DJ Broken Window
Parallel Universe #2
(Violent Turd Records)
On the first volume of DJ Brokenwindow's Parallel Universe, he (or she) explored a hilarious realm of old-school mashups that mostly too completely disparate songs and bumped them up against one another on the wheels of steel, even going so far as telling you how to replicate the mixes yourself at home. Despite the almost antiquated approach of mixing (especially when digital editing allows for much more precision), the compilation of tracks worked for the most part by hitting on some hilarious combinations and pulling the rest off with some actual great tracks.
The amazing part about the project was the sheer audacity of it all, and Parallel Universe #2 is another 22 tracks and 70 minutes of the same idea. Unfortunately, the idea runs into a bit of a wall on the second volume, and although there are still some hilarious mashes, it wallows mixing loads of acapella hip hop with obscure weirdness for everything under the sun. Obviously, the result is still something unique, but there's nothing as good as the Yes Vs. Boards Of Canada combination on the first release.
There are still some gems, though, and it would be silly of me not to mention them. "Hooked On Techno 1" slams "Planet X" by Mad Mike/Underground Resistence over Beethovens 9th Symphony - 4th Movement off the Clockwork Orange soundtrack. The result is the original Walter Carlos track given a hard acid workover. "I Want To Be Your LFO" pits "I Want To Be Your Dog" by The World Of Skin" against "Them" by LFO (who else) for a dark, off kilter track. The highlight of the disc for most, however, will be the 'holy crap!' weirdness of Kit Clayton ("track 1" from The Mimic And The Model) versus Roscoe P. Coltrane singing "Flash" from the Dukes Of Hazzard. It's hilariously bad, and probably not something you need to hear more than once, but the combination of weird, minimal electronic mixed with Crazy Cooter is enough to give you nightmares.
As mentioned above, a majority of the remainder of the release is made up of hip-hop colliding with just about everything under the sun. Eminem and D12 butt heads with "Beach Culture" by Thompson Twins while The Fugees throw rhymes over Ultravox. Oh yeah, and P Diddy gets his sampling come-uppance by being laid over the super haunting "Haiti" by Cabaret Voltaire. As also mentioned above, much more of this release simply doesn't work quite as well as the first volume. Songs are pitched way up or down and rendered harsh because of that fact, and sometimes the songs flat-out sound misplaced. In many cases (like the Kit Clayon vs Roscoe P. Coltrane), the combined effect after one listen simply becomes "uh, I guess it fits, but the result barely works as novelty, and it's certainly not something I'd want to hear on a regular basis." As a textbook for just how far across the musical spectrum you can go to put things together, it's an interesting document, but if you're looking for unique and interesting mashed songs that you'll actually want to listen to on a regular basis, there are much better places to find them.
Rating: 5.25
