Genius video mashups

"Mashup" is a Jamaican Creole term meaning to destroy. The world's first mashup-based artform was hip-hop music, which combined pieces of pre-existing music with an MC's rap. (Appropriately, rap grew out of a Jamaican dancehall technique called toasting, which involved talking or chanting over an R&B beat.) More recently, artists like Dangermouse created a new kind of musical mashup, often combining a hip-hop song with a song from another genre. (Danger's groundbreaking Grey Album conflated the Beatles' White Album with hip-hop impresario Jay-Z's Black Album, jump-starting what is proving to be an enduring trend.)

Inevitably, perhaps, the mashup phenomenon has gone A/V, and now video mashups are appearing on content-sharing sites like YouTube. Truly a democratic art form, anyone with a computer, editing software and lots of spare time on their hands (OK, so mostly rich suburban kids) can create their own. Since we here at the floss can relate to having a computer and (at least some) spare time, we present our picks for the top six most genius-y video mashups.

1.
Title: My Body is a Cage
Combines: "My Body is a Cage" by peerless indie rockers The Arcade Fire and clips from Sergio Leone's Western masterpiece, Once Upon a Time in the West.
Verdict: Borderline profound.

2.
Title: I Wanna Trek You Like An Animal
Combines: Nine Inch Nails' provocative "Closer" with clips from Star Trek.
Verdict: It'll make you think about the relationship between Kirk and Spock in a way you never have ... and never wanted to. Edited by man of mystery T. Jonesy, also responsible for "My Body is a Cage." Who are you, T. Jonesy??
Warning: F-word alert! Nine Inch Nails' frontman Trent Reznor wants to &^%@ you like an animal, and he's not afraid to say so.

3.
Title: Velvet Welk
Combines: 2:23 seconds of the Velvet Underground's 17-minute psycho-pop freakout "Sister Ray" with clips from The Lawrence Welk Show.
Verdict: Trippy, young man!

More after the jump!

4.
Title: Darth Vader, Practical Joker
Combines: A scene from Star Wars ... and that's it. Some very fancy time-remapping happening to get the lips to move right, but otherwise, just a little old-fashioned ingenuity.
Verdict: I'm not a big Star Wars guy, but I thought this was a riot.

5.
Title: 8 1/2 Mile
Combines: Fellini's 8 1/2 and Eminem's 8 Mile, trailer-style.
Verdict: Low-culture + high-culture = pop culture!

6.
Title: A Hard Day's Night of the Living Dead
Combines: Zombie remake Dawn of the Dead and the classic Beatles film.
Verdict: Groovy and gory.