Mashed In Plastic: The David Lynch Mash-up Album

It's finally here. After several months of hard work and international collaboration, today finally sees the release of Mashed In Plastic: The David Lynch Mash-up Album.

I love the films of David Lynch. The man is an auteur. On first viewing, his films can seem empty, confusing, intangible...it is only when one looks deeper you release the simplicity of the message he tries to deliver - good vs. evil.

Containing a variety of grotesques mixed with the innocent and angelic, he has created some of the most startling and iconic imagery ever seen in recent times on celluloid (or indeed digital media). A hideously deformed mutant baby being serenaded by a fat cheeked girl inside a radiator; a man tragically mis-formed on the outside and yet so perfect on the inside; an ex-Police man with blue eyes riding giant paprika worms in the desert; a gas-breathing sexual psychopath who's every sentence includes the word fuck and has a penchant for vintage love songs and an irrational fear of Heineken; an insane bank robber with bad teeth (and a decent performance out of the irritatingly wooden Nicholas Cage) who ultimately loses his head on so many levels; a murdered girl floating down a river wrapped in heavy duty plastic and a backwards/forwards speaking dwarf with a peculiar love of jazz, rings and creamed corn; a schizophrenic jazz musician living out his own ideal world in the same world in which he murdered whilst a mystery man in black displays bi-location and films on his handheld camera; an old man driving across America on a tractor encountering cyclists and deer; an aspiring actress again lives out her memories/fantasies in an idealised world full of shady film corporates who are particular about their coffess, cowboys, paint covered directors, pendulous breasted hotties and a verging-on-the-shady porno cinema of the 70s vibe music club where everything is played back on tape; and suffocating rubber clown suits. Unforgettable stuff.

But whilst the visuals are incredible, an often overlooked aspect of Lynch's movie-making excellence is his choice of music and sound. Frequent collaborator, and part-time Lynch regular actor, is Angelo Badalamenti - the Italian-American composer who gave us the haunting scores to Twin Peaks, a scorchingly dark soundtrack to Blue Velvet and a suitably Hollywood-esque atmospheric piece for Mulholland Drive. Other contributors included luminaries of the rock scene such as David Bowie, Trent Reznor, and Rammstein. And then there is his love of all things nostaligic from the 50s and 60s, pop songs, jazz, etc.

It is this music that drives this album.

Beginning life on the 21st July, it all began by accident. I'd just posted a mash I'd created named Twin Hearts which I made as a result of stumbling across a collection of Badalamenti soundtracks. The slinkyness of the Man From Another Place's jazz theme with Kylie cooing over the top was enticing enough to get me some great feedback over on GYBO, and various awards on other mash producers sites. I was chuffed I'd managed to receive a virtually universal approval from people I considered to be my peers, but never expected what came next. GYBO posting legend Linus, aka Alan Black started a correspondence between he, myself and The Reborn Identity aka Gavin Burrell, another producer I had long admired and who had been more than kind on some of my previous tracks. Alan suggested, he would like to hear more Lynch-based tracks, if not an album's worth, such was his passion for all things Lynchian. It turned out that Gav was a Lynch-nut too. Whilst never sure if it were possible to create a whole album of material ourselves, it was something that excited us. We threw out a call on GYBO to see if there were any other Lynch-obsessed producers who would like to join us. I never expected any response but the response we received was incredible.

The person who showed the most enthusiasm was Wax Audio, aka Tom. Now some of you may have heard me talk before of my love for all things Wax Audio. The guy is a production genius, producing many memorable George Bush based tracks and an incredible fusion of two of my favourite local bands - Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. To have a producer of this calibre on board for me personally was a huge creative incentive, and drove me on to find as many musical combinations as I could.

