Thursday, December 3, 2015

DJ Earworm unveils his "State of Pop 2015" megamix

For the last nine years, San Francisco's Jordan Roseman - aka DJ Earworm - has taken the 25 top-selling songs in the US and combined them into one gigantic meta-mix.

His State of Pop mash-ups provide an overview of prevailing musical trends. The 2007 edition was full of vocoders and half-sung raps. 2008 was all about anthems - Leona Lewis' Bleeding Love, Alicia Keys' No-One, Coldplay's Viva La Vida. By 2011, EDM had taken hold, thanks to LMFAO and Lady Gaga's Born This Way, which formed the basis for Earworm's mix.

With music in a state of flux, last year's mix provided a challenge - with the downtempo musings of Hozier and Lorde having to co-exist with Iggy Azalea and Taylor Swift.

Having pulled that off, DJ Earworm set himself an even bigger challenge for 2015, trying to cram 50 tracks into his alotted 300 seconds. The result actually works better - he uses the songs in an almost impressionistic way, with synth hooks and vocal melodies appropriated into something that's simultaneously familiar and disorientating. Is Bruno Mars a backing vocalist for One Direction? Were Rihanna's Bitch Better Have My Money and Adele's Hello really written as a call-and-response? Are people still buying Maroon 5 records?

It's a clever, multi-movement medley that showcases a unique musical instinct. Can't wait to hear what he does for the 10th anniversary next year.



Here's the full list of tracks included:

Adele - Hello
AlunaGeorge and DJ Snake - You Know You Like It
Andy Grammer - Honey, I'm Good.
Ariana Grande ft. The Weeknd - Love Me Harder
Big Sean ft. E-40 - I Don't F*** With You
David Guetta ft. Nicki Minaj & Afrojack - Hey Mama
Demi Lovato - Cool For The Summer
Drake - Hotline Bling
Ed Sheeran - Photograph
Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud
Ellie Goulding - Love Me Like You Do
Fall Out Boy - Centuries
Fetty Wap - Trap Queen
Fetty Wap ft. Remy Boyz - 679
Fifth Harmony ft. Kid Ink - Worth It
Flo Rida ft. Sage The Gemini - GDFR
Jason Derulo - Want To Want Me
Justin Bieber - Sorry
Justin Bieber - What Do You Mean
Major Lazer ft. MO & DJ Snake - Lean On
Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk
Maroon 5 - Sugar
Meghan Trainor - Lips Are Movin
Meghan Trainor ft. John Legend - Like I'm Gonna Lose You
Natalie La Rose ft. Jeremih - Somebody
Nick Jonas - Jealous
Nicki Minaj ft. Drake & Lil Wayne - Truffle Butter
Omarion ft. Chris Brown & Jhene Aiko - Post To Be
OMI - Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Remix)
One Direction - Drag Me Down
Pitbull ft. Ne-Yo - Time Of Our Lives
R. City ft. Adam Levine - Locked Away
Rachel Platten - Fight Song
Rihanna - Bitch Better Have My Money
Rihanna ft. Kanye West & Paul McCartney - Four Five Seconds
Sam Smith - I'm Not The Only One
Selena Gomez ft. A$AP Rocky - Good For You
Shawn Mendes - Stitches
SIlento - Watch Me
Skrillex & Diplo ft. Justin Bieber - Where Are U Now
Taylor Swift - Blank Space
Taylor Swift - Style
Taylor Swift - Bad Blood
Taylor Swift - Wildest Dreams
Tove Lo - Talking Body
Walk The Moon - Shut Up And Dance
Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth - See You Again
The Weeknd - Earned It
The weeknd - The hills
The Weeknd - Can't Feel My Face

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Tuesday, December 9, 2014

DJ Earworm's United States of Pop 2014

DJ Earworm's annual mash-up of pop's most thrilling moments always highlights a few trends in songwriting. This year's edition is no exception, to whit:.

1) It's not just rappers any more. These days, everybody says their name in their songs in case you forget who they are (1'08" - 1'13").

2) In a year of whiney vocals, Sam Smith's are the whiniest.

3) There are now only two colour palettes available to music video directors: Moribund monochrome and dayglo neon.

4) The US music market is going through one of its occasional isolationist periods.

5) Fancy has the best chorus of the year by far.

DJ Earworm - United States of Pop 2014

In case you need a checklist, the 25 songs featured in this year's mix are:

A Great Big World feat. Christina Aguilera - Say Something
Ariana Grande feat. Iggy Azalea - Problem
Bastille - Pompeii
Dj Snake & Lil Jon - Turn Down For What
Hozier - Take Me to Church
Idina Menzel - Let It Go
Iggy Azalea feat. Charli XCX - Fancy
Iggy Azalea feat. Rita Ora - Black Widow
Jason Derulo feat. 2 Chainz - Talk Dirty
Jeremih feat. YG - Don't Tell 'Em
Jessie J feat. Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj - Bang Bang
John Legend - All Of Me
Katy Perry feat. Juicy J - Dark Horse
Lorde - Team
Magic! - Rude
Maroon 5 - Animals
Meghan Trainor - All About That Bass
Nico & Vinz - Am I Wrong
One Direction - Story of My Life
Passenger - Let Her Go
Pharrell Williams - Happy
Pitbull feat. Ke$ha - Timber
Sam Smith - stay with me
Taylor Swift - Shake It Off
Tove Lo - Habits

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Friday, December 31, 2010

Essential MP3 for your New Year party

DJ Earworm's mash-up of Billboard's Top 25 singles of the year has become an annual staple. This year's edition, featuring Lady Gaga, Eminem and Usher eeps the quality threshold ridiculously high... even if there's a little too much Ke$ha for my liking.

DJ Earworm - United State Of Pop 2010

You can download the MP3 from DJ Earworm's official website for tonight's festivities. And if you like that, you should also check out the mix he did for Capital FM's Summer Ball in June which, if anything, is even better.

DJ Earworm - Like OMG, Baby

Those of you looking for something a bit more "credible" could also check out Magnetic Man's excellent Essential Mix on Radio 1's iPlayer page [link here] or Gilles Peterson and Thom Yorke's spiffing 120 minutes of politics'n'chat'n'music, which the Beeb repeated earlier this week. [link here]

And with that, I bade farewell to 2010 and look forward to seeing you all in 2011. Hope you have a great night! Mrdiscopop

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