B.I.M.A. It can only mean one thing. British Interactive Media Association? Nope. British Iranian Medical Association? Guess again. But of course, it’s the Bon Iver Mashup Album that we’ve all been waiting for! Right? Guys? Right?
Props where it’s due, they’ve done a decent job with it. A rag-tag, motley crue (who knows) of producers by the names of SpareElbowSkin, ToToM, Fissunix & Colatron have matched up some interesting tracks, both old and new, with Bon Iver’s second self-titled LP from 2011. Are you ready for a few names? Ok, Lana Del Ray mashed with ‘Beth/Rest’? Well that just seems too easy. How about Men at Work and ‘Towers’? Yeah, now I’ve got your attention! There’s also a little INXS, some Flo + The Mac, Cake, Sia, Icona Pop, and plenty more. And you guys, it’s free! I mean, all music is free these days, but still. This is a legal free!
Here are my two reasons for liking this project. Number 1. There is not even a whiff of a bass wobble anywhere here. Slapping some dubstep over Bon Iver’s insanely perfect record would be tatamount to taking a whizz on the Mona Lisa. Not recommended, and it’ll make a whole lot of French people very angry.
Number 2. Track 3 is a mash-up of Kimbra’s excellent ‘Settle Down’, and ‘Perth’. The first 30 seconds / minute, I’m not entirely sure it works. The bars just about match up, but it feels like it doesn’t quite sit as well as I’d want it to. I very much bow down at the alter of Girl Talk (as we all do) when it comes to mashups, and you never find flaws with his work. Either he can pick what works together at 30 paces, or he doesn’t rest until everything is perfect. Either way, this mashup by Fissunix doesn’t quite hit the spot straight away.
But then those ‘Perth’ drums come flooding in, like a torrent of logic washing over my tiny brain. Suddenly it works, wonderfully. So wade through that opening gambit and you’ll be in for something spectacular.
Have a watch below of the trailer for the project, then wander over to the website itself to get your free download: http://www.b-i-m-a.net/
Horses Playing Harps 