Last year, I posted a mix of 10 songs that sample the sound of a gun cocking (you know, that “chk chk” sound), but it was terribly timed: it coincided with the day of the Dark Knight shooting. While I’ve already collected enough gun-cock tracks to do a couple more this year, I’ve decided to challenge myself instead with an even more obscure sample: that cute, chimey little sound effect heard when Mario, ever the capitalist, grabs a coin.
First off, I love that sound (who doesn’t?) — not only for nostalgic reasons but also because, in the context of the sampling world of electronic-based musics, it now vaguely signifies achievement, using a simple two-note melody (B to G) that can be easily appropriated for both its cultural resonance and its harmonic potential.
Second, I just barely found enough songs to constitute a mix. There were 8-bit tracks and joke-y songs that I could’ve included, but I wanted a mix that I’d actually listen to. In fact, I cut out this $yrup remix track at the 11th hour because it was so annoying to hear on repeat. Luckily, the rest I genuinely do enjoy, and I think they all make great use of the Mario coin: the classic version can be heard on tracks by Sugar C, Paisley Parks, and Tedy, and the newer version on a track by Co La. It’s pitched down on “Coins For The Canopy” by Maximillion Dunbar, one of two artists (the other being Paisley Parks) who use the coin to signify its monetary nature, and it’s so heavily effected by Huerco S. and Quiet Evenings that I’m not even sure they’re sampling it (update: neither are).
But my two favorite uses of the Mario coin come at the end of the mix, where TONY FERARRI (a.k.a. SP wiz aaronmaxwell) has the audacity to chop the coin mid-sample and where Lil B, like on the gun-cock mix, concludes the mix with a humorously absurd, surreal deployment.
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[00:00] Sugar C - “12 VAPORIZER” [prod. VHS LOGOS]
[01:09] Co La - “Melter’s Delight”
[04:42] Paisley Parks - “We Got”
[07:05] Heurco S. - “Hopewell (Devil)”
[07:40] Tedy - “Hashclub Party”
[09:31] Maxmillion Dunbar - “Coins For The Canopy”
[14:40] Quiet Evenings - “A Blue Dream” [excerpt]
[19:28] TONY FERRARI - “SPORTS”
[20:31] Lil B - “1000 Bitches”
