Hello again, and welcome to my Decade of Music Project Summary Day Two. Now if you’ve been following this project at all for the past ten years, you know I have a soft spot for remixes and mashups. I also enjoy a good cover of a song. So today, that’s what we’re going to focus on!

A few quick notes (as always):

• A “cover” refers to a song that I know to be a cover of another artist’s song. I’m sure I have a fair number of songs in this project that are technically covers of other songs, but if I don’t know they’re covers, than I obviously can’t label them as covers.
  
• A “remix” is an altered version of a song while still just being made up of that one song.
  
• A “mashup” is a mixture of two or more songs.

Okay? Okay. GO! Note that these are all ranked from 5th most favorite to top favorite.

The Top Five Covers
5. “Take On Me” by A-HA, covered by the Brooklyn Duo
I love instrumental covers of things (hence my love of the Piano Guys), and this sounds so good with a bunch of strings and winds. Also, that glissando at 2:13 is hot.

4. “Human (feat. Spencer Jones)” by The Killers, covered by Cinematic Pop
Who knew Charlie Cox was a singer? There’s a lot of feeling in the original version, but I get much more emotional listening to this one. It’s probably because of the orchestra.

3. “Dare You To Move” by Switchfoot, covered by the Vitamin String Quartet
AAAAAAAAAAAAA I LOVE STRINGS, YO. This is so freaking beautiful, especially the chorus. Thanks to Nate for bringing this song to my attention.

2. “The Sound of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkel, covered by VOCES8
I can’t handle this cover, it’s too good. It’s a very interesting interpretation of the original, I think, and VOCES8 has such a cohesive, heart-wrenching sound that gives this so much feeling. You’ll be seeing this song again in a list on a later day, too, so I’ll leave it at that for now.

1. “Hide and Seek” by Imogen Heap, covered by Dan Wright
This guy’s range is nnnnnf. The original of this song has a lot of depth, but there’s even more in this cover. I love the low, low, low notes. You’ll also be seeing this song again later, FYI.

The Top Five Remixes
5. “The Cure [Initial Talk NRS 80s Remix]” by Lady Gaga
Here is the original. You can’t tell me that this remix sounds more like a Lady Gaga song the original does.

4. “Send Me on My Way (Jesse Bloch Bootleg)” by Rusted Root
Here is the original. I like how this remix doesn’t really change too much – it just gives it more of a dance beat and, oh, I don’t know, the sickest drop at 1:33. It gives me chills.

3. “Suit & Tie (Oliver Nelson Remix)” by Justin Timberlake
Here is the original. This remix is SO. MUCH. BETTER. It’s unreal. This was a Five Star for a looooong time.

2. “Sleepyhead (Cillo Mix)” by Passion Pit
Here is the original. Surprised that only one Sleepyhead remix got on this list? Me too. The other main contender was actually downloaded in 2009, so it does not qualify. OH WELL THIS ONE IS GOOD TOO.

1. “Paradise (Gabe Flaherty Remix)” by Coldplay
Here is the original. My favorite Coldplay song remixed beautifully? Yes? Then it has to be my #1 remix.

The Top Five Mashups
5. “The Lone Slim Shady” mashed by oneboredjeu
A mashup of Eminem’s The Real Slim Shady and Caravan Palace’s Lone Digger. The chorus is a killer. I love it so much. Mashups that involve such different songs are very frequently the best ones.

4. “Coldplay Megamix” mashed by Inanimate Mashups
A mashup of a whole bunch of Coldplay songs. That…that’s it. Do I really need to say any more? That introduction of “Paradise” at 3:30 is perfect and heartbreaking.

3. “Never Gonna Wake You Up” mashed by NilsOfficial
A mashup of Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up, Avicii’s Wake Me Up, and Chumbawamba’s Tubthumping. NilsOfficial’s mashups are so freaking smooth and natural. 4:05 to the end is great.

2. “All About Better Wonderland” mashed by NilsOfficial
A mashup of Meghan Trainor’s All About That Bass, Daft Punk’s Harder, Better, Faster Stronger, Martin Tungevaag’s Wicked Wonderland, and Rednex’ Cotton Eye Joe. This one’s even better than the other mashup on here by NilsOfficial, probably because I love Daft Punk.

1. “Death Sentence Lost!” mashed by …And Sushi! Productions
A mashup of Coldplay’s Lost and Dethklok’s Laser Cannon Deth Sentence. Can there be two more completely opposite songs? There’s like some freaky church music-esque feeling to this song. Definitely my favorite mashup of the decade.

It was really hard to pick the top five mashups. Really hard.

So I also want to include a final category regarding mashups that focuses on the most “unusual” ones. That is, mashups that feature two very different songs of very different genres but that make those two songs sound amazing together. So…

The Top Five “Unusual” Mashups (that aren’t in my Top Five Mashups list)
5. “Call Me Maybe vs. Ignition (Remix)” mashed by the MattSmith
Carly Rae Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe mixed with R. Kelly’s Ignition (Remix).

4. “GANGNAM TIME!” mashed by NilsOfficial
Carly Rae Jepsen and Owl City’s Good Time mixed with PSY’s Gangnam Time. I love how naturally these songs blend.

3. “Sugar, We’re Going Down Kung Fu Fighting” mashed by bee-kirby
A mix of Fall Out Boy’s Sugar We’re Goin’ Down and Carl Douglas’ Kung Fu Fighting. I suspect Fall Out Boy is aware of this mashup and loves it.

2. “Psychosocial but It’s Sexyback” mashed by William Maranci
Slipknot’s Psychosocial mixed with Justin Timberlake’s Sexyback. Sexy is back and he’s ANGRY. That chorus, oh my GOD.

1. “Tik Tok Together” mashed by doctordude
Ke$ha’s Tik Tok mashed with The Beatles’ Come Together. This is the most natural-sounding mashup of two very different songs that I heard over the decade. Thus, it will be ranked #1 in this category.

ALSO ALSO: I have to have an honorable mention for DJ Earworm. His United State of Pop end-of-year mashups are phenomenal and the 2009 one almost made my top five list (same with his Decade of Pop – 100 Song Mashup). I feel like he deserves his own category, so I’ll just link to his YouTube channel for y’all to check him out.