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Holy crap, remix culture actually exists

Over the past few years I’ve read more articles and papers on remix culture than I’m willing to admit. But after all the bullshit, I’m proud to have encountered a real, tangible example of it in the wild.

On YouTube there’s a still-frame video posting of a song called “The Device Has Been Modified” by Victims Of Science. It’s a collection of samples from the game Portal, pitch-shifted for musical appropriateness, placed over a slick synth beat. The video description laments the practical nonexistence of the artist.

*Please note, this song ISN’T made by me (or anyone that claims to on YT), it’s by Victims of Science, who don’t seem to have a website.. if you find one, please let me know*

A song inspired by Portal using various sounds from GLaDOS.

The song is so absolutely hardcore, it’s difficult for me to contain myself.

I’ve wrought my Google Fu, and the oldest source I can come up with is a blog post by Jonathan Coulton dated October 23, 2007. The YouTube video linked to above was posted October 24, 2007, which says to me that the song couldn’t have hit the internet much earlier than the Coulton post.

I’ve looked up the track on Last.fm and the oldest wall shout is also dated October 24, 2007. I checked for diggs, and the oldest I found was posted 54 days ago, which, according to my calculations, means November 7, 2007.

I must find this artist so that I can PayPal him my life savings. And then give him something in addition to that 16MB 3dfx Voodoo3 card I never threw away. I’ve already listened to this song way more than is healthy.

OK, yeah, and I listened to a German version of “Silent Night” by Manowar. That’s definitely not healthy and I’m already seeking a therapist for help.

Download the MP3s directly here:

• Victims Of Science - The Device Has Been Modified
• Manowar - Stille Nacht

Über props to J for telling me about this. (I’m talking about the Portal song, not the Manowar one. Don’t want to shame him or anything.)