Kro's Mashed Taters

King of Pop & Queen Bey - Bittersweet Dreams

2009-07-20T04:13:00.001-07:00

Simple concept. I heard Beyonce's latest single "Sweet Dreams" about a year back, when it was still a demo under the title of "Beautiful Nightmare." It was a neat song, with a bass-line similar to the intro of "Beat It." So naturally, I put Bey's track and the late, great King of Pop Michael Jackson's classic together. I like the result; how about you?

KRO: Bittersweet Dreams

RIP Michael.

Jourhanna - Rihanna's Journey

2009-04-17T10:28:00.000-07:00

I'll admit it: I love angsty women in music. I've always had a thing for 'em. That is what this mashup is all about! This time, I've paired up Barbadian popstress Rihanna's angsty "Breakin' Dishes" with Journey's "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)." I tried to make it so Rihanna and Steve Perry are having some sort of lovers' spat, and felt Neal Schon's guitars worked well with her delivery. But enough about my rambling, hope you enjoy it!

KRO - Rihanna's Journey

Rihanna Official
Journey Official

Liady Gagagher / Riskara Bareilles

2009-02-11T22:21:00.000-08:00

It's a double feature this time around!

First up is a marriage between Brit-rock and good old dance pop. The enigmatic Lady Gaga narrates the happenings of an inebriated night on the town where she proceeds to lose her mobile phone and admits to forgetting her location in "Just Dance." Meanwhile, Oasis provide the entertainment at said club, performing a more uptempo of Liam and the gang's best-known song, "Wonderwall."

KRO: Wonderdance
(Rapidshare)

Next up is a Valentine's treat. Piano-pop songstress Sara Bareilles takes a break from refusing to write a love song for a lover in the ironically titled "Love Song," while foul-mouthed YouTube sensation Riskay and her troupe (Aviance & Real) grab the mic to check her man's status of faith by, uh, scent in "Smell Yo Dick." Great mood setter if you've got a chick/dude on your hands you suspect of cheating.

KRO: Aroma Therapy

Oasis official
Lady GaGa official
Sara Bareilles official
Riskay official MySpace

Beylanis Knolisette - You Oughta Knowles

2008-12-24T11:36:00.001-08:00

A quick one here, involving notoriously scorned Canadian Alanis Morissette tearing Dave Coulier/Matt LeBlanc/other dude to shreds, trading in the luscious mood of a Beyonce hit for a more rigorous romp. Since Alanis' vocals were censored here, I would like to thank Ms. Knowles for swearing on her behalf.

KRO: You Oughta Knowles

Alanis Morissette Official
Beyonce Official

Delta Airlines - Delta Airlines

2008-10-22T06:31:00.000-07:00

To my knowledge, nobody has yet to put together a mash up utilizing the music of the lovely Delta Goodrem, which I consider a shame as she has great vocals (and is a classic beauty to match!). Taking matters into my own hands, I have paired up the Aussie songbird's epic pop ballad "Believe Again," stripping it of its new-age packaging and setting it atop a more downtempo electronica backing, courtesy of French duo Air's "La Voyage de Penelope." It fit nicely, I think. I am also quite proud of the mash title. Hehe. Enjoy.

KRO: Delta Airlines

Delta Goodrem official
Air official

Waula Dandul - Dance Like Bohemian

2008-07-09T09:03:00.000-07:00

I have a confession to make, so prepare yourselves: I am a Paula Abdul fan. She has always been awesomely cool, and I feel her tunes are the epitome of good solid pop music. Now, as we get the laughters out of the way... Paula made a mini-comeback earlier this year by putting out a cool enough song called "Dance Like Tomorrow," with fellow American Idol judge Randy Jackson on bass. Now, I like it and everything, but always felt it had a rocky melody that Randy (who produced it) didn't get a hold of... I mean, yeah, Paula had to flaunt her choreo but as plenty of mashup videos have proven, some poppy choreo and upbeat pop-rock can mesh rather well. Therefore, I teamed her up with the Dandy Warhols' "Bohemian Like You." The result? You decide. If you have any feedback, feel free to tell me. Straight up, now.

KRO - Dance Like Bohemian

Paula Abdul official
Dandy Warhols official

Teddeona Bearis - Punklover

2008-06-14T01:07:00.001-07:00

Lately, I am rejoicing in the return of actual melodies in the pop scene - gone are the tuneless days of humps and hollabacks of yore! This little ditty, "Bleeding Love," from UK songbird (and X-Factor victor) Leona Lewis caught my attention, simply because of the emo lyrics set to a gothic R&B backing reminiscent of a classy funeral, and a pretty voice singing on top. I love odd combinations, and the original track had its mix of unusual ingredients. My only qualm is the rather monotonous choruses in the radio track. (Oddly enough, this isn't the case live.) So when I got my hands on this pella, I tried to hook it up to something else to juice out the melody... The Teddybears' Punkrocker was up to the match, after Iggy gracefully stepped aside. Have a listen!

KRO - Punklover

Leona Lewis Official
The Teddybears Official

Holly Suntado - Saved by Furtado!