Other high quality producers came forwards with contributions - the incredible G3RSt (my pre-nom for masher of the year '08), french superstar ToToM (creator of fantastically one off acapellas), GYBO superstars Voicedude and RIAA who have produced some of the most consistently good tracks of the last 3 years, personal faves and masters of insane fun and bass The Who Boys, budding new superstar and thoroughly top chap Neiltomo (one to watch!) and recovering melancholic, the one and only Phil RetroSpector. We had ourselves a genuine prospect of actually getting this album made. Scary

And so make this album we did. Gav acted as Director, co-ordinating people across 3 continents to gather and quality check, all the while making his own incredible contributions, making incredible videos for as many of the contributions as possible AND (AND!!!!) beginning to fashion and build the website. The man cannot sleep, surely? Alan became more and more excited at the way things were progressing and so since this was his own idea, why not include him in some form or other, and so he became the writer for the website, a pure stroke of genius on our part since he is indeed a script writer in Southern California! Writing beautiful, witty and intelligent track notes, Alan gave credibility to the creative ideas behind this album. He also wrote all other text that appears on the website, and was invaluable in troubleshooting the website and maintaining the high quality of pretty much everything. He also emails as much as he posts on GYBO and has kept me smiling for the last 3 months or so. God bless you sir!

And another stroke of fortune/genius on our part was to designate Tom as our sound producer. Not only did Tom want to contribute tracks, he also became the audio genius who took all submissions and mastered them in to something beautiful. He took all submissions and was at times, brutally honest on what worked and what didn't, but in his honesty maintained a quality that I believe would make this album worthy of a proper studio release. He also took the spirit of Lynch than oozes throughout the album and made it transcend the normal bog-standard compilation release by creating several segues and transitions between tracks to create a truly cinematic experience. People, this IS David Lynch.

And myself? I made a couple of little tracks and most of the artwork on the site. And sent constantly irrelevant emails at 3 or 4am. Not a very big contribution.

And so, a labour of love is now complete. Gav, Tom, Alan and I have now become known collectively as 1086 Productions - with a view to maybe working together again in the future (maybe months, years, maybe never, but either way its been a gas guys). We have an incredible website, we have incredible music and incredible video. We have something I believe David Lynch himself would enjoy. And I now have some incredible friends around the world. Everyone's a winner.

TRACKLISTINGS:-






1. The Voice of Love is Crying - [Colatron]
2. Blue Rigby - [Wax Audio]
3. Twin Hearts - [Colatron]
4. Heaven's Drive-In - [Phil RetroSpector]
5. Tori's Deranged - [Wax Audio]
6. Something Stupid This Way Comes - [G3RSt]
7. I'll Be There in Twin Peaks - [Colatron]
8. The Pink Jack - [Wax Audio]
9. Lauren's Opus - [The Reborn Identity]
10. Frank's Here - [The Who Boys]
11. The Elephant Connection - [The Reborn Identity]
12. I've Told Every Little Pumpkin - [ToToM]
13. Violent at Heart - [The Reborn Identity]
14. Don't Go All Wicked on Me - [Neiltomo]
15. Eraserhead Serenade - [RIAA]
16. Velvet Dreams - [Voicedude]
17. In My Twin Life - [Phil RetroSpector]
18. This is David Lynch - [Neiltomo]

The full breakdown of each track is available on the website. As mentioned, we also have videos for several of the tracks, the 'Cabinet of Curiosities' containing bonus tracks, wallpapers, extra artwork etc. On the About section of the website, learn more about the creators of this project, including a Q+A that borders on the surreal.

The album is available in two flavours, either as a full length mix in 2 parts - our recommended form of download, enabling the music to be heard in its intended form with full transitions - or as a single tracks in a collected ZIP file.

All material can be found over at

http://www.mashedinplastic.co.uk/

Please do take the time to look around the whole of the website as this is so much more than a download site, and if possible, please do leave a comment on the guestbook page. Please also take the time to visit the respective creators' websites, available from the links on the left side of my site.

