Ryan's Review: "Miley High" by Super Mash Bros

In this age of digital media and distribution we've seen a lot of new music styles emerge out of the woodwork. One of the most buzz worthy genres to pop onto the scene, especially in the past few years, would be the Mash-up genre. In this world, in my opinion, the 3 big artists to watch are Girl Talk, who is a legend of the genre; Team Teamwork, from Boston who does wonders with video game soundtracks and rap tracks; and Super Mash Bros.

For fans of the duo from LA, this latest venture does not disappoint, in fact these guys do some of the most unique mashing I've listened to. Is this necessarily the same type of mash up artistry brought forth by an artist like Girl Talk or Team Teamwork? Not at all, it's really clear that Nick and Ethan are set out to simply create just the best party jams for the masses, and they very much succeed at what they do. Not in a million years would I think to hear Lil' Wayne and Daft Punk on one track, but lo and behold it's right there on the first track.

This being their third effort, you can see how long of a way they've come since their first album, 2008's F**k B***es, Get Euros. In Get Euros the songs featured were simply mixed together, they were fun and impressive but got really bland after a listen or two. This is the stigma of mash ups; you can have a really fantastic mix of songs, but when they're separated to stand alone tracks that are supposed to flow together it just becomes boring after a few listens.  This is actually the case with most mash up albums, they're simply novelty, and this album sort of wears you down after a listen or two. It kind of goes like this, you listen to the album and you hear all the great samples, songs, and things you love. Then the next listen through you start to hear the more subtle things. Finally when you hear everything it's like owning a completed puzzle book, you can keep it to show everyone you know what's in it, but what's the point? Not to mention there are songs used in this album that they've used before in previous albums; which is fine and all but it gets older faster.

With that being said there still is plenty of fun in this album and some really interesting song choices that flow really well together. Some of my favorites have to include the mash up of "Dani California" and  "Ice Cream Paint Job", the Rugrat's theme song and "Kick, Push" by Lupe Fiasco, Phil Collins and the Ying Yang Twins (which is pretty hysterical), and finally the kicker at the end of the album "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Look at Me Now" getting the mash up treatment as somewhat of a bonus track. I almost forgot to mention Sleigh Bells and Solja Boy's "Turn my Swag on" make perfect companions for each other on this album as well.

Over all this album is what it is: something silly and fun to dance to. What you get is a 53 minute long DJ set for free and it's just a good time. The quality of the mash ups are top notch, they just tend to lose their novelty after a while and end up as used up hard drive space after a while. That shouldn't stop you from downloading this album though, it is free and who doesn't like fun stuff that's free?

             6/10

Earl Freed.

If you're a fan of LA based rap group Odd Future then you most likely know about the enigma that is Earl Sweatshirt. For those of you who do not know, Earl is one of the strongest new rappers in the game, and only at age 17. His lyrics are dark and twisted with a heaping helping of dark humor. Well 18 months ago he was sent to Samoa to a reform camp by his mother after she heard the music he was making with Odd Future. For those 18 months he didn't release or say anything, he was completely cut off; until now. Yesterday, not only was it confirmed that Earl was back in the US, he also released a new single, launched a twitter account and a tumblr. The new single is appropriately called "Home" and can be listened to at http://terttlefer.com/. I cannot recommend enough that you listen to this.