Combat

by William YorkCombat is San Francisco laptop troublemaker Mochipet's entry into the crowded mash-up sweepstakes. The problem with most mash-up releases is that, while they may be amusing once or twice, they're also usually witty or clever at best, and end up being extremely disposable. Combat occasionally falls prey to such tendencies, but as Mochipet' s other work has shown, he is no ordinary laptopper, and is capable of conjuring up genuine brilliance as opposed to merely applying the latest fancy technology. The highlights here include "Wang Chung vs. the Real Wang," basically an extremely sped-up version of "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" with some amazingly rhythmic digital skipping effects; and "Nelly vs. Poor Kakarookee (Venetian Snares)," a virtuoso inside-out remix of Nelly's "Country Grammar" that mixes in munchkin voices and abrasive blasts of distorted jungle rhythms. Another excellent track is "They Might Be Giants vs. Lyrical Giants (Get Crunked)," in which Mochipet shows a true composer's touch as he interweaves snippets from both bands' songs into what feels like its own three-and-a-half-minute mini-epic. "Yes vs. NoMeansNo" is another interesting juxtaposition, and having seen this one performed "live," hearing it always conjures up amusing images of electronica fans dancing to Yes. Not every moment is golden: "DJ Q-Bert's Bionic Booger Breaks vs TaiwanKid's Betelnut Breaks" is jarring, but as essentially a remix of a couple of other remix artists, it lacks focus. Meanwhile, "Johnny Cash vs. Cash Money Millionaires" is lazy by Mochipet's standards, as it runs closest to the typical mash-up cliché of laying down the vocals from one song over the beat to another. It's hard to imagine that Combat will wind up being seen as Mochipet's masterpiece, but it is mostly enjoyable and entertaining, and has several great examples of his particular style of manic maximalism. Not for mash-up or laptop fans only.