Autechre vs Taylor Swift

Autechre
vs
Taylor Swift

Shake it Off Djarum
Shake it Off Djarum

I believe I first heard Shake it Off as bumper music on various TV programmes. So after many times of listening to this tune I discovered that it was Taylor Swift who in fact sang this song that had been rattling around my head and was implanted into my sub-conscience. Speaking as someone who has spent much of my time despising mainstream corporate music, and the way that the corporate types have exploited underground music and used it for their own purposes, and as much as I hate to admit this, I find Shake it Off, by Taylor Swift to be very catchy and completely infectious.

I'm always looking at ways to blend and match music, particularly of different genres and ideals. I've been a fan of Autechre and their work since the early 90's. Anti E.P. by Autechre was released on Warp Records in 1994. The philosophy behind this release was as a protest of the Conservative Government's Criminal Justice Bill, in which banned the use of a 'succession of repetitive beats' at 'gatherings where music is played.' So the three tracks of this E.P. were programmed with beats that were designed not to be repetitive.

Whilst mixing and generally playing around with tunes I just randomly happened to notice that Djarum and Shake It Off were about the same BPM's and that the two tracks seemingly matched up very well.

I think that Autechre fans will dislike the fact that one of their early tracks has been soiled with the lyrics from pop music's new flavour of the month. Where as your average Taylor Swift fan probably isn't going to have the slightest clue who Autechre are? Never mind the genre of music that they inspired and reinvented. I personally enjoy the fact that I've blended two entirely different pieces of music that have come together, and in my opinion it gives either track a new lease of life. Of course others might say that I've created Frankenstein's glitch monster....