DJ Reno/Justice “A Cross the Universe of Mash-Up”
Where A Cross the Universe, last year’s live release from Justice, was “a reflection of what we know the duo is capable of, but not necessarily a recording that gives any indication of what is to come,” DJ Reno’s A Cross the Universe of Mash-Up is an album that stretches Justice’s music beyond the lengths of sensibility while reflecting on what makes the duo so great.
Mashuptown attempted to explain the album, detailing its source, “One of their (Justice) homeland brethern [sic] paid tribute to them recently with a set of almost all Justice mashups, played at a Bootie Paris gig. The “brether” in question is the notable DJ Reno who uses a bunch of his own mashups, as well as others from Party Ben, Sebwax, Divide & Kreate, and others.” But that only goes to further complicate matters as it would seem that with Reno’s offering the DJ-sphere has cannibalized itself to a point of lunacy… DJs performing live, spinning mashups by other bootleggers, that mash songs by other DJs. (In Reno’s defense: “100% Mash-ups and 100% Live, to do it, I used a mac with ableton live, a roland groovebox mc 303 and a UC 33e to control ableton.” So don’t think that he’s just pressing play and kicking back for the night… at least the entire night.)
And the whole thing would be too much if only the album weren’t so damned fantastic (at least the Justice-spliced tracks which make up the majority of the collection). As a devout fan of the oft-laughable genre it’d be hard for me to say that even the most ridiculous mashups make me blush, but after hearing Justice mashed with the Hives, Blur, Timberlake and the rest of the cast, there is honestly little reason for embarrassment. As strictly electronic or dance tracks, these songs are tightly-wound and completely solid… and as mashups, the mix is one of the best I’ve heard in quite some time.
