We skipped the month of January, since we had just put out the Best of Bootie 2009 CD. But damn, there was such an abundance of good material these past two months, that we easily could have put together a Top 20 instead of a Top 10! But we're just gonna save the rest for March... Right-click to download!

A Plus D - Don't You Want My Bad Romance (Lady Gaga vs. Human League) - San Francisco
We knew we were taking a gamble when we went ahead and put this on the "Best of Bootie 2009" CD -- barely a week before the end of year! Sure, call us biased ... but fortunately, we've been getting tons of great feedback and reports of hearing this track in clubs and at parties everywhere! Lady Gaga goes New Wave! And it sounds like both artists need some serious relationship counselling. :-)

DJ Jay-R of C.H.A.O.S. Productions - Ke$ha Just Wants To Have Fun (Ke$ha vs. Cyndi Lauper) - Oakland
Just listen to the lyrics of Ke$ha's "Tik Tok," and really, isn't is basically just a raunchier, more updated version of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" anyway? This track is fun, flirty, and ready to rock the party. A much-welcome comeback for Oakland's own DJ Jay-R.

Jeff Jones - Party In The Empire State (Jay-Z & Alicia Keys vs. Miley Cyrus) - Boston
For our first Bootie NYC party in three months, we just KNEW we had to drop a mashup of the instantly-iconic "Empire State of Mind." Only one problem ... there weren't that many out there! But mere minutes before we left for the party, we found this simple-yet-effective A+B. And let's face it, with Miley name-dropping Jay-Z, coupled with the whole "hands up" vibe of both songs, these two were obviously meant to be together!
NEW YORK CITY BONUS TRACK!
Purple Crush - NYC Bad Girl Lovegame (Purple Crush vs. Lady Gaga) - Los Angeles
We're feeling the love with New York lately, perhaps due to the fact that we unexpectedly had our biggest Bootie party ever there -- over 840 people! It was crazy, so we're throwing in an NYC-inspired bonus track, created by Purple Crush, a Brooklyn-based electro duo who recently moved to LA. We love it when artists mash up their own tunes!

The Kleptones - Cubikini (Bikini Kill vs. 808 State) - Brighton, UK
From the album Upside/Downtime
This is the soundtrack of our lives back in the early '90s, where a typical weekend might consist of going to see a Riot Grrrl girl band play at some trashy punk club down the street, before heading out to an all-night rave in a warehouse on the outskirts of town. Did The Kleptones do the same thing? We love hearing surprising and rarely (if ever) used source material in a mashup, such as Bikini Kill's "Rebel Girl."

DJ Le Clown - Billie Bootie Lazer (Michael Jackson vs. Major Lazer) - Paris
For the record, Adrian HATES Major Lazer, finding its bloops and bleets incredibly annoying. D, on the other hand, loves the crazy sampling sounds and ridiculous rhythms. But here, we find some middle ground, as MJ gives a jolt of familiar melodicism to the modern, oh-so-hipster, "lazer" sound.

MadMixMustang - Is This Digital Love? (Bob Marley vs. Daft Punk) - The Netherlands
Here's another mashup that we like, in spite of its source material. Neither one of us are especially big fans of reggae -- but Daft Punk sounds so shockingly well-suited paired up with Bob Marley, taking an electronic jam and turning it into anthem of love and unity. It's the dance floor equivalent of "warm fuzzies."

Marc Johnce - Mr. Crowley Might Like It Louder (Ozzy Osbourne vs. Dada, Obernik & Harris vs. Amanda Blank vs. Major Lazer) - Germany
We love it when hard rock artists from the '80s get the electro-dance bootleg treatment, especially when they sound as bangin' as this. How awesome is Ozzy's "Mr. Crowley" for a dark Electro-Bootie set? Dude, it rocks.

Mashup-Germany - Sexy Bitch In Memphis (Akon vs. Justin Timberlake vs. Robyn vs. The Eagles vs. Cher vs. David Guetta) - Germany
Can rap lyrics get any more shallow and ridiculous? What's left to do but take them and mash them up with other artists, both probable (Hi, Justin!) and highly unlikely (OMG, the Eagles!). A nice multi-mash from hot newcomer Mashup-Germany.

DJ Morgoth - Any Way You Want My Woman (Journey vs. Wolfmother vs. MSTRKRFT) - Berlin
Wherein, Bootie Berlin's own DJ Morgoth discovers the awesomeness of a classic American arena rock band from the '80s by mashing up a song of theirs that came out before he was even born! See? Journey's music really is the new Great American Songbook! And it sounds hot mashed-up with the Aussie retro-rock of Wolfmother remixed into a sexy groove by hipster heroes MSTRKRFT. Both these bands love the ladies ... it's oh-so-rock-n-roll!