I'd like to take the opportunity now to thank all people who submitted to this project, whether included in the final cut or not - you all helped this get off the ground and you made several Lynch geeks very happy with your interpretations of the music and themes. Special thanks to Phil for doing a heck of a job, not only with his inspired music, but his inspired promotion of the website here there and everywhere.

Big thanks also Scott Johnson as always at Ramdom Thoughts podcast for being kind enough to play a couple of the tracks as exclusives and keep the buzz going. And thanks to Virtual DJ too, for getting the word and several glossy flyers handed out to the beautiful people at the MTV EMAs the other week. You're the man!

Finally, a huge group hug goes out to Gav, Tom and Alan - great friends, great minds, great times hopefully to be continued for a long time to come. My 1086 tattoo is in planning as we speak :D

Dedicated to my beautiful friend Angel, for having the belief in my tunes and giving the encouragement needed to keep doing this stuff. And for listening to Brooklyn Sweet Freakphony every single day. Love ya honeybee

At last, it's gonna feel good getting back to the 'normal' world of mash-up.....watch this space....

7 Days...

...can feel like an eternity

http://www.mashedinplastic.co.uk

16th November 2008

The good Andy is trapped in the Lodge...

... and with the forthcoming release of the Mashed In Plastic album, he doesn't want to come out. The music is all too beautiful.

On release November 16th 2008, head over to

http://www.mashedinplastic.co.uk/

and bookmark it. There's a couple of hidden videos there already that'll give you a taste of what's to come. It's a sign of the times.

Featuring the talents of superstar mash-up producers, Wax Audio, The Who Boys, ToTom, G3RSt, The Reborn Identity, Phil Retrospector, Neiltomo, RIAA, Voicedude and yep, me - Colatron, I personally guarantee you've never heard anything quite like this.

And for a further taster of the Lynchian delights contained within, head over to me good buddy Scott's podcast, Ramdom Thoughts and listen to show #125. We've 3 preview tracks on there. A big thanks to Scott for playing these out along with the promo.

http://www.ramdomthoughts.co.uk/

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast too - as you've heard me say before, it really is a top show.

Don't take the ring Andy....don't take the ring.

Introduction...the name, David Lynch

Audio:- Colatron
Video:- The Reborn Identity (http://www.rebornidentity.com)

www.mashedinplastic.co.uk

Coming mid-November...

I'll Be There...

Endless Avenues

It's official...I'm all Lynched-out! All my submissions have been made, there's only the artwork left to finish for the website, and so at last I can get back to reality (kind of...). More details will be released over the next few weeks, but provisionally we're working to a release date mid-November. It's going to be a doozie.

In the meantime, I can concentrate back on my normal mashes. And here's the first of the next batch. I've haven't done a ballad mash before, so fingers crossed, this one will tug at the heartstrings.

This was a weird one in that I made about 20 seconds of this track, before heading off to do the artwork. You should never do artwork before you've finished a track, as I've found out to my cost a couple of times now. Sometimes those tracks just don't come together and before you know it, you've wasted an evening on Photoshop.

Still, this one didn't give me too much trouble in the end, and came together in the course of a couple of hours so I struck it lucky on this one.

Welsh siren, Duffy seems to be everywhere at the moment, and fair do's to her, she sure does have a certain retro-appeal that I find irresistable. So imagine my joy when I came across this instrumental of her very whistle-able track, Warwick Avenue. A tale of heartbreak and deceipt, who can fail to be moved by her tears in the video that accompanies it?

On the flip side, you have the sickly sweet musings of Messrs Richie and Ross. This material should carry a health warning, so sweet it's trappings, dental practictioners worldwide must fear its effects of making teeth drop out!

But lo! Put the two tracks together with some of Duffy's ascerbic lyrics, and all of a sudden, Richie and Ross take on a whole new sinister context. Yes, if you listen to the two sets of lyrics put together, we have a whole new story of how Richie and Duffy were together in love, and Ms. Diana Ross comes along stealing Lionel right from under Duffy's nose, the smug Commodore boasting of his new undying love for the harlot. This is a tale of adultery, wanton lust and shattered dreams! Give it a listen and see exactly what I mean...

