, and mixed it up with a catchy ditty from Van Halen.  Would you actually be able to bear either?  You tell me:

Okay, let's try blending two songs that have about three decades between them: "Somebody to Praise". Tee-hee. I understand Fatboy Slim likes this. No word from Jefferson Airplane yet.

Finally, the first music mash-up I ever recall hearing. That's hearing, not seeing, because I don't think mash-ups started out as videos. I recommend closing your eyes for this one. To me, it sounds like Madonna is getting elbowed off the stage by the Hives (possibly into the mosh pit) at regular intervals. Damn right, too: Really illustrates why a mashup is one group "vs" the other, huh? There are thousands of these out there, varying mightily in quality, of course, but if you have the inclination to explore, you may end up hearing an old favourite, or some song you never could stand, in a whole different way.