JUNE 30, 2009 ICH LIEBE BERLIN! PLUS NEW GIG ADDED TO EURO-STIM TOUR! Okay, sorry, I won't call it that again. With a significant part of my genetic roots apparently coming from the immediate vicinity of Berlin, it's not surprising I felt right at home here: read all about my blissful food-coma inducing brunch experiences over at the Party Blog if you like. Perhaps more importantly, Bootie Berlin and Mash Up Your Bootz were both a lot of fun; many thanks to organizer DJ Morgoth, whose tireless support of the mashup universe is inspiring. Plus a big "danke" to Alex for letting me crash on his floor as well as Dr. Waumiau for playing my stuff on his webcast, Andre Langenfeld for lettimg me do a guest mix on Fritz 102.6, to Steffy for all the entertainment, plus the rest of the Berlin crew and attendees for everything, and of course the various Berliners who tolerated my fumbling German when I was trying to buy sandwiches and stuff.
Now: on to Hungary for the exciting VOLT festival. I'm being met at the grounds by the MTV Hungary crew who have apparently confused me with someone famous. Either way I'm prepping some Hungarian mashuppery and remixxerry that I hope will not get me expelled from the country.
Also, it appears I have added another gig to the tour: Festibaloche in Olargues, in the south of France, on Friday, August 7. They wanted to bring me over last year but it didn't work out, and this year it turns out they already have my pals DJ Moule and Loo & Placido on the schedule, so they asked me to come and hang around and do a little set as well. Both Moule and L&P are super awesome and creative inspirations so it will be great to support them, so I'm stoked Festibaloche squeezed me in. Also, a gig may be in the works on the actual island of Madeira off the coast of Portugal. Stick around for news!
Okay Party Ben's gotta catch a plane. Auf Wiedersehen Berlin!
JUNE 25, 2009 EUROPEAN TOUR BEGINS / EUROPA-TOUR BEGINNT / TOURNEE EUROPEENNE COMMENCE / EURÓPAI TURNÉ KEZDŐDIK / TURÍSTICOS EUROPEUS COMEÇA Anybody know where Europe is? Just kidding, I'm already here! I know it's a little late to be formally announcing a tour when you're already happily ensconced in East Berlin, but the length of the tour meant that some of my later gigs took (er, are still taking) a little while to confirm. Rest assured, though, that residents of Germany, France, Hungary and Portugal will have ample opportunity for Party Ben fun times over the next two months. In choosing a name for the tour, one reminisces about my last jaunt to the Old Country. Was it only 18 months ago that the euro was so dominant over our measley dollar that I named a whole tour after the favorable exchange rate? Well, nowadays, the it's more like I'm doing my part to help kick start the world economy, and thus: theParty Ben European Stimulus Tour 2009. Hey, at least it's better than Frienemy's ideas: "The Mid-Life Try-This Tour" or the "Still Hung Over From the Last Tour Tour."
So, where will I be? Tomorrow (Friday) night, I'll kick off the tour at the debut of Bootie's newest outpost right here in Berlin. The venue, Silver Wings, is in the old Templehof airport, which may be familiar to scholars of World War II, fans of gargantuan architecture, or just old-timers in general, meaning it's a worthwhile outing just for the historical value. Also I may have a guest mix on Berlin radio on Friday night - stay tuned. Saturday night I'll put in a guest set at the long-running Mash Up Your Bootz party at U5 club here in East Berlin. For the rest of the events and most recent updates to my schedule, check the Events page.
If you want to stay on top of my various exploits while I'm here, jump on board with my Facebook or Twitter pages, and maybe I'll even resurrect the old blog over here (although I'm not sure I'll have time). Either way, if you're in the vicinity, I look forward to high-fiving you along the way.
JUNE 19, 2009 RADIO MEGAMIX, NEW YORK FUN TIMES, AND NEW OLD SKOOL TRAXX One tries to stay busy. While most of my time over the last few weeks has been spent deciding which of my hipster vintage T-shirts to bring with me to Europe, I have managed to squeeze in some actual musical stuff as well, because I can multitask. First up, I've got a guest mix heading out this weekend on the airwaves as part of the straightforwardly-named Jules' Dance Show. The program is syndicated on a variety of radio and internet stations in Europe and elsewhere, actually come to think of it one may be airing as we speak. Head over to his homepage or his Facebook page for local broadcast schedules, or stick around on this exciting web site as I'll be offering the mix up for download... soonish.
Also, as part of the Party Ben Mashup Stimulus Tour, technically kicking off next weekend in Europe, I'm doing a benefit gig in New York on Monday evening that's not only for a good cause but also tons of fun. It's the Chashama Pirate Party Pig Roast, which combines many good ideas: supporting the arts, listening to mashup tunez, enjoying a lovely view of Manhattan, snacking on barbecued meats, and dressing up like a pirate. Plus you can take a special Water Taxi over there, since it's at the appropriately named Water Taxi Beach. More details at their web site.
On the actual mashup front, I realized before the recent Academy of Sciences gig that I haven't made any mixes or whatever using older vocals in a while, and I was kind of jonesing for some new versions of classics to pop into my set. So I made some, and now you can download them and judge them for yourself.
Commodores vs. Rolling Stones - "Machine Gun Shelter"
Is this, like, something everybody knows, that the funky instrumental track "Machine Gun" is totally copied directly from "Gimme Shelter"? Because I just figured it out, and illustrated it with the magic of mashups.
Yppah has made one of my favorite samply/psychedelic albums of the year, and while the "Uptight" vocal is way overused in the mashup universe, I couldn't get it out of my head.
