Almost the entire world of hip-hop, from Herbie Hancock and Grandmaster Flash, through Ghostface Killaz.

Even if you don’t listen to hip-hop, and I don’t, to be honest, I think it’s fair to say that it has been one of the few legitimately creative and innovative artistic forces of the past three decades. I think it is equally true to say that it owes a fundamental debt of gratitude to remixing.

What would you suggest as an example of a remix that is “original and creative,” something that will last for years to come as a monument to this thing we call remix culture?

This is true of almost all “cultural production,” including paintings and novels and films. Are most remixes junk? Sure. Can remixes, even covers, be used in an original and creative way? It seems to me that the obvious answer is “yes.” That is, it seems to me that you are picking out specific examples, and you are correct about those specific examples. But it’s a huge leap to go from that to a discussion of the genre.

You say punk was stunningly original. Someone else says, “Green Day. Sigh.” When they do that, they are clearly not tackling the best that the form has to offer.

So I guess I will close out by posing a simple question: Even if we agree that most remixes fail to do much in the way of creativity, do you think it’s POSSIBLE for a remix to be original and creative?

For example, let’s consider that Will Smith medley that Julian posted. Freddie points out that the inherent silliness of the costumes does some of the heavy lifting, and that’s fair enough. But let’s just look at the music for a minute. Are people connecting with it because of the “remix” aspects, i.e., the composition/juxtaposition of the remixed lines? Or are they connecting with it because of their identification with lyrics from past popular songs? Or are they connecting with it because of their identification with musical hooks from past popular songs, a number of which were samples of other past, popular songs?

Because here’s what I see in that Will Smith medley: I see a video that people are enjoying in large part because they have a sense of nostalgia for Will Smith and find pretty catchy because it’s all based on music that other people have created before the Goddamn Cobras even knew how to play a snare drum. Is it entertaining? I suppose. But, just like the Brooklyn/SF hipster rat pack videos, it’s a copy of a copy of a copy. The few elements of originality obscure the massive amount of unoriginality hiding behind the surface.

I am not sure that’s the analogy at all. But even “cover bands” can be good, if that’s what you mean. Johnny Cash’s late career covers were really great stuff.

What we have here, it seems, is someone taking a pretty entertaining but not particularly stunning entry in the “remix culture” genre and using it to make some pretty broad claims about artistic value.

But I simply don’t see lots of people pointing to this video and talking about it as some kind of great artistic achievement. In fact, I don’t see anybody pointing to all kinds of remixes as “genius.” Which seems right. Most rock music is crap. Most rap is crap. Most country music is crap. But that doesn’t mean someone can’t do something really good and creative in those genres. In fact, people HAVE done stunning artistic work with remixes. I am not sure why the fact that this example is kind of light-weight should be seen as an indictment of the form.

But with all respect to Liz and the Cobras, I could just not be more bored by “taking songs and putting them in dramatically different instrumentation/styles/contexts for its own sake” thing. It’s so tired to me. Like the endless acapella groups on Youtube that are like “Metallica… ACAPELLA?!?!” The point isn’t how the song is sung, but rather merely the novelty of taking music and putting it into some very different form. I love lots of different cover songs, and many that dramatically change the song in question. But it’s gotta come from the actual merits of the music and not from the novelty of the production. This is exacerbated, in the Cobras video, by the selection of Will Smith and the Fresh Prince theme in particular. Because Will Smith, I think you would agree, is sort of seen as a ridiculous figure, and the Fresh Prince as a beloved by sort of ridiculous show. And, from my perspective, a lot of the “work” in the video is being done by the fact that this modern day flapper is singing a faintly ridiculous cultural touchstone or three, and I just find that kind of novelty tiresome. (I remember when “Lazy Sunday” came out, and everybody was calling it genius, and I was just baffled. Nerds rapping would have been relevant in, what, 1989?)

Now, aesthetic taste is subjective, and what I bet those Goddamn Cobras would say is that they like the rendition of the songs on the aesthetic or artistic merits, whatever that means. And more power to them. To me, on that level, it’s a failure, which is only to say that I am me and people who like it are them and there’s no problem there. If I’m right about the power of the juxtaposition, the question, I guess, is whether the appeal of that sort of thing is necessarily going to have a shorter lifespan than other kinds of appreciation.

The video portion, though– it looks gorgeous, and obviously there was a skilled hand involved there. And it reminds me what a revolution there has been and continues to be in the availability of really impressive camera and editing technology.

Seriously? I think that the “garage band” has been a pretty widely appreciated form at least since the days of punk, through the Hold Steady, etc. It is consistently heralded as a “return to authenticity” in one form or another. I would say that it is taken far more seriously than mash-ups.

I think we also need to be willing to make important distinctions. Perhaps putting BSG to Sabotage is pure “entertainment,” but I think it’s pretty obvious that certain hip-hop acts have taken sampling to a different level than that.

So no, the pimply-faced kid in the garage really isn’t Iggy Pop. And whoever made this mash-up is not Wu Tang Clan. Neither of these seems like an indictment of the form.

Finally, I think that the Victorian era of parlor music, all of it covers of classical stuff, in fact HAS been put on a cultural pedestal.