Cartoonist, pencil sharpener, and Going Deep With David Rees host David Rees has raised taking things seriously to an art form. The natural reaction to his straight-faced devotion to whatever he’s doing follows a predictable arc: Bemusement, followed by confusion about where exactly the joke is, followed by delight at how great the results of taking seemingly trivial things completely seriously can be.
Case in point: This mash-up by Rees of Aphex Twin’s “Girl/Boy Song” and Taylor Swift’s triumphantly popular break-up song “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.” At first, it seems like an obvious joke: spacey electronic music, fighting for dominance with boy-dissing bubblegum pop. But the longer you listen, the more it works, with the Aphex Twin song’s driving percussion track and ethereal melodies providing the perfect background for Swift’s vocals.
Rees has several more Aphex Swift tracks available, including a lovely mash-up of Swift’s “Why You Gotta Be So Mean” with Aphex Twin’s dreamy “Film,” on his Soundcloud account.