Anyway, I have to go back to putting socks in a bag, but everybody in the vicinity of Berlin, Munich, and Cologne, Germany; Sopron and Budapest, Hungary; Paris and La Rochelle, France; and Lisbon and Costa de Caparica, Portugal: get ready for Party Ben fun times. •PERMALINK •
JUNE 1, 2009 NEW ITEM, NEW LONG MIX, PLUS FIRST DATES OF EUROPEAN TOUR ANNOUNCED Now what will I call the darn thing?! Hey, first of all, let's thank everybody in Boston who came out for the gigs at Bootie Boston and Machine, plus thanks to the kids at CBS for having me out again for their upfronts, although I still haven't gotten to meet Neil Patrick.
Anyhoo, to those of you who haven't been following my exploits over on Twitter or Facebook (and if not, what have you been doing with yourself!?) then you might not have heard about my latest longish mix, a bit of an electro-beats-and-pop-vocals thing I put together to celebrate... I dunno... life? Grab that over at the long-neglected Long Mixes page!! And if you want to have stuff sooner, sometimes I put up exclusive links on those twit-face thingies so go add/follow/friend/whatever me.
Plus there's another kind of trancey mix I just made and what the hell, I might as well give it to you:
Coldplay vs. Sebastian Ingrosso - "Laktos Scientist"
I've been hearing "Laktos" around and I was like, "huh, those happy little chords sound familiar." So, slap a vocal and some echo over the top and you got yourself a jam.
And finally, if you go over to the Events page, you'll see that my Summer 2009 European Tour is almost booked up. I'm still waiting for some dates to confirm -- and holding out hope that somebody in the UK might want me to DJ there someday -- but there are some awesome gigs already lined up, including the debut of Bootie Berlin, four nights at the VOLT festival in Hungary, an appearance at the Francofolies festival on the west coast of France, and a return to Bootie Munich. Stay tuned and hopefully I'll have everything finalized by the end of the week. However, with the general worldwide economic collapse, the euro isn't quite as dominant over the dollar as it was on my last European jaunt in 2007, and there just doesn't seem to be a tour name as obvious as "Gettin' Euros." Plus this time I'm getting forints! If anybody has any ideas ("Party Ben's Desperate Last Attempt at Wringing Some Gigs Out of His Rapidly Dwindling Pseudo-Career"?) drop a line and let me know!
MAY 5, 2009 BOSTON FUN TIMES! I get to be the "gonzo"! I keep forgetting to mention a quick jaunt to the east coast coming up later this month. I'll be returning to Boston in two weeks for not one but two, two, two exciting gigs!
First up, I'll be celebrating Bootie Boston's one-year anniversary on Friday 5/22 with local heroes BC, Lenlow, Spencer 4 Hire and the angelic Katie Enlow.
Come on out to their relatively new location Good Life right downtown, for mashuppy goodness. Then, don't forget it's Memorial Day Weekend, meaning the party don't stop til Tuesday, and thus allowing you to come on out to Machine on Sunday 5/24! Machine is pretty much Boston's premier gay nightclub and I'm really looking forward to rocking the dancefloor with some more electro-dancey-style tracks.
Hooray, Boston. It'll be either a wicked pissa of a weekend, or not a pissa at all, depending on what exactly "pissa" means. More info about the gigs over on the Events data page as usual.
APRIL 28, 2009 ...AND EVEN MORE NEW STUFF I just can't stop putting things on top of other things. I've been busy lately putting together a promo mix for an upcoming gig at Machine in Boston; you can't have the mix yet because it's an exclusive, at least for now, but I figure I can give you one of the goofy tracks I came up with while I was assembling the thing. It seems like an obvious enough combo that I'm a bit concerned it's already been done, but exhaustive Googling turned up nothing, so I figure get it out there as soon as possible before anybody else comes up with it.
MSTRKRFT - "Bounce" (Bloody Beetroots remix) vs. Class Action - "Weekend" = "(All I Do Is) Party Time"
I mean, seriously. Both these songs are about the party! And that's my name! It's practically made for me! Actually I'm still not entirely sure about the title; "Bounce Weekend" seemed kind of dumb, and just "Party" seemed anticlamictic. If anybody has any better ideas, drop a line. And if it turns out I'm not the first to think of this, my apologies.
Plus, how weird: three classic disco divas in a row. Could I be any gayer?
APRIL 27, 2009 ...AND MORE NEW STUFF A little something for the hipsters. People ask me (admittedly, with increasing rarity) why I make the mashups I do, and my answer is usually "d) all of the above." Sometimes I'm like, "Man that Lady Gaga song is mega and I need a rework to play out at teh klubz," sometimes a combo comes at me like a, er, bolt of blue (in fact, that old "Bizarre Love Triangle" thing was like that), usually while I'm tootling around on the motorcycle. Other times, perhaps less often, I just really like a song and decide I need to muck around with it, Party Ben style. So, here's one of those.
Bat for Lashes vs. Shawn Christopher / Egostereo -
"Another Sleepless Night Alone"
How great is Bat for Lashes' new album, Two Suns? Maybe I'm a total girl (maybe!) but I really identified, lyrically, with "What's a Girl to Do," and Natasha's really hit the nail on the head again with "Sleep Alone." Sigh. But more than anything, the song's hypnotic rhythm cries out for a trance-y remix. Of course I'm too lazy to go and make my own beats, so I just go looking for something in the same key, and I remember Egostereo's chilly remix of the Shawn Christopher classic "Another Sleepless Night," which turns out to also have a pretty dumbfounding lyrical similarity as well. Bonus! This may not be for everybody but it actually really pleases me, the way it turned out, which happens like never, so that's something.
APRIL 26, 2009 FINALLY, SOME NEW STUFF Or maybe it's too soon, I don't even know. Contrary to popular opinion, I've actually been working on new boots, edits, and remixes, for reals. However, thanks to random factors like Coachella and a whole truckload of freelance work taking precedence, I just haven't had the gumption to get them mastered and make little covers and post them up here for your perusal. But I finally set aside a few hours for Dreamweaver, and here are a couple items to tide you over until I come up with anything better.
