Ever thought that music sometimes takes itself a bit too seriously?

Artists behave like total dickheads if their PA doesn’t bring their pasty to them on time or if their water isn’t chilled to perfection. The industry can be the same sometimes. If a band doesn’t sell a billion copies of its guff-sounding record, then heads will roll and it could be the beginning of the end for your life as a musician.

Sometimes we just want to listen to people who are obviously having fun with what they’re doing. Maybe selling a million isn’t an aim, but instead just having fun in what they’re making and entertaining the masses at gigs. Shitmat is one such artist, he’s been on our radar for yonks now and we thought it was about time for you to listen to some comedy sampling, mashcore with sprinklings of breakcore, hardcore and drum & bass all chucked in.

Listening to a song by Shitmat – aka the work of Henry Collins – you may be left wondering how he gets permission from Britney Spears amongst others for samples. Basically, he doesn’t and just does what he pleases. Imagine a typical song to sound something like a set from DJ Yoda would, anything could crop up. But that’s why we like all the records he’s produced, they’re fun and aren’t that serious at all. When one of your albums is blocked for nearly a year due to use of hundreds of illegal samples, you know he won’t back down.

As one of the founders of the Wrong Music record label, there have been many artists offering their own blend of music has to be heard to be believed. We are big fans of the label and have already brought to your attention the amazing DJ Scotch Egg who gets up to all sort of madness with a Game Boy and some machinegun beats.

Live performances from Shitmat are spectacles in their own respect. Performances can involve an onslaught of random samples over extremely fast breaks as he dances and gets far too into it, usually resulting in power cables being knocked out my mistake or speakers in venues failing under the strain of what is being emitted and literally blowing. The use of costumes also shine through with gigs performed in just boxer shorts, oversized wigs, sunglasses and cheap-looking suits. Trust us, it is an experience to witness.

With the rules of copyright totally ignored, listening to a Shitmat track can be a real adventure. Merely listening to something once doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve fully absorbed what’s going on. Samples are cleverly moulded under a bed of distorted breaks that will scare and confuse the easygoing music listener. Whilst there’s nothing extreme going on, it’s really just something different and therefore much more entertaining.

Tracks such as Happy Ending lead into a false sense of security as the TV theme-like intro quickly leads in to a frantic tribute to the old happy hardcore days. This particular song features on a split 12” record with DJ Scotch Egg and shows an alternative sound from the three albums previously released.

For more:

Shitmat MySpace page