To quote the Peoples' Princess
"There were three people in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded..."

And going back to that artwork, I was torn between two final images so hell, let's make this a double cover and you can choose yourselves which you'd like to keep.

The traditional



The Warped




Endless Avenues

Duffy - Warwick Avenue (i) + (vox)
Lionel Richie and Diana Ross - Endless Love (a)

Direct Download
http://www.mediafire.com/file/mljmymkyqyq/Endless%20Avenues.mp3

I'm off to dry my tears...

Sexual Brass

How guilty do I feel?

It seems like an age since I completed anything new to be posted here on Colatron.com, and I must admit, I have let it slip. Whilst not deliberately ignoring my website, I've been so busy working on the Mashed in Plastic project that everything else kind of went by the wayside. The MIP project is coming along nicely though, and whilst I've submitted 3 new tracks myself for possible inclusion, the other material that the guys have come up with is simply breathtaking (The Reborn Identity and Wax Audio have produced some of the greatest, most beautiful mash-music I've ever heard...simple as...). Watch this space for more details over the next month or so.

So ever concious that my site has remained devoid of new music for a good month or so now, I set out to rustle something up, to keep you all going. I had around 3 or 4 tracks on the go before I headed off to work on the MIP project, but none of them seemed to be my thing at the moment - I always find the best ideas come from the music you are currently listening to. And so this one became the obvious choice to make.

DJ Yoda had just released his excellent contribution to the Fabric Live series, and it contains many mind-boggling mashes of its own - the Violent Femmes classic 'Blister in the Sun' combined with some funky beats, the Coral's sing-along belter "In the Morning" bleeding in and out of the Chemical Brother's hilarious 'Salmon Dance', a geat mix CD and thoroughly recommended; but one track caught my eye more than any other on the CD. The Hot 8 Brass Band's startling cover of Marvin Gaye - 'Sexual Healing'. Funky swing if ever I heard it, and completely unexpected in the context of the CD.

Tracking down the original of it, it clocked in at over a mighty 9 minutes, whilst the most complete pella I could find was only around 4 and a bit long. Some creative editing was required here!

I was pleasantly surprised too with the fact they were in key. The hardest part of making this track, was that although I could get the Marvin vox in tempo, they required some major duty snipping to fit the swing rhythm of the instrumental. In fact, this has resulted in me setting a P.B. with approx. 160 individual cuts being made to the vocals. I wouldn't normally bother... :D

I couldn't find anything suitable samples from Britflick "Brassed Off" so a heavily edited sound clip of Marvin on SoulTrain completes the track off.

And yes, I know what you're thinking - that is indeed the legendary Marcy Tigner and her trombone on the cover artwork. With friends....

Sexual Brass

The Hot 8 Brass Band - Sexual Healing (i)
Marvin Gaye - Sexual Healing (a)

MP3 download page here
http://www.mediafire.com/?xc6xcuevyfs

Right - I'd best shoot off, as the Red Room is calling me again, but until next time (and I'll try not to leave it so long next time).... adieu

A call to arms....

Howdy all,

Well, as you may or may not all be aware, myself, The Reborn Identity and a collection of fellow mash producers (tentatively known as 'the Lynch Mob' ) are working on producing a compilation album of David Lynch based mashes. We already have a number of tracks made, and a couple more are on the way (I have a second track virtually completed myself as we speak), but we need more contributors.

The work in progress is known as "Mashed In Plastic"



Is there anyone out there who would like to come onboard the Good Ship Lynch? Do you have a track, or artwork, or even an idea you'd like us to hear? If so, please drop me a comment on this post with the details and myself or The Reborn Identity will get straight back to you (I'd post me email on here, but those ruddy spammers have been at it on my Facebook page...grrrrr......).

Be a part of Lynchian history - sign up today.