The Cars vs. Lady Gaga - "Poker Face (Just What I Needed)"
Click to play: And the award for "laziest mashup title" goes to... Well, damn, you try and think of a better one. "Just What I Poked"? Anyway, I've been wanting to make something out of this classic Cars track for a while, but there's no instrumental, so I kind of had to build one out of sticks and gravel. I don't know if it "adds" any "thing" to the "song" but there it is.
Evelyn "Chapagne" King vs. Kid Cudi - "Shame (At Nite)"
Click to play: And the award for "laziest mashup" goes to... Okay, not like there's anything wrong with the Crookers mix, but sometimes you don't necessarily have a peak-time dancefloor ready for such a banging megajam, right? This doesn't really go anywhere, but it's, you know, pleasant enough.
Coming soon: info about a couple DJ dates in Boston at the end of May, and hopefully, final word on the June/July European tour.
MARCH 27, 2009 SPANISH MYSTERY SOLVED! Now if we could just figure out how they make paella so delicious... The internet, as we know, is a powerful series of tubes. And, again, as we all know, the information trucks that drive in the tubes are most powerful when they carry that most in-demand of digital product: porn. So, say a Spanish site that traffics in what appears to be a mix of erotica and Wacky Internet Stuff decides to link to your rickety little web site where you keep your mashups and DJ dates and stuff. What do you think might happen? Well, you might start suddenly sucking up more internet bandwidth trucks than every other site your hosting company runs, combined. Whoops! Thanks to a bunch of real live Spaniards who dropped me a line after my last post, now we know that's basically what happened. I hesitate to link to the Spanish site in question, since it is so very, very Not Safe For Work, Or Kids, Or Those Of Delicate Sensibilities, but I guess you can look at it if you really want. Sigh. Here you go:
If you don't feel like going there, the site basically just posted a little blurb that said I make a lot of good mixes, so go listen to them. The site is apparently very popular--as e-mailer Ignacio put it, "half of Spain checks it out." I think we know which half. In any event, I'm just glad this wasn't a denial-of-service attack--I was racking my brain to think of who in Spain I might have offended, since Snow Patrol clearly aren't Spanish. The real lesson here is how many orders of magnitude greater the traffic for naughty web sites is than the traffic for dopey mashup web sites, since even a tiny sliver of the former's clicks can cripple the latter. But as we all know, the internet is for porn.
Anyway, hooray Spain! Te amo!
Una caña por favor!
MARCH 27, 2009 WHAT'S UP, SPAIN? / ¿QUE TAL, ESPAÑA? Why don't you like me?/¿Porque no me aman? Okay, I got a more comprehensible customer service guy on the phone, and it turns out that partyben.com is currently experiencing an overwhelming surge of traffic from... Spain. Yes, Spain. My hosting company can't tell if it's a "denial of service" attack or if it's legitimate people just trying to grab the latest hot mashups. If it's the latter, everybody please tranqui, and if it's the former, porque?! What mortal enemies have I made in Spain?! I've never had anything but good things to say about Spain. Siestas! Delicious tapas! Almodovar! What's not to like? So, Spain, if I have offended you in some way, I swear it was unintentional. iLo siento!
MARCH 27, 2009 INTERNET DATA SYSTEMS MALFUNCTIONING Red alert! Party Ben Information Systems appears to be experiencing intermittent outages, supposedly due to bandwidth overload, although the help desk assistant at my web hosting company speaks such terrible English, who knows what he was saying, a magic squirrel attack maybe. In an attempt to calm down these bandwidth-sucking rodents, some mp3s have been moved to external file-sharing sites temporarily, and in the meantime, the site may not function correctly. Our apologies, and thanks for your understanding.
MARCH 18, 2009 SNOW PATROL STILL HATES ME Didn't they get the box of chocolates? I actually feel bad for the boys of Snow Patrol; whether or not my little mashup, "Every Car You Chase," is any good, I'm sure they're sick of hearing about it, and on their national holiday even! Yesterday morning on the Chris Moyles Show on BBC Radio 1, host Mr. Moyles took the opportunity of the band's appearance on his show to ask them about the mashup, and they were, uh, ambivalent at best. I'm not sure which of the two band members present were speaking at each moment, but the conversation went something like this:
MOYLES: You've heard the "Every Car You Chase" mashup of your track and The Police...? GARY AND/OR NATHAN SNOW PATROL: ...Yes. MOYLES: Do you like that? GARY AND/OR NATHAN SNOW PATROL: Uhhhh.... MOYLES: ...Or is it weird for you? GARY AND/OR NATHAN SNOW PATROL: It's weird. NATHAN AND/OR GARY SNOW PATROL: Yeah it's weird. MOYLES: It's great. GARY AND/OR NATHAN SNOW PATROL: (silence) (forced laughter) MOYLES: (Worried, backpedaling) It is good! GARY AND/OR NATHAN SNOW PATROL: ...
Awwwk-ward. Moyles, who has always been a big supporter of mine, went on to tell them a little about me, and then the band mocked my name, which I suppose is fair game when one has (say it with me now) The Dumbest Name In Showbiz (TM), but honestly, guys, really? Is that all you got? Poor Moylesy was reduced to pleading my case, and invited the band round to his house to listsen to it one more time, which is I'm sure the last thing Snow Patrol wants to do in the entire world, but god bless him.