Winkar Lopez - Shots (Hands Up Bootleg) (LMFAO feat. Lil Jon vs. Winkar Lopez) - Mexico City
As unapologetic and unironic fans of MTV's "Jersey Shore," we have a soft spot for LMFAO, who not only did the show's theme song, but whose commercial for "Shots" practically became the show's OTHER theme song. Winkar Lopez's bootleg remix will have you "beating up the beat" and fist-pumping like a true guido! "Shotshotshotsshotshots... EVERYBODY!!!"

AND IN CASE YOU'VE BEEN LIVING UNDER A ROCK:
DJ Earworm - United State of Pop 2009 (Blame It On The Pop) (Mashup of the Top 25 Hit Songs of 2009 According to Billboard Magazine) - San Francisco
What can we say that we haven't already? Mashup of the year, literally. This should be put in a time capsule for 2009. It's got over 10 million views on YouTube, it was listed as #1 on the "Must List" in Entertainment Weekly, and Earworm was profiled on CNN.com. It's an epic tour de force that, with its widespread mainstream attention, doesn't just elevate the mashup artform -- it takes it to a new level of legitimacy. Bravo!

Hopefully by now, you're already familiar with DJ Earworm's utterly epic United State of Pop 2009 (Blame It On The Pop), his year-end masterpiece that mashes together the top 25 songs of 2009 (as ranked by Billboard magazine) into one insanely brilliant, 4-1/2-minute pop creation. This is now Earworm's third year in a row doing this, and it's by far his best yet.

For one thing, he doesn't simply mash up unrelated bits and pieces of songs together into a big sonic stew. Instead he has taken individual words and phrases from the lyrics and has intricately crafted entirely new verses and choruses. In effect, he has created a NEW SONG, one that carries a message of hope and perseverance in tough times -- "No need to worry, just pick back up when you’re tumbling down, down, down (down, " It's uplifting and beautiful, and we'd be lying if we didn't say that we actually get a little choked up sometimes when we hear it!

Earworm recently posted a color-coded lyric sheet, so you can see just how cut up and manipulated his work really is. It's seriously Type-A!


The video he posted to YouTube went viral within a few days -- which probably explains the extensive FAQ in the "more info" section of the video's page -- and right now it's fast approaching 10 million views. He's been written up by major media outlets the world over, and two days ago, CNN.com ran a major interview with him.  


Check out the DJ Earworm interview here -- and notice that Adrian from Bootie gets name-dropped in the fourth paragraph, answering the "how did you get started" question! Thanks, Jordan! :-) We vividly remember meeting him for the first time at Bootie, back in April 2004 when we were just a monthly Wednesday at the tiny Cherry Bar in San Francisco. We became fast friends and introduced him to the wider world of mashup culture on the internet ... and the rest, as they say, is history!

Needless to say, we are incredibly proud of Earworm, and his newfound wider popularity is much deserved and long overdue! And yes, he'll be playing feature sets at Bootie SF and Bootie LA very soon!

Bootie just received its first "cease-and-desist" letter, for DJ Lobsterdust's "NirGaga" (Nirvana vs. Lady Gaga) track on the Best of Bootie 2009 CD:

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To Whom It May Concern:
EMI Entertainment World, Inc. ('EMI") is the owner and/or administrator of certain copyrighted content which is currently being reproduced, displayed, transmitted and distributed without authorization on www.bootiemashup.com (the "Site"), including, without limitation, a sample and download of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana (the "Copyrighted Work"). The unauthorized reproduction, display, transmission and distribution via the Internet of the Copyrighted Work without our express permission constitutes copyright infringement in violation of Title 17 U.S. Code, Section 106(a) of the Copyright Act of 1976, and other international copyright laws.
http://www.bootiemashup.com/bestofbootie2009/
This e-mail shall serve as EMI's good faith notice to you that you are to immediately remove the Copyrighted Work, “Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana as well as any other unauthorized EMI material. Once the Copyrighted Work, has been removed from the Site, please send us written confirmation of the same.
This notice is written without prejudice to the rights and remedies of EMI and its songwriters at law or at equity, all of which we hereby expressly reserve. Thank you.

Infringement Compliance Unit │ EMI Music Publishing
a: 75 Ninth Avenue │ 4th Floor │ New York, NY 10011
www.emimusicpub.com
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We find it interesting that while "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is probably one of the most mashed-up songs out there, it took someone using Kurt Cobain's vocals and lyrics rather than the iconic instrumentation to bring about a "Copyright Infringement Notice."

We have complied with the request and have since replaced the track with one of the bonus tracks, DJ Moule's "Hey, C La Vie," which just narrowly missed the original cut of the album.

This now means that the original version of the Best of Bootie 2009 CD is now a collector's item!

This also allowed us to add DJ Schmolli's "The Trooper Believer" (Iron Maiden vs. The Monkees) as an additional bonus track.

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