Introduction
Helaku – Miracle Rebirth
Artist: Helaku
Title / Release Page: Miracle Rebirth
Release Date: 2014 Aug 17
Genre: Mashup / Dancecore
License: CC BY-NC-ND
Media: MP3
Pricing: Free
Label: Coma Recordz
Rating: ★★★★★★
The Miracle Rebirth of Helaku is in the way he takes samples and mashes them up. He is taking the familiar and making it different while still maintaining enough of the original familiarity.
Miracle Rebirth of Helaku
I find myself questioning how much people could really find themselves dancing to this music?
The first track, ‘Come To Daddy, Little Lord Faulteroy’ builds around one of the most recognized Aphex Twin tracks, and turns it into something that is actually more sinister than the original. The second track ‘Freak’ is a rapid fire mashup with enough elements that I can’t single them out – except to note the Nyan Cat song interspersed in it.
In previous reviews I’ve questioned where line of transformation is crossed when using sampled works as the basis for a new piece. (And, let’s face it, this is a work that that is based heavily on samples, as stated in the notes: Stazma The Junglechrist, Ove-Naxx, Aphex Twin, Sickboy, Bong-Ra, LFO, Reizoko CJ, Eazy-E, Flexe, Acidwolf, Excision, Stanton Warriors, Julma Henri, Igorrr, Exillion & Syntheme.)
And yet, this work seems to manage to cross the line into be a new work, despite having many recognizable elements. The way they are mashed up, edited, sequenced and layered is remarkable. Even if you can name the main samples used as the base for a given tack, you wouldn’t say this is a work that is no more than a remix of someone else’s work. It manages to transcend that barrier.
Conclusion
I think this is the most surprising part to me about this release: I can’t put my finger on where this work crossed the boundary from just being a mashup or a remix for me. And yet, listening to these tracks I know that it did manage to cross that line. However, there is still a problem with this work. And that problem is: how much am I going to want to listen to it in the future? My guess is not a lot. It’s like a lot of the works it is based on: disposable light entertainment. So enjoy this miracle rebirth of Helaku for now – I’m betting it won’t be a regular listen for more than a few weeks. If anything, this probably works better as a live DJ set than as a recording.