Listen to the whole bit here:
Chris Moyles asks Snow Patrol about "Every Car You Chase," 3/17/09
Of course, as regular readers of this web site will know, this isn't the first time a morning radio host grilled Snow Patrol about a mashup. Back in 2007, Nathan was asked about it by Rick O'Shea on Ireland's 2fm (read all about that here) and Mr. Patrol seemed somewhat bemused, at least, but that was before he'd had to endure 18 months of bombardment of the thing. Compare and contrast:
So, Snow Patrol, I know it's weird, and you're of course free to have whatever opinions you have about the little bootleg. but I'd just like to say two things. A) This is basically at the level of someone making their own little YouTube video with your song in it, one that eventually gets a lot of hits for some random reason. Sure you may find it pedestrian or silly, but I fail to see how it's a threat. And B) especially in comparison to my silly mashups like "Single Ladies (In Mayberry)" and my obviously-mocking mashups like "Boulevard of Broken Songs," "Every Car You Chase," to my mind, is rather respectful, neither bashing the song with a crazy genre-clash nor implying any musical theft--"Chasing Cars" doesn't really sound at all like "Every Breath You Take." I suppose you might read it as some sort of statement of equivalency--Snow Patrol=Sting?--and perhaps you feel insulted by that, but that's not at all how I see it. I just think it sounds pretty. So I guess what I'm saying is, if Dave Wakeling can handle it (love ya Dave!), then why can't you?
Okay, enough of that Party Ben Special Comment. Interestingly enough, the day before, another morning show gave a track of mine a spin: Woody, morning zoo host on my old alma mater LIVE 105, gave in to Menace's demands I guess and played "Live Your Life, Punk." There was a whiff of "whatever happened to..." in their discussion of me but I suppose that's only natural. Whatever did happen to me? I probably succumbed to the temptations of drugs and fame only to find salvation in helping others. Anyway, thanks for that guys, and Menace your check's in the mail.
I've been taking a few weeks off (thanks, bronchitis!) from the DJing, but now there are some fun events coming up around San Francisco where you can see me play tunes. First up, if you like free drinks, you might like this fun event hosted by the fine folks at MetroWize, happening on Tuesday, March 24 at Slide. Me and Miles will be playing tunes and the "hosted bar" (hint, hint) is from 7-10pm, plus it's free to get in if you RSVP over here. So go do that.
Other upcoming fun time shindigs where I'll be putting in an appearance include good old Bootie, Trash Disko, Eye Candy and Strangelove. See more details at right or on the Events page.
And finally, I know you European-type people are getting antsy about the Europe tour (now looking like it'll be late June through most of July) but I haven't gotten final confirmation on a couple of the gigs and I'm still looking to fill in a few dates. Does it look desperate and pathetic to ask anybody who has a club night in the vicinity of Europe that they might want a guest DJ at around that time to get in touch? I hope so.
FEBRUARY 23, 2009 ONE MORE TRACK FROM VIDEO SET; PLUS, MAILBAG TIME! Everybody's favorite segment of the late night talk show in my mind. I used to get e-mails all the time asking for new mashups people heard on the radio and stuff, but that's become more and more rare as I ride down the last little hill on this mini-roller coaster of pseudo-fame. However, after I posted one of the videos from my all-visual-entertainment set at Bootie in January, there was a slew of requests for this mp3, which surprised me, since it was kind of a joke: a riff on A+D's famous "Beethoven's 5th Gold Digger" combined with my earlier Kanye mashup. Plus, I really made it with a video in mind, so I'm not sure it works as audio alone, but hey, who am I to argue with like 7 e-mails!
Justice vs. Kanye West vs. Soulwax vs. Walter Murphy
"Let There Be Love / Beethoven Lockdown"
Right-click to download: 10MB 256kbps mp3
Sorry, system overload! Please follow this link to download this track.
Now, here's the question: is this the actual Soulwax mix of Walter Murphy's disco classic "A Fifth of Beethoven," or is this the Hidden Cat version, which sounds almost exactly the same? And could Hidden Cat be a worse DJ name than Party Ben, finally? Hmm, so many mysteries on the internet!
Speaking of e-mails, now it's time for everybody's favorite new feature here on Party Ben Information Systems: The Party Ben Mailbag!! These are actual e-mails sent in by actual humans and selected by my team of web programmers for their potential appeal to the widest array of internet users. Open up the first one Jim!
moyles want you to come to the radio 1 big weekend ,it would be freeking awesome man! (radio 1 joke),about 3 million people listen to moyles and everyone loves party ben,get your ass over here you will rock.
- Paul, UK
Boy, you Brits sure do spell stuff weird. Anyway, yes, as I've mentioned before, BBC Radio 1's venerable morning man Chris Moyles and his merry crew have been playing the heck out of my mashups for a while, most recently taking a liking to the little Beyonce/Andy Griffith combo. I really appreciate their support, and while I'm fully aware that it's all just a bit of radio comedy, it's been amusing watching Brit fans take over my Facebook page. Now, Mr. Moyles has started talking about using his morning show powers to force the BBC gods to bring me over to do a DJ set at the Radio 1 Big Weekend, a huge concert the station puts on every year. Well, first of all I'd like to point out that generally they book, you know, bands and DJs who are, like, famous and stuff. Of course, it would be cool (and thanks for the messages of support), but no actual invite has been tendered, and honestly, don't you think a crowd of 100,000 hip British kids would just throw vegetables and stuff at me? Or whatever they eat in place of vegetables over there? Well, if the Beeb (the Beeb!) comes to me with an offer, I'll be sure to announce it here. £1 is like $47, right?
Hi there! First of all, I would like to say that I'm a huge fan of your work. You probably get thousands of these, but you also probably enjoy some compliment, so no harm done. . . Secondly, please take 1 minute of your time to watch this ...
- Zé Tiago, Portugal
Thousands? More like, um, thousandths. Anyway, yes, that is really awesome. I've added it as a "Favorite" on my YouTube page, which now features not only videos I myself have produced to accompany my audio novelties, but also the work of other video editors from around the world. If you see a great video to a Party Ben jam, send it over.
Hey there, I don't know if you have had it explained why so many Kiwi's are checking your website out or not. But if you haven't its because Russell Brown mentioned you on his blog, which is one of the most popular blogs in the country. The exact post is here - Alright, well I hope that helps.
