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I feel I’ve made my love of mashups and remixes abundantly clear by this point, so it should come as no surprise that this week’s post remixes, art, sci-fi, movies, and a healthy dose of the surreal. But here’s another secret: I really love the movie A.I. – I know, I’m maybe the only one, but there’s something about that film that really hit he hard. The questions about the veracity of simulated and/or scripted responses to external stimuli, the inhumanity of humanity, the idea that our evolutionary successors might not be biological but technological – all of these were fascinating ideas to me, and have stuck in my mind every since.

So I’m excited that Pogo, one of the more innovative video remix musicians in the genre, decided to take on the film with a beautiful piece called Davyd. Whether or not you enjoyed the film, there’s a lot worth experiencing here. Pogo really captures a lot of the sweeter aspects of the film, preferring to utilize sounds from the first and third acts almost exclusively, while excluding the darker second act almost entirely.

This is one video best enjoyed via headphones. There’s just so much nuance and musical composition that really comes through with a more isolated soundscape. Either way, it’s a creative new spin on a familiar work of art, and I’m glad to have experienced it.

Is a song still a mash-up when it’s source of inspiration is stripped down to the smallest pieces then reassembled in such an innovative fashion that it’s something new entirely?

In his most recent live DJ demo, up-and-coming 17-year-old French DJ, Madeon, takes samples from 39 different songs and layers them into a masterpiece of it’s own. Through most of the track, I recognized which song the sound sample originated from. However, Madeon uses these small sound bytes as musical notes that are layered and rewritten into something complex and original.

There’s no question that I absolutely love the song, but what really blows me away is being able to see the thought and talent behind it. Had I just been sent a link to this track on sound cloud, I would have still deemed it amazing and listened to it on repeat. But actually watching Madeon scan his grid of sounds and select the perfect one at just the right time is awe-inspiring. Additionally, seeing the lights of the midi controller surface changing colors and flash on and off, I’m convinced that writing music on the Launchpad is an awesome memory game that I want to play.

Side Note: I’ve been looking for a download of this track all morning, if some one finds it, can you link me in the comments?

Everything is a Remix Part 3 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.

“Creativity isn’t magic,” is how Kirby Ferguson describes the new episode in his four-part series Everything Is A Remix. While parts one and two dealt with music and film respectively, this episode delves into something a little more esoteric in its implications: technological innovation. Kirby describes how we got from early digital and analog technology to the modern world; showing how technological innovation functions as a byproduct of being remixed and reinnovated.

Some of you may remember that we posted on the last installment of this series. Full disclosure, I’ll probably post every subsequent one as well – it just ticks so many geeky boxes in the list of my interests. I also appreciate how interesting he makes what could otherwise be fairly dry material. Yes, not everyone wants to see how Xerox influenced the Apple Lisa, or how Henry Ford (re)invented the automotive assembly line, but somehow Kirby has the ability to take topics that flit across varying divergent interest groups and tie them all together into a tightly-wound bundle of fascination. It’s like Kirby took everything I loved about the old James BUrke series Connections, added some of his own personality and insights into the equation, and made it feel new again.

Funny how that happens.