June 7, 2009
2ManyDJs are the kings of the mashup. Belgian brothers David and Stephen Dewaele say they grew up in a house filled with dusty old records from all genres. They're also in indie band Soulwax, but found themselves being asked to do their eclectic, irreverent DJ sets at parties on the side. They're best known for mixing together songs in wildly different styles – The Stooges with Salt 'n' Pepa, Nirvana with Destiny's Child – causing two kinds of amazement: that anyone would think of combining those two songs, and that it works so well, producing tracks it's impossible not to dance to.
And dance we did. Their 2003 breakout album As Heard On Radio Soulwax pt. 2 featured everything from punk to country to prog-rock to Europop. They spawned a million imitators. Mashups were wildly popular for a while, but seem to have declined lately. So where does this leave 2ManyDJs? Will they still be rehashing the same stuff that sounded so fresh five years ago, or will they surprise us?
It's a hot, wet summer night at the O2 Academy. From time to time the air conditioning blasts an icy gale into the crowd to clear away the humid heat. Support act Riton turns out to be a house DJ, not doing anything terribly original but slowly warming up a crowd who seem distracted at first, milling around with armfuls of beer and chatting. When 2ManyDJs come on the atmosphere changes instantly. We all find our spot on the dancefloor and stick to it. No one wants to miss anything.
Rightly so. It's a great set, an hour and a half of exuberantly danceable music, full of new spins on old songs and remixes of the newest ones. Dance beats provide the underpinning, and on top of that there's the Clash and old reggae and hip-hop and indie and much more besides. The crowd who seemed so sluggish earlier are totally caught up in it. (The whole audience singing along with 'Kids' by MGMT at the tops of their voices and punching the air is something to see.) By the end it's all classics all the time. They leave to a deafening chant of 'One more tune!'. But there's no arguing with the O2's strict curfews, and we spill out into the rain, gloriously exhausted.
And yet something is missing. Their mixing choices seem more obvious, dare I say safer, than in their heyday – straightforward remixes and combinations of songs which are already quite similar, without the audacity of their earlier stuff. Perhaps fame has cramped their style, perhaps they are simply weary of fighting for clearance to play the songs they want to play – legal battles have been a big feature of their career. I suppose it's the fate of most groundbreaking artists to eventually settle down into a formula. But it's still a damn good formula, and this was an excellent night.
And dance we did. Their 2003 breakout album As Heard On Radio Soulwax pt. 2 featured everything from punk to country to prog-rock to Europop. They spawned a million imitators. Mashups were wildly popular for a while, but seem to have declined lately. So where does this leave 2ManyDJs? Will they still be rehashing the same stuff that sounded so fresh five years ago, or will they surprise us?
It's a hot, wet summer night at the O2 Academy. From time to time the air conditioning blasts an icy gale into the crowd to clear away the humid heat. Support act Riton turns out to be a house DJ, not doing anything terribly original but slowly warming up a crowd who seem distracted at first, milling around with armfuls of beer and chatting. When 2ManyDJs come on the atmosphere changes instantly. We all find our spot on the dancefloor and stick to it. No one wants to miss anything.
Rightly so. It's a great set, an hour and a half of exuberantly danceable music, full of new spins on old songs and remixes of the newest ones. Dance beats provide the underpinning, and on top of that there's the Clash and old reggae and hip-hop and indie and much more besides. The crowd who seemed so sluggish earlier are totally caught up in it. (The whole audience singing along with 'Kids' by MGMT at the tops of their voices and punching the air is something to see.) By the end it's all classics all the time. They leave to a deafening chant of 'One more tune!'. But there's no arguing with the O2's strict curfews, and we spill out into the rain, gloriously exhausted.
And yet something is missing. Their mixing choices seem more obvious, dare I say safer, than in their heyday – straightforward remixes and combinations of songs which are already quite similar, without the audacity of their earlier stuff. Perhaps fame has cramped their style, perhaps they are simply weary of fighting for clearance to play the songs they want to play – legal battles have been a big feature of their career. I suppose it's the fate of most groundbreaking artists to eventually settle down into a formula. But it's still a damn good formula, and this was an excellent night.