- Ben, New Zealander living in the Netherlands
Yes, I had asked about an unexplained uptick in my New Zealand web hits, but I've totally forgotten about that now. But, awesome name!
Hi just interested to know how much you charge for an evenings work.
- Annette, UK
Private dance: $1.50. Private breakdance: $2.50. Clean your kitchen dressed up like Wolverine: $3.75. Clean your kitchen dressed up like Chris Moyles: $4.75. Act as escort to VIP event, provide witty conversation, enjoy fancy cocktails and snacks, return to your home and provide hours of sexual pleasure, sleep soundly while holding you tightly in my arms, awaken to coffee, muesli and the newspaper: I'll pay you whatever you want.
Thanks for reading the Party Ben Mailbag! To have your own personal conversation with Party Ben or an authorized Party Ben Information Systems representative, direct your computer to send a message to partyben@yahoo.com or enjoy the comforting anonymity of the contact page. It's real!
FEBRUARY 12, 2009 I TOLD YOU "SINGLE LADIES (IN MAYBERRY)" WAS LIKE A FART JOKE! Finally, critics who really understand me! When I first posted my Andy Griffith/Beyonce combo back in November of '08, I admitted to some embarrassment about its chuckle-worthy novelty, since, as I put it, the mashup "appeals to the fart joke center of the brain." Well, apparently PopTub took that seriously, which I guess I deserve. PopTub is a weird thing I don't entirely understand: it seems to be a YouTube channel that posts videos talking about other YouTube videos, and it's sponsored by Pepsi. Well, whatever it is, they featured "Single Ladies (In Mayberry)" today, and sandwiched the clip between--you guessed it!--a feature on fart noises. So we got, like, "fart fart fart," then "all the single ladies (whistle whistle)," then "fart fart fart." And yes, it feels right at home! Watch and enjoy below.
FEBRUARY 4, 2009 TRICKLE OF MP3S CONTINUES I admit it's not the mighty stream it was when I was younger. Here's the second mp3 of a track from my all-video set at Bootie back on 1/24. You've already seen the video, now enjoy the audio without the video.
Vampire Weekend vs. T.I. & Rihanna - "Live Your Life Punk"
Click to play: Mostly this little number is thanks to Kristi, who wasn't that into Vampire Weekend until I told her to get the album, in my defense, but then when I was planning the set and fretting about not having any hipster tunes she said hey, what about that Vampire Weekend band, and I was like, ah, yes, okay. I keep thinking I should do like a 7-minute jump-up jungle version of this, but I guess I'll add that to the to-do list.
Okay, so enjoy that. Mailbag excitement coming this week as well, plus, it looks like June-July European Tour is on. Have an awesome club night that could benefit from Party Ben's ridonkulous DJ antics? Get in touch with my agent.
JANUARY 29, 2009 MP3S OF NEW TRACKS TRICKLING DOWN TO YOU It's mashup Reaganomics! You'd think that posting mp3s of some of the new tracks I debuted on Saturday at my all-video set at Bootie would be easy, since I, like, already made them, and stuff. But that just shows how little you know! Or, um, how normal your brains are, since my brain won't leave well enough alone. I've been tweaking and remastering these little items all week, and so, to maximize their impact (ha!) I figured I'd dole them out one by one. First up, it's the latest "remix" of "Boulevard of Broken Songs" (the original of which you can find over on the Music page). Tell us more about it Jim.
Kanye West vs. Green Day vs. Oasis - "Boulevard of Flashing Lights"
Click to play: I hope people understand that there's a bit of self-mockery going on here, in the sense that it's amusing to me that one would take one's "hit" and then beat it to death with cheesy remixes, in, as I've said before, as good a sign as any of being on the back side of one's career arc. Did I just take away the funny by over-explaining it? Damn, that happens to me a lot. Anyhoo, isn't that Kanye song awesome? Isn't Kanye awesome? I seem to be mucking about with that guy's stuff a lot lately, but I promise I've totally liked him since a way long time ago.
More coming next week, along with another exciting edition of the Party Ben Mailbag. Oh, and PS, anybody around the vicinity of Europe interested in seeing Party Ben play tunes and/or videos this summer?
JANUARY 26, 2009 PARTY BEN VIDEO SHOW SUCCESSFULLY REINVIGORATES
U.S. ECONOMY Your tax dollars at work. Okay, to be honest, I have no actual evidence that the overwhelming attendance (final numbers still being worked out) at Saturday night's Bootie shindig had anything to do with me or my video show; in fact, for all I know, they were there to see Adrian's butt crack. But for whatever reason, oodles of people showed up (pictures here and here) and I did my best to entertain them with my goofy videos and stuff. I'd posted a teaser for the show over on my Facebook page but mostly I kept the show a well-guarded secret. But now all (or at least some) can be revealed! Below, a selection of some of the new items the crowd witnessed on Saturday night.
Vampire Weekend vs. T.I. & Rihanna - "Live Your Life, Punk"
This is what happens when you put together a set that features an excess of cheesy goodness like "Punk Up the Jam" and "Jump Around": you feel like you have to cleanse yourself with something Pitchfork-approved.
Justice vs. Kanye West - "Let There Be Love" / Soulwax vs. Kanye West - "Beethoven Lockdown"
Then there's this silly thing: I don't usually like the stuff I make after I make it, but I have to admit I'm a big fan of my Justice/Kanye combo. Unfortunately it never seems to work when I play it out, so I made a special version for Bootie that gets the Justice part out of the way, then tips its hat to A+D's now-classic "Beethoven's Fifth' Gold Digger," which is something I always like to do (see Decepta-taffy).
Kanye West vs. Green Day vs. Oasis - "Boulevard of Flashing Lights"
So much Kanye! But this time it's the music not the lyrics, and it's for another remix of my "hit." Because when you're on the back side of your career arc, that's what you do.
