I imagine some of you will quit reading this post immediately after this next sentence. Josh Raskin is an Oscar-Nominated filmmaker who creates mashup music under Kids & Explosions. There are people out there that will tell you that mashup isn't really a genre of music, that it doesn't possesses any intellectual qualities whatsoever. Mashup music is largely considered something that is only appropriate for the dance floor to be digested only by the idiotic majority.

I'm here to tell you that Kids & Explosions is NOT that kind of mashup artist. From the very first moments of the first track on his debut self released album Shit Computer, that couldn't be more apparent. Everything starts with a Bryan Adams piano sample and mixes in THE most famous guitar lead ever with an extremely cut up vocal sample of Emimen's "Lose Yourself".  Everything is harshly edited together and quite glitchy, and it's a perfect introduction to the world of Kids & Explosions. It's the kind of track that has garnered Raskin the inevitable comparisons to Girl Talk, notably his earlier stuff in the Secret Window and Unstoppable era.  

Speaking of Greg Gillis' powerhouse mashup project: I understand that the comparisons have to exist, but I think lumping together every mashup artist in with him is somewhat lazy. If I really wanted to make a comparison to Raskin's sound I would probably start at Prefuse 73 or Aphex Twin as it's really a sound that's dominated by glitchiness and harsh edits. 

Moving right along, another standout track on Shit Computer is a the very NSFW track Swear Words. That song features a cavalcade of samples from recognizible hip hop artists saying very naughty words over a laid back guitar sample from Iron & Wine. Eventually the music morphs into a sample of  Cindi Lauper's Girls Just Want To Have Fun and you realize that you are now listening to rappers swear over one of the most innocent songs ever created. Talk about fun in music, the first time I heard this I don't think I've ever smiled as hard, listening to Kids & Explosions is pure joy.

The absolute showstopper on Kids & Explosions' debut album is There Is A Burning Ball of Fire In Outer Space, though. It's the kind of incredible song that I just need to show everyone out there that doesn't respect mashup artists. It features a notable sample from Biggie's "Suicidal Thoughts" in one of the few times a vocal sample is allowed to play without a ton of crazy cuts. The background music here is a sample from Sigur Rós' "Vaka". It's an absolutely brilliant combination hearing dissonant piano chords combined with lyrics about suicide, it's stunningly sad and beautiful. It's a track that doesn't let you feel this way for long though, because the next sample is a "I'm A Survivor" by Destiny's Child which takes the song from a pit of despair to a cathartic moment of euphoria. It's just an absolutely brilliant piece of music from start to finish and probably a better song than anything it samples, eat that musical purists.

Now I realize this is getting quite long and I've only written about 3 tracks of frickin' 17 on this album, I better stop before I kill buffaBLOG's server.

Below I've embedded the entire album from soundcloud, and I really recommend if you like it to go to Kids & Explosions' official website and purchase this thing for yourself. It's one of those classic "Name Your Own Price" sort of things. I'm quite sure that he'll appreciate anything you can spare, and it always feels nice to support a truly independent artist.