Mashed in Two Minutes

Well, after a two week hiatus away from doing any tracks, I thought it were time to return to the stage. The success of the Twin Hearts mash completely blew me away, and to be honest - left me scratching my head as to how I could follow it up. I thought it best to walk away from the PC for a while to clear my thoughts and start a fresh (that, plus the fact I've been out virtually every night on the lash, watching mates' bands and getting to know amazing girls on the other side of the Atlantic ;D )

There's a couple of ideas floating around for the much touted David Lynch project and some wonderful contributions have already been made by the awesome Voicedude and The Reborn Identity, so that's turned up the pressure on getting my other ideas finished. Plus, I'm still getting the itch to make the follow up to the EVP mix....but in the meantime, what could I release quickly to get one on the board?

The answer was staring me in the face. (or at least in the title of the track I was going to use). Taking a huge detour away from the sultry jazz of Twin Hearts, I've returned to the classic sunrise anthems of the early 90s. I was having a revival night here in the lounge one day and looked up several websites that gave the top 100 hardcore/acid house/rave tracks of all time and I made it my duty to try and gather as many as possible. Amongst these was my 2nd favourite 3am tune of all time (I'm already working on a mash with the 1st!) - Bug Kann & the Plastic Jam's "Made in Two Minutes". Bleep-tastic!!

Continuing on from the success of Kylie's vocals in the last mash put out, it seemed obvious to continue on with the pint-sized pop-tart in this one. But the Slow sample itself isn't the longest and so some extra bits and bobs were needed to help flesh out the mash for the 6 minutes required. Well, if I'm going to use one old classic house anthem, why not use another. The legendary Balearic vocal house screamer "You Used to Hold Me" from pioneer Ralph Rosario. And for good measure, add a dash of electro-punk mate of the masher, Princess Superstar with a clip or two from 'Perfect'.

The irony is, it was mashed, in something like 2 minutes...


Mashed in Two Minutes

Bug Kann & The Plastic Jam - Made in Two Minutes (i)
Kylie Minogue - Slow (a)
Ralph Rosario - You Used To Hold Me (a)
Princess Superstar - Perfect (a)



MP3 Download page here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?rijfrj5eqp6

Roll on the next genre for me to have a pop at....see you next time

Twin Hearts (The Movie)...

....or Fire Mash With Me.

Well, the request went out, and one, highly talented mash/vid-mash producer answered the call. The Reborn Identity, a fellow Lynchian obsessive, kindly offered to put together the video I really wanted for the Twin Hearts mash, and oh my god, if he didn't nail it on the head. This is exactly how I envisioned it looking, almost as if he'd been given a curious painting by Mrs. Tremont and her nephew Pierre, in which he'd entered the Red Room via my dreams.... man, I gotta stop eating creamed corn.

Although RI had already ripped the scene and so I'm sure it would have made the cut anyway, my one and only contribution to this (music aside) was the suggestion of the "Lets Rock" intro, and with hindsight, I really wish I'd dropped that sample in. It makes the whole track.

There's so many surprises in here, and some great symbolism in true Lynch style - I won't give them away but you'll see what I mean. And the timing on everything is just insanely accurate. I truly recommend you all head over to Identity's excellent site, and check out his great video mashes and excellent bootlegs. It's over at

http://s225705621.websitehome.co.uk/

and whilst you're at it, be sure to head over to his Youtube Channel and leave him some top comments on this and his other works at

http://uk.youtube.com/user/gavdget

If you ask him nicely, I'm sure he'll give you the link to the VERY hi-def original MPEG2 vid which has to be seen to be believed for the quality of DVD-rip imagery going on in this video. Damn Youtube and their pesky compression!

Alternatively, you can comment the work here or at the posting on me own wee, tiny addition to BoobTube at

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=TMgekGH8dlo

Or just be lazy and hit play below. New mashes on the way shortly....until then....Let's Rock!!!