Mp3s (and cutesy covers) coming soon, I promise. Anyway, thanks to Devon for the indispensable assistance, as well as A+D for letting me do all this, Kristi for sewing those screens and then loaning me her iron to get the wrinkles out, and of course thanks to everybody who came out.
JANUARY 22, 2009 HELLO, CHRIS MOYLES FANS, POPWATCH READERS, NEW ZEALANDERS: HERE IS THE MASHUP YOU REQUESTED Sexy people tip. My latest novelty mashup confection, "Single Ladies (In Mayberry)," continues to get some welcome publicity, although I'm starting to get a bit concerned about the technological abilities of the English. First up, BBC Radio 1 morning host Chris Moyles is rapidly becoming my biggest promoter, as the show played an excerpt of "Mayberry" Wednesday morning in between discussing our new President. They gently mocked me for always posting clips of the show when they talk up my tracks, but jeez, do they really think there's anything more interesting for me to talk about? "Today I made oatmeal." They cheekily suggested I put an "Approved by Chris Moyles" sticker on the Party Ben van, but unfortunately that's in the shop, so I'll just stick one up right here, why don't I.
Unfortunately, after the airing, I was immediately subjected to a barrage of e-mails from the UK, demanding to know where they could download the track. Ever heard of scrolling down, limeys? Kidding, I kid because I love. Okay, to make it up to you I'll post it again, right here, to make it simple.
Beyonce vs. the Andy Griffith Theme - "Single Ladies (In Mayberry)"
Anyway, thanks again Mr. Moyles and crew, and how does it feel to be jealous of our awesome leader? Take that, Prime Minister Whosit. (Edit: Whoops, just saw this. Watch your mouth Moylesy, not all of us gay dudes wear dresses... although I guess I did just say "limeys" didn't I.)
"Single Ladies (In Mayberry)" also got some love from the Entertainment Weekly PopWatch blog today, which is kind of ironic since I totally steal story ideas from them for the Mother Jones all the time. With links, I promise.
Finally, I have a bit of a mystery I need some help in clearing up. Google Trends is showing that a vast majority of the interweb searches for "Party Ben" are coming from New Zealand, and I have no idea why. Am I on some Auckland radio station in between ads for Lord of the Rings? Did Flight of the Conchords cover one of my tracks? What's the deal? Any Kiwis with internet access and an ability to type, please respond!
Oh, and a couple people were like, "Why did you talk about and offer a cover for 'We Will Jump You' and then not post a link?" Duh, because of the brain not work good!
Queen vs. House of Pain vs. Go Home Productions -
"We Will Jump You"
Download: 3MB 128kbps mp3
Whew. Now it's back to making videos for my set this Saturday at Bootie which I hope to see every one of you out at, even if it requires an expensive international flight.
JANUARY 18, 2009 MAXIMUM PC GIVES AWAY MASHUP SECRETS; PLUS EXCLUSIVE VIDEO TO ENTICE YOU TO GO TO BOOTIE Or just be my Facebook fan. I don't know how they knew that, er, I'm a self-hating PC (saddled with Windows since my many years at all-PC LIVE 105) but computer mag Maximum PC has offered my goofy tracks up as an example of "inspiration" in an article on creating your own mashups in their February 2009 issue. (Thanks Shawn who e-mailed me and let me know). They apparently like Version 2 better than Version 1 of good old "Boulevard" (Eminem is so 2005, I guess), and get a "smile" from "Single Ladies (In Mayberry)," which is nice. Plus they put me in a box with Go Home Productions and DJ Zebra, my inspiration and my French, er, maison-garcon, respectively, which is also nice. What's more nicerer is that their article will hopefully provide a helpful alternative for people who e-mail me all the time asking how I make these silly bootlegs and aren't satisfied with my brief explanation on the Info page. Finally, some peace and quiet!
But really, audio-only mashups are so, like, 2007. So if you've found that my DJ sets at our local bootleg haven Bootie have been entertaining for your ears but rather dull on the eyes (I don't jump around very much), why not come out this Saturday January 24 for my 3rd annual headline set at our little club, which for the second year will be a live video set. Which means: stuff to look at! I'll of course be featuring some oldies but goodies as well as some brand new tracks, plus some oldies but goodies made (hopefully) more enjoyable by mucking about with them in a remix style. I'm still in the midst of creating new tracks and corresponding videos, but I've finished one entertaining little item, a remix of "Boulevard of Broken Songs" using Kanye West's hypnotic "Flashing Lights." DJ Earworm tipped me off to Facbook's higher-quality video system, so if you want to watch it, go over to my Facebook page. I won't make you promise to come out on Saturday, but you can at least be my Facebook fan or whatever.
Kanye West vs. Green Day vs. Oasis - "Boulevard of Flashing Lights"
Video at Facebook
JANUARY 7, 2009 HELLO, BOING BOING; PLUS, WHAT'S IN THE PARTY BEN MAILBAG?! Other than the West Elm catalog. Well, the first week of 2009 is already going way better than the last week of 2008, if by "better" one means "more attention from the interblogs." And what else could one mean? Noted online compendium of items of interest Boing Boing has covered the annual release of the "Best of Bootie" for the last couple years, but this year, mashup correspondent Cory Doctorow decided to focus entirely on my "gloriously stupid" novelty track, "Single Ladies (In Mayberry)." Thanks Mr. Boing! I would of course like to point out that there are quite a few other tracks featured on this year's compilation (put together by Adrian & Mysterious D) which are a tad more serious and more deserving of one's attention, so please go check them out. I was just telling DJ BC today that I'm like the William Shatner of mashups, in the late-career everyone-thinks-I'm-a-joke-so-I-might-as-well-be-in-on-it phase, but hey, it's nice to be invited to the parties.
So, Boingers, if you're looking for the mp3 and you're all confused, here it is again along with the video.