2008-04-10T10:37:00.000-07:00

Well, GYBO has finally put up a TV Theme challenge. I say "Finally," because I've waited an eternity to have the opportunity to put together something involving a certain girl group.

Like many others of my generation, we spent a lot of our naive days in front of the TV set with awesome early '90s sitcoms. "Saved by the Bell" was a pleasure to watch for some, in all its radical-ness; these days, I still get my kicks watching it, for purely different reasons. My favorite episode has to be "Jessie's Song," wherein Jessie Spano picks up a caffeine pill addiction while Zack tries to get her, Kelly, and Lisa together to form a girl group, Hot Sundae. Their first and only song, "Go For It," involved a wonderfully choreographed work-out music video. (Can't remember? For shame! This should jog your memory!) Jessie finally breaks down from fatigue,
resulting in quite possibly the best nervous break-down scene in television history. "I'm so excited! I'm so excited! I'm so... scared!" That classic line has become my ringtone. Jessie then leaves Bayside, to pursue a career in Showgirl-ing.

So, I paired up those brilliant ladies with Madame Nelly Furtado's amazingly '80s "Do It" for some retro fun. Hope you enjoy!

KRO: Saved by Furtado!

Nelly Furtado (Official Site)

Veroniclarkhouse - Angry White Girls

2008-02-20T11:10:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Amy Winehouse on her multiple victories at this year's Grammy's! I honestly love the woman, and commend her for everything. "Back to Black" is one of my favorite Amy tracks, as it sounds beautifully morbid - it's an audio equivalent of a funeral directed by Scorsese. I've always wanted to play with the ironic potential of this song... therefore, I had Amy sing over the lovely boy-hating Origliasso sisters of The Veronicas' "Hook Me Up" and teamed her up with resident angry girl Kelly Clarkson's angsty guitars from "Never Again" all into one glob of bouncy bitterness. Ah, I love angry white girls this early in the morning.

KRO - Angry White Girls

(Rapidshare)

Amy Winehouse (Official Site)
Kelly Clarkson (Official Site)
The Veronicas (Official Site)

Aliday - J'en Ai Marre de Broken Dreams

2007-09-17T05:50:00.000-07:00

KRO - J'en Ai Marre de Broken Dreams

Alizee is a singer from France who dances seductively while performing her songs, averting the attention of the audience from anything else and solely to her hips. What better match for her, then, than rock band Green Day, who don't dance seductively while performing their songs? I felt her ode to giving up, "J'en Ai Marre," makes the depressing "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" song from the band sound much happier, which it really shouldn't be, but it sounds so good as a happy song. Plus, you know, seductive dancing. The artwork above is a visual equivalent, because Helnwein's painting is so melancholic that there shouldn't be a sexy French woman in it, but alas there is, thanks to Photoshop.

Green Day - Official Site
Alizee - Official Site
Alizee - Sexy dance to "J'en Ai Marre"

Bejojokast - Southernjojolistic

2007-09-02T01:29:00.001-07:00

KRO - Southernjojolistic

Creating the artwork was the true challenge here. Given that this was the only decent OutKast picture Google Search provided me with, I was pretty uncomfortable sticking 16-year-old Jojo into the bunch. Forgive me if you see this, Jojo's parents. I had the young popstress sing her first hit song "Leave (Get Out)" (which, when I first heard it in 2003, I concluded that this was the deepest, most emotionally aware 13-year-old ever) over OutKast's "Southernplayalisticadillac." To highlight Jojo's anger at her junior high school sweet heart's unfaithfulness, I've thrown in a bit of Beyonce's angsty chant from "Ring the Alarm." While I'm quite content with the mix, I've got to say I'm a bit disturbed by Jojo.

Jojo - Official Site
OutKast - Official Site
Beyonce - Official Site

Goodie Charogue - Love Anthem

2007-08-16T04:08:00.000-07:00

KRO - Love Anthem

I've been told pop-punk band Good Charlotte have changed a lot since their entry into the charts. I wouldn't call myself an avid listener, but I just couldn't spot any difference between any song of theirs I'd heard, or any that separated them from other bands of their genre even. How about this for genre switch! I've put the group's front-man Joel Madden's vocals from their latest tune "Dance Floor Anthem" over Queen of Dance Kylie Minogue's "Love at First Sight." Always had a soft sport for Kyles.

Kylie Minogue - Official site
Good Charlotte - Official site

Amic Claphouse - The World Changes on its Own

2007-07-30T11:37:00.000-07:00

KRO - World Changes on its Own

Amy Winehouse's hair is lovely. Whether it is lovelier than her voice is debatable. However, I'd let her voice take the title because she looks like the type of chick who'd lead me into a dark alley and jab at me with nun-chucks. And that would hurt. I paired up Ms. Wino's beautiful vocal stylings in her single "Tears Dry On Their Own" with Eric Clapton's equally beautiful guitar playing from his "Change the World." Enjoy!

(Aug. 4th, '07: Mix edited with reduced vocal levels.)

Amy Winehouse - Official Site

Eric Clapton - Official Site