M Is FOR MASHUP - RERUN - from June 6th, 2007
Interview with Simon Iddol
By DJ Useo
A rising force in the bootlegging scene is the
multi-talented Simon Iddol. From his individual mashups
to his many fine boot covers, he's provided much to
enjoy for fans of the genre. He's worked with many
bootleggers, including Mash-up Industries, Totom &
Lenlow. His fine series of mashup compilations called
the WHA!? Series has a new volume out called
Superseven. The series is essential listening for fans
of combined pop music. He graciously agreed to fill us
in on some behind-the-scene info and Iddol related
matters.
In his own words, the man speaks -- "Before I became
Simon Iddol I was always involved with music somehow.
All the things in my official bio are true. I heard
about bootlegs and underground remixes, but somehow I
never got closer to them. When I was DJing or made my
own music with my band I was busy with that. When I
done the record company or media things I was busy
with those. Me and bootlegging simply never met, even
if I was always interested in multichannel mixing,
sampling, remixing, etc. After a very very sad issue I
had enough about music, the industry and everything. I
was not even listening to music or following the
happening of music in that period. A few years later
(fall 2005) I accidentally found the site of DJ
Earworm and it knocked me out, blew me away. His music
healed my wounded soul and my restrained musical ego
broke through/came back/took over. I was amazed by the
scene, the culture, the overall friendliness. I
started to collect bootlegs, DL-ed everything I found.
One day I decided to show the best pieces to my
friends so I made a compilation that was 'the who
pushed the needle?' and 'why pushed it all night
long?', but one CD was not enough so it ended up as a
triple compilation album, WHA!? the triple bootleg
compilation. 3 CDs in 3 styles. The WHA is the first
letters of the album titles -'Who pushed the needle?'
'Have you seen my guitar?' 'Am I a boy or a girl?'. It
was almost like what?? or what the fuck? I guess 99%
of the people say that when they first hear a mashup.
It is not bad or good, simply the expression of the
shock, or surprise. So I made a small cartoonish twist
with the !? symbols and the brand was ready :). It was
in January 2006, I gave a few CDs to some friends,
they liked it but something changed. I got infected
with the bootleg virus. I loved the WHA!? so much and
I was not able to stop. I decided to make a free
compilation series based on the best bootlegs. My aim
was and still is to show this amazing culture to the
world, to outsiders of the scene, for the open minded
music fans. I wanted to release them on my website,
I thought, I will connect each mashup artist, but I had
no website and I didn't know any of the artists :)).
I started to write them emails about the project, made
my first blog where I posted the tracklists. Besides
that, I started to make my own bootlegs too. I got huge
help from Adrian & the Mysterious D, they not only
answered, but their ultra friendly feedback gave me a
lotta powwa to carry on with the project. I guess A+D
are my parents in the bootleg scene, Hahahaha. Even
if we never met they helped me a lot I can't be
thankful enough to them. By the fall of 2006 I teamed
up with the wonderful freeblog.hu guys via my
manager, and finally I had a proper site with proper
hosting, so I was able to release the the WHA!?
series. The feedback was amazing, I never dreamed
about it, thousands of downloads from all over the
world, appearances in many sites, but most importantly
the warm welcome by the mashup community. It is very
important that the producers feel honoured to feature
on the WHA!? albums. It helps the whole project and
gives me more power to work, and inspiration of
course.
Since then, in every 2 months I release a new WHA!?
album, always on the last Wednesday of the month. The
DL numbers went crazy with the last album, the '10-4
BABY',I stopped counting it after 13,000. Usually the
whole WHA!? fever takes about two weeks for each
album, but there are always newbies for the past
things...every album's structure is basically the
same, it starts with a mashup based on something very
well known, and very popular originally (the only
exception is the superseven), and each album has a
flow, a hidden story in the music. I always edit the
whole album as a radio show, or a lounge DJ set. It
starts from somewhere and ends somewhere, the order of
the tracks are very important. The duration of each
album is under 80 min (1 CD), each comes with a
playlist file (since the psychodizziac) and a
printable high resolution cover. There is always a
first round, a kindda preselection 3-4 times more
mashes than the final tracklist. I always try to give
chance for new, previously not featured artists. The
selection is always very cruel, but there are always
new faces on each album, and as far as I remember
there was no artist who featured in each WHA! album.