Beyonce vs. the Andy Griffith Theme - "Single Ladies (In Mayberry)"
Anyway, now it's time for a new segment here on Party Ben Information Systems we can't decide whether to call "Party Ben Post Office" or "Party Ben's Mashup Mailbag" or "Dear Strongbad." Suffice it to say that we receive a variety of fascinating correspondence here at PBIS HQ, and we thought it might make everyone's life a little easier if we answered some of the letters right here. Who's first Jim?
Hey, i love all your remix,a nd have every single sixx mixx in mp3 form on my computer (some nice person put up a torrent of them awhile back). I've shown your mix's too a lot of people up here in canada, and almost all of us enjoy them. I was wondering, in the star wars mixx, there's the mash-up "Elastica vs. Sean Paul "Temperature Connection"" I can't seem to find the seperate song for that one. It's in the big long mixx, but do you have it seperated from the rest? I just want that one song to listen too by itself sometimes, without having to find it in the big mixx.
- canadasurferboy@****.com
Thanks for the props (and for spelling "mixx" correctly) but honestly, I already knew that almost all of Canada enjoys me. Thankfully, unlike many Americans, I find your flappy heads and beady little eyes amusing, not disturbing or terrifying. As regards the specific mashup you speak of, oh yeah, that was a fun little dittie, wasn't it, and I totally forgot to put that out. Here you go:
Later, A+D did a superior (and hipper) Elastica-mashing track with The Gossip, but I got there first, by gum.
I was wondering if it was possible to purchase a Party Ben logo t-shirt. My friend is a huge fan and his name just happens to be Ben. - Gina, St. Cloud State
Not a bad idea, but unfortunately, Party Ben Information Systems has never been very good at monetizing our notoriety. If you're wondering, we continue to operate by siphoning off donations from the SPCA next door and then investing them in an elaborate Ponzi scheme. I know Frienemymade some awesome Party Ben buttons and was handing them out at the Bootie New Year extravaganza, so maybe if we're real nice to him he'll make a CafePress page for us?
your mash ups are hella sick!!! so, i've been looking for novocaine rhapsody for a really long time, and aaron axelson of live105 directed me to your link. but, i can't find it on your website. do you have a copy of the mp3 somewhere?
- cookiebongster@****.com
i search a website with booties single tracks or albums.have you a tip? - bide@****.com
No, no I don't.
Dude, I love your stuff! I made this cover for my Zune of We Will Jump You and I just wanted to send it to you as a way of paying my respects to you and your work. I check your site constantly for new stuff and you never disappoint. Well, rarely at least. Just playing. - Some Guy Named Jeremy
Thanks, Some Guy! I didn't ever make a cover for that one, did I. Yours'll do just fine, although I have to say I wish you'd have put my name over Freddie Mercury so it looked like I was him. Sigh. If only I were Freddie Mercury. He really seemed to relish in the love and adoration from the crowd which is something I totally admire and envy. Anyway, anyone who wants to have a cover for their Zunes (!!!), you can click on the picture at left for a larger version.
This has been fun. If you have a question for Party Ben Information Systems, please drop a line to partyben@yahoo.com, 3000 W Alameda Avenue, Burbank California. No wait, just the e-mail will work. Or go over to the contact page if you're even lazier.
JANUARY 3, 2009 HAPPY NEW YEAR: BEST OF 2008 POSTED; WAY OVERDUE MASHUP ALSO POSTED Somebody's got to keep track of the past. Welcome to 2009 everybody! Actually, I shouldn't say "welcome" since clearly I'm about 6 months behind the rest of the world. First of all, while some of you may have already seen my top 20 albums and singles on The Riff back in mid-December, I've continued with my tradition of posting the "full" lists over on my Top 10s page, where you can also see my "Best Ofs" going all the way back to '97. It's reassuring to know I've been a total nerd for at least 12 years, isn't it?
Also, I made something new this week, although "new" is kind of a misnomer, since the source material is already super-duper-passe. And the last thing the world needs is another Reckoner mix, since there are already 10,000 of those over here. But that's the way I work, dammit: redundant and late.
Justin Timberlake vs. Radiohead - "(All I Want You to Do is Be) My Reckoner"
Original mix:
Right-click to download! 7MB 256kbps mp3
Click to play:
Remix:
Right-click to download! 12MB 256kbps mp3
Click to play:
So I hear "My Love" out and about, and I realize, "holy crap, this is Reckoner, complete with falsetto croonery." Then I waste a few days putting it together, and then I realize the Oakenfold mix is actually really good and deserves its own version. Fun.
Finally, thanks to those who made it out to the Bootie New Year's Eve extravaganza. Unfortunately there was a bit of a fire marshall incident that prevented a few people from getting in; we of course apologize for the trouble, although it's really the fault of Mr. Fire Pants who apparently didn't get his "donation" so he had to hassle us. Whatever. If you didn't brave the crowds on New Year's Eve, please come out and see me doing my 3rd annual DNA Lounge headline set at Bootie, coming up on January 24. At this point I don't have a silly theme (like, um, Star Wars or robots or anything) but I'll definitely be doing another exciting all-video set. So bring your eyeballs!
MON JUN 22 CHASHAMA PIRATE PARTY AND PIG ROAST! Support the arts in New York at the annual chashama shindig with snacks, drinks, pirate silliness and the DJ stylings of me.
WATER TAXI BEACH
2 Borden Ave, Long Island City
Take the Special New York Water Taxi service directly to the venue! 6pm-10pm / All Ages / $20/$30
FRI JUN 26 BOOTIE BERLIN THE DEBUT OF BOOTIE'S NEWEST OUTPOST With Morgoth and Dr. Waimau, plus a midnight mashup show
SILVER WINGS
Flughafen Tempelhof
U Platz d. Luftbrücke
Columbiadamm 8
BERLIN
Hungary's biggest summer music festival! Featuring Marylin Manson, Franz Ferdinand, Earth Wind & Fire, Laurent Garnier, Ladytron, Freestylers, and a zillion more bands and DJs.
