by  Jason Burleson

Anytime you go to see a film by Quentin Tarantino, whether you like the film or not, one thing always stays in your head – the music. Tarantino uses songs as if they were characters.  From then on out, when you hear a song from one of his movies, you may not remember the name of the artist who made the song, but you definitely remember the name of the film you heard it in.

Would Pulp Fiction be the same without Urge Overkill’s Neil Diamond cover of “Girl, You’ll be a Woman Soon,” or what about Kill Bill without Nancy Sinatra’s “Bang Bang?” True the films would still be quality, but Tarantino’s music selection adds so much more to the cinematic experience which only further adds to his status as a cultural icon.

That said, let’s get to business. James Hyman’s Quentin Tarantino Mash-Up takes the best tracks from all of Tarantino’s films and mixes them with a few suitable non-Tarantino tracks (Kanye West’s “Jesus Walks,” Nas’s “Bridging the Gap,” and Johnny Cash covering the Depeche Mode classic “Personal Jesus”).  Then he freaks them every possible way. If the term “mash-up” makes you cringe, please remember Hyman’s show on London’s XFM, The Rinse, pretty much started the mash-up craze that’s currently making the rounds. Hyman also takes dialogue from all the films and mixes it in perfectly, and I mean perfectly, with the music. I’ve never heard a mix where someone has put as much thought into something as Hyman has done here.

But to the main question: Is it dope?

Without a doubt.

The energy level drops a little after the first twenty minutes, but it would’ve been impossible for Hyman to keep up that level of intensity for the whole mix.

Check this out: the accapella from West’s “Jesus Walks” floats over the “Battle Without Honor” (Kill Bill’s unofficial theme song) before reverting back to Kanye’s original, which is then mixed together with the guitar licks from Dusty Springfield’s “Son of a Preacher Man” (Pulp Fiction). Shortly after, Sinatra’s “Bang Bang” rides Dizzee Rascal’s “Fix Up Look Sharp” beat mixed with a little snippet from Nas’s “Made You Look” and closes out with a piece from Grandmaster Flash’s “The Message.”

I wish I could be more articulate, but I can’t. The sh*t sounds crazy.

Tarantino couldn’t find a better person to pick, choose, place, and mix all the best music and dialogue from his films. If he ever gets the chance to hear this I guarantee a phone call will be made to Mr. Hyman - and it won’t be from Quentin’s lawyers.