Since the second WHA!? album I always have mashup on
the albums. As a host I think I have to add something
as well to the whole project, something which describes
the theme in the best way IMO. the aim od the WHA!?
series is to show the best bootlegs to the world. I
wanna create a series like the Cafe Del Mar or the
Dope on Plastic or the DJ Kicks. When you say Ibiza
and/or chill out almost everybody thinks about the
Cafe Del Mar. I hope the WHA!? will reach the same
level, somehow it did already :))). I try to do
everything to promote them and I'm happy with every
help I get. The WHA!? is about the art of mashing, the
celebration of this amazing subculture, and I hope it
brings more focus for the featured artists."
If you want to know more, or get some of this great
music, there are links below, including his
wonderful new site that helps you learn the art of
mashing.
Simon Iddol - visit, download, enjoy
Mashup Of The Week recommended by
Simon Iddol
the biggest mashup
link archive of the world
One other point before we
part - beat-boot-ique.co.uk has unveiled
their new site design & it's a winner. Visually
appealing & user (useo) friendly, they invite you to
surf by & partake. Now featuring Long Mix & Podcast
sections in addition to the mashup links.
Now, geddouttahere & make me some pellas! I gots mixing
ta do!
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
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President Barack Obama sprinted through appearances on five consecutive news shows last Sunday, but other African-American lawmakers and opinion-shapers have a hard time getting face time on those programs.
Bill Maher: You Can't Complain About Health Care Reform If You're Not Willing to Reform Your Own Health (huffingtonpost.com)
New Rule: You can't complain about health care reform if you're not willing to reform your own health. Unlike most liberals, I'm glad all those teabaggers marched on Washington last week. Because judging from the photos, it's the first exercise they've gotten in years.
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Ricky Gervais: 'Before The Office I never tried hard at anything' (guardian.co.uk)
The comedian talks to Stephen Moss about the difference between sitcoms and film - and why he will never go back to his old lazy ways.
Jevon Phillips: "'Dollhouse' premiere: 'Vows' not broken" (latimes.com)
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John Anderson: Women of roller derby on right track in 'Whip It' (Newsday)
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Robert W. Butler: Why can't Hollywood clear its 'Cloudy' vision? (McClatchy Newspapers)
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Aaron Barnhart: "'Brothers': Last of the black network sitcoms" (McClatchy Newspapers)
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Artistic License (curvemag.com)
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David Bruce: Wise Up! Problem-Solving (athensnews.com)
Two friends went traveling in a trailer to spend a weekend fishing. They drove to the lake, camped out, then realized that they had forgotten to bring an alarm clock so that they could get up at dawn to start their fishing early. No problem. They tossed a couple of pieces of bread on the roof of the trailer, and at dawn they were awakened by the beaks of birds tapping on the roof of the trailer while they pecked at the bread.
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The 'Public Enemy #1' Edition
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From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
30° cooler than last week - a lovely improvement.
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Dan Rather
A New York state appeals court on Tuesday dismissed former TV newsman Dan Rather's lawsuit against CBS Corp in which Rather claimed he was made a scapegoat in a scandal over a 2004 report on then-President George W. Bush's military record.
The ruling on Tuesday by a panel of judges of the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division said Rather's $70 million complaint should be dismissed in its entirety and that a lower court erred in denying CBS's motion to throw out the lawsuit.
The appeals court ruled he failed to sufficiently support his claim that he lost business opportunities due to CBS's failure to release him to seek other employment.
Rather sued CBS, parent of the CBS television network, Viacom and others in September 2007, claiming he had been made a scapegoat to "pacify the White House." CBS was part of Viacom until the companies split in 2006.
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Too Controversial
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In Speechless, Latimer writes that "narrow thinking" led "people in the White House to actually object to giving the author JK Rowling a presidential medal because the Harry Potter books encourage witchcraft".
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Subversive US cartoonist Robert Crumb, whose take on the Bible is about to be released worldwide, says people are "totally nuts" for taking the book so seriously for so long.
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Crumb's 220-page epic take on the Book of Genesis painstakingly mirrors every twist and turn, from God's Creation of the world through the meanderings of Noah's Ark and the adventures of Jacob of the "coat of many colours".
The 66-year-old hero of underground comics who wowed the 1960s with "Fritz The Cat" and "Mr Natural", said he took up the challenge 40 years later of creating another white-haired long-bearded figure "to illuminate the text of Genesis by illustrating every single thing that's in there."
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Charity Auction Nets $1.1 Million
amfAR
Crystal-studded boots that Michael Jackson intended to wear on his planned comeback tour fetched euro10,000 ($14,650) at a celebrity fundraiser chaired by his sister, Janet.
The charity event, held on the sidelines of Milan Fashion Week, attracted such fashion luminaries as Donatella Versace and model Linda Evangelista, as well as rapper and producer Kanye West.
