Pop mashups that include a contemporary composer’s work turn out to be rarer than we first assumed. Here are a few good examples—Blondie × Philip Glass, Dinah Washington layered over Max Richter, David Bowie + Steve Reich, and Brian Eno x Igor Stravinsky. We tried but cannot find any mashup involving works by John Cage or John Adams.
The Heart of Glass (Crabtree Remix, 2016) is an enigmatic mashup of Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” with the 2nd movement of Philip Glass’s Violin Concerto. It was used in Season 1 of the TV show “The Handmaid’s Tale” and it sparked the idea behind this particular Random Moment playlist. The pun in the song’s title is cute too. The cover photo above is derived from the YouTube video of Heart of Glass (Crabtree Remix) uploaded by Daft Beatles (Crabtree’ s pseudonym).
Dinah Washington & Max Richter —This Bitter Earth / On the Nature of Daylight (2010; reissued 2018) debuted on the Shutter Island movie soundtrack.
David Bowie – Love Is Lost (Hello Steve Reich Mix by James Murphy for the DFA – Edit) adopted Steve Reich’s “Clapping Music” in its intro and later a rhythm segment.
John Noise Manis – Stravinsky Airport (Remastered 2024) – is a cheat as Igor Stravinsky is not really a contemporary composer (Dances Concertantes and Symphony in Three Movements) and the pop component is the ambient masterpiece, Music For Airport 1/1 by Brian Eno, ex-Roxy Music. But the piece is a very good mashup and we cannot resist including it here.
During our research, we also found a clip of The Handmaid’s Tale, Protest Scene accompanied by the Heart of Glass (Crabtree Remix) on YouTube.
Random Moment is a playlist series which we started posting during the COVID pandemic in 2020. Each playlist offers a small selection, typically featuring four songs and ranging in total listening time from 10 to 20 minutes. Designed to provide a brief respite from daily tasks, these playlists aim to maintain a desired musical ambiance. The music selection is deliberately eclectic, encompassing classical compositions, contemporary works, rock, and even dance tracks.
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You can also listen to it on Spotify but a subscription is required to listen to the full length of each tune. Playing the samples without a subscription is still fun. Try it.
This is the 32nd playlist. The earlier playlists can be found by searching for the category “playlists” on this site.
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