INFO
Okay, sorry, I won't call it that again. With a significant part of my genetic roots apparently coming from the immediate vicinity of Berlin, it's not surprising I felt right at home here: read all about my blissful food-coma inducing brunch experiences over at 
tolerated my fumbling German when I was trying to buy sandwiches and stuff. 
Also, it appears I have added another gig to the tour: 
One tries to stay busy. While most of my time over the last few weeks has been spent deciding which of my hipster vintage T-shirts to bring with me to Europe, I have managed to squeeze in some actual musical stuff as well, because I can multitask. First up, I've got a guest mix heading out this weekend on the airwaves as part of the straightforwardly-named
Also, as part of the 
And finally, if you go over to 
BOSTON FUN TIMES!
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SPANISH MYSTERY SOLVED!
WHAT'S UP, SPAIN? / ¿QUE TAL, ESPAÑA?
Red alert! Party Ben Information Systems appears to be experiencing intermittent outages, supposedly due to bandwidth overload, although the help desk assistant at my web hosting company speaks such terrible English, who knows what he was saying, a magic squirrel attack maybe. In an attempt to calm down these bandwidth-sucking rodents, some mp3s have been moved to external file-sharing sites temporarily, and in the meantime, the site may not function correctly. Our apologies, and thanks for your understanding.
Didn't they get the box of chocolates? I actually feel bad for the boys of Snow Patrol; whether or not my little mashup, "Every Car You Chase," is any good, I'm sure they're sick of hearing about it, and on their national holiday even! Yesterday morning on the 
Awwwk-ward. Moyles, who has always been a big supporter of mine, went on to tell them a little about me, and then the band mocked my name, which I suppose is fair game when one has (say it with me now) The Dumbest Name In Showbiz (TM), but honestly, guys, really? Is that all you got? Poor Moylesy was reduced to pleading my case, and invited the band round to his house to listsen to it one more time, which is I'm sure the last thing Snow Patrol wants to do in the entire world, but god bless him. 
So, Snow Patrol, I know it's weird, and you're of course free to have whatever opinions you have about the little bootleg. but I'd just like to say two things. A) This is basically at the level of someone making their own little YouTube video with your song in it, one that eventually gets a lot of hits for some random reason. Sure you may find it pedestrian or silly, but I fail to see how it's a threat. And B) especially in comparison to my silly mashups like "Single Ladies (In Mayberry)" and my obviously-mocking mashups like "Boulevard of Broken Songs," "Every Car You Chase," to my mind, is rather respectful, neither bashing the song with a crazy genre-clash nor implying any musical theft--"Chasing Cars" doesn't really sound at all like "Every Breath You Take." I suppose you might read it as some sort of statement of equivalency--Snow Patrol=Sting?--and perhaps you feel insulted by that, but that's not at all how I see it. I just think it sounds pretty. So I guess what I'm saying is, if 
Okay, enough of that Party Ben Special Comment. Interestingly enough, the day before, another morning show gave a track of mine a spin: Woody, morning zoo host on my old alma mater LIVE 105, gave in to Menace's demands I guess and played "Live Your Life, Punk." There was a whiff of "whatever happened to..." in their discussion of me but I suppose that's only natural. Whatever did happen to me? I probably succumbed to the temptations of drugs and fame only to find salvation in helping others. Anyway, thanks for that guys, and Menace your check's in the mail. 
I've been taking a few weeks off (thanks, bronchitis!) from the DJing, but now there are some fun events coming up around San Francisco where you can see me play tunes. First up, if you like 
Speaking of e-mails, now it's time for everybody's favorite new feature here on Party Ben Information Systems: The Party Ben Mailbag!! These are actual e-mails sent in by actual humans and selected by my team of web programmers for their potential appeal to the widest array of internet users. Open up the first one Jim!
Boy, you Brits sure do spell stuff weird. Anyway, yes, as I've mentioned before, BBC Radio 1's venerable morning man Chris Moyles and his merry crew have been playing the heck out of my mashups for a while, most recently taking a liking to the little Beyonce/Andy Griffith combo. I really appreciate their support, and while I'm fully aware that it's all just a bit of radio comedy, it's been amusing watching Brit fans take over 
Hi there! First of all, I would like to say that I'm a huge fan of your work. You probably get thousands of these, but you also probably enjoy some compliment, so no harm done. . . Secondly, please take 1 minute of your time to 
Hey there, I don't know if you have had it explained why so many Kiwi's are checking your website out or not. But if you haven't its because Russell Brown mentioned you on his blog, which is one of the most popular blogs in the country. The exact post is 
Your tax dollars at work. Okay, to be honest, I have no actual evidence that the overwhelming attendance (final numbers still being worked out) at Saturday night's Bootie shindig had anything to do with me or my video show; in fact, for all I know, they were there to see 
Beyonce vs. the Andy Griffith Theme - "Single Ladies (In Mayberry)"
Or just be my Facebook fan. I don't know how they knew that, er, I'm a self-hating PC (saddled with Windows since my many years at all-PC LIVE 105) 
but computer mag Maximum PC has offered my goofy tracks up as an example of "inspiration" in 
Other than the West Elm catalog. Well, the first week of 2009 is already going way better than the last week of 2008, if by "better" one means "more attention from the interblogs." And what else could one mean? Noted online compendium of items of interest 
Anyway, now it's time for a new segment here on Party Ben Information Systems we can't decide whether to call "Party Ben Post Office" or "Party Ben's Mashup Mailbag" or "Dear Strongbad." Suffice it to say that we receive a variety of fascinating correspondence here at PBIS HQ, and we thought it might make everyone's life a little easier if we answered some of the letters right here. Who's first Jim?
Elastica vs. Sean Paul - "Temperature Connection" 
Justin Timberlake vs. Radiohead - "(All I Want You to Do is Be) My Reckoner" 
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