Organizers say the event late Monday netted a total of $1.1 million (euro750,000) for the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR), a nonprofit organization that supports HIV/AIDS research.
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The couple announced their engagement in February.
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Malaysia Bans Film
'Bruno'
Sacha Baron Cohen's box office hit Bruno has been banned by Malaysia's film censors because it highlights gay life and has gay sex scenes.
Bruno - following Baron Cohen's hit Borat - is centred around the adventures of a flamboyant gay fashion journalist from Austria.
A spokeswoman for Malaysia's Film Censorship Board said the movie was considered unacceptable because of its storyline, offensive language, jokes and racy nature.
Gay sex, or "carnal intercourse against the order of nature", is punishable by up to 20 years in jail and whipping in Malaysia. Sex toys, politically incorrect comments and jokes about religion also infuriated the censors, the spokeswoman said.
'Bruno'
Video Company Seeks $6.3Million
John Lennon
A Massachusetts company that claims rare film footage of the late John Lennon was stolen and sold to Yoko Ono without its permission asked a federal judge Tuesday to award it $6.3 million in damages.
Earlier this year, a judge found that Lennon's widow was the rightful copyright owner of the 1970 footage, which shows Lennon smoking marijuana and joking about putting LSD in President Richard Nixon's tea.
Lawrence, Mass.-based World Wide Video LLC had filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Ono and Anthony Pagola, a broker who sold Ono the footage.
In court Tuesday, the company's lawyer, Joseph Doyle, said a rock 'n' roll memorabilia expert estimated the film was worth $4 million to $6 million when Pagola sold it to Ono for $300,000 in 2002. Doyle asked the judge to order Pagola to pay the company $6.3 million.
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Found Note
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A western Illinois postal worker's hunt for supposedly buried treasure continues in Springfield. Patty Henken launched the search recently when she was refinishing an antique chair and found a key in an envelope with a note promising $250 in U.S. gold coins buried in a chest in Springfield.
On the envelope were the typewritten words "Finders Keepers." The typewritten note detailed a Springfield location where the gold coins were supposedly buried.
Henken was given permission to dig on the lot after agreeing with the property owner that anything found would be split between them.
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Rotating Banquet Hall Unveiled
Nero
Archaeologists on Tuesday unveiled what they think are the remains of Roman emperor Nero's extravagant banquet hall, a circular space that rotated day and night to imitate the Earth's movement and impress his guests.
The room, part of Nero's Golden Palace, a sprawling residence built in the first century A.D., is thought to have been built to entertain government officials and VIPs, said lead archaeologist Francoise Villedieu.
The dig so far has turned up the foundations of the room, the rotating mechanism underneath and part of an attached space believed to be the kitchens, she said.
The partially excavated site is part of the sumptuous residence, also known by its Latin name Domus Aurea, which rose over the ruins of a fire that destroyed much of Rome in A.D. 64.
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Prime-Time Nielsens
Ratings
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by the Nielsen Co. for Sept. 21-27. Listings include the week's ranking, with viewership for the week and season-to-date rankings in parentheses. An "X" in parentheses denotes a one-time-only presentation.
1. (2) "NCIS," CBS, 20.6 million viewers.
2. (3) "NCIS: Los Angeles," CBS, 18.73 million viewers.
3. (4) "Dancing With the Stars" (Monday), ABC, 17.79 million viewers.
4. (1) Sunday Night Football: Indianapolis at Arizona, NBC, 17.47 million viewers.
5. (5) "House," Fox, 17.16 million viewers.
6. (6) "Grey's Anatomy," ABC, 17.03 million viewers.
7. (8) "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 16.01 million viewers.
8. (9) "Criminal Minds," CBS, 15.84 million viewers.
9. (X) "Dancing With the Stars" (Tuesday), ABC, 15.367 million viewers.
10. (X) "Dancing With the Stars" (Wednesday), ABC, 15.356 million viewers.
11. (11) "The Mentalist," CBS, 15.07 million viewers.
12. (11) "CSI: New York," CBS, 15.06 million viewers.
13. (13) "60 Minutes," CBS, 14.88 million viewers.
14. (14) "CSI: Miami," CBS, 14.20 million viewers.
15. (15) "The Good Wife," CBS, 13.71 million viewers.
16. (15) "Desperate Housewives," ABC, 13.64 million viewers.
17. (15) "Two And a Half Men," CBS, 13.63 million viewers.
18. (7) "Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick," NBC, 13.35 million viewers.
19. (19) "The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 12.96 million viewers.
20. (20) "Modern Family," ABC, 12.61 million viewers.
Ratings
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