Mashup of the Week #1: Muse vs. Radiohead

Muse's "Undisclosed Desires" vs. Radiohead's "Idioteque"
YouTube video below. Mashup by Alberto Cipolla.

I have to admit, I didn't warm up to Muse's latest effort, The Resistance, right away. On the whole, it seemed too consciously bombastic for my tastes. Moreover, I was horrified by what I perceived as their pandering to modern pop, "Undisclosed Desires." I absolutely hated it at first listening. A year later, I rediscovered the song only to realize I had been totally wrong. It wasn't Muse gone hip-hop; it was a total nod to Depeche Mode, an "Enjoy the Silence" with a more modern rhythm section. I can dig it. (To be fair, I've also come around to most of the remaining songs on the album as well.)

On the flip side, Idioteque was one of the first Radiohead songs I heard, and remains one of my favorites. The glitchy-yet-totally danceable rhythm section perfectly accentuates what I think is one of the most beautiful samples I have ever heard. These iconic four chords come from Mild und Leise, a computer composition by Paul Lansky that dates back to 1973. These chords appear a grand total of one time in the lengthy composition, and to my own ears, seem to come out of nowhere after the first few minutes. Though it could be said that Radiohead's own writing has very little to do with the instrumentation of the song, I think it takes a pretty keen ear to take that small section and turn it into an entire song. Well done, Yorke and Greenwood.

These two songs come together to create one of the best mashups I've heard in quite some time. The harmonic sample that drives "Idioteque" meshes perfectly with "Undisclosed's" pizzicato, my favorite part of the Muse song, and it only gets better when the thumping bass comes in for the chorus. It sounds great under the vocal parts of both songs, as this mashup relies nearly equally on vocals from both songs. Most interestingly, the mix combines the percussion of the two songs in a way that serves the song and remains simple most of the time. It does get a little busy in the "ice age coming" breaks, but this is a small point.

The vastly different subject matter of the two songs is really the only thing that clashes, as it pairs a cliche love song with an apocalyptic lament of war and climate change. Words aside, the two songs work ingeniously together. This one's definitely worth ripping from YouTube.