Remixes and mashups fall into the same genre of music; like brother and sister. Remixes consist of songs that have parts pulled away and/or added on by another musician, whereas mashups consist of combining two separate songs to make one cohesive unit. Dave Wrangler is one of the latest in making mashups and remixes and he has put together three stunning tracks that use Ghostland Observatory as the base.
I had a chance to e-mail with Dave, discussing his technique in putting songs together and he says, “For all of the remixes I do, I actually create the instrumentals from the tracks with lots of intricate editing as there are no instrumentals available. In essence, not as simple as laying words on top of an original instrumental: a “blend.” The process requires a moderate knowledge of music theory, a really good ear for musical format/structure and other fundamental variables.” Sounds pretty difficult to me, which all the more depicts the effort and talent that goes into creating such sounds.
Pharcyde vs. Ghostland Observatory (Dave Wrangler Remix)
This is by far my favorite working of Wrangler’s. He uses the lyrics of hip-hop group, Pharcyde, from their track “Passin Me By”, and the music from Ghostland Observatory’s “Midnight Voyage”. Now I am not a fan of hip-hop, never enjoyed it, save for the early incarnation of the genre. But Wrangler does an excellent blending of two genres here. He combines hip-hop and rock to create a really unique track, that’ll surely cater to fans of both fields of music. Though Ghostland Obsevatory is an electronic group, “Midnight Voyage” has an amazing electro-guitar riff that pulverizes the track as a rock n’ roll number. That riff is the best part of the song, as well as the slow thudded electro-drum that Wrangler takes and spills over the Pharcyde lyrics.
Michael Jackson vs. Ghostland Observatory (Dave Wrangler Remix)
Here Wrangler fuses together the Michael & Janet Jackson duet “Scream” with Observatory’s “Club Soda”. The song has an initially strong build up but at points feels slightly forced with the mashup not sounding completely synced. Though unique and enjoyable at points, it feels as if the vocals are just slapped onto the music without a proper melding; it’s pretty noisy.
Notorious B.I.G. vs. Ghostland Observatory (Dave Wrangler Remix)
Here we have Biggie‘s track “Nasty Boy” married off to Observatory’s “Heavy Heart”, which works much better than the Michael Jackson tune. It follows a similar pattern to the Pharcyde mix, combining hip-hop lyrics with more dancey, rocky and electronic tunes, that create a interesting and enjoyable contrast that fit together well. The song is slow but works with a heavy beat and bass provided by Observatory’s track. The beat meshes in perfect conjunction with the beaty delivery of Biggie’s lyrics.
