The only thing more captivating than Serial is the discussion over whether it’s okay to be a “fan” of Serial. The podcast investigates a real murder that took place in 1999, but its massive popularity and episodic nature led to comparisons with fictional shows like Twin Peaks and The Killing.
If you’re treating Serial like it’s fiction, that’s a little creepy. But the podcast’s creators made an effort to make each episode gripping and atmospheric, so it does have a few things in common with the murder-mystery genre. One obvious similarity is the soundtrack.
Serial‘s simple theme music, composed by Nick Thorburn, is one of the most recognizable aspects of the podcast — and, true to form, it was partly influenced by Angelo Badalamenti’s Twin Peaks soundtrack. Inevitably, several remixes and mashups have already showed up online. Here are some of the best ones.
Serial Ball
This mashup between Miley Cyrus’ Wrecking Ball and the Serial theme was created by Chambaland and is hosted by Funny or Die. The jangling, off-key combination of the Wrecking Ball backing track and Serial‘s piano theme is surprisingly catchy, and the context of the podcast adds new meaning to the lyrics.
Mail Kimp remix
We have no idea if MailChimp’s Serial commercial was actually successful at bringing in new customers, but it sure is memorable—particularly that one girl who can’t pronounce the word “chimp.” With all those “mail kimp” jokes popping up on Twitter each week, it was only a matter of time before someone created a remix like this.
SerialMate
The band Team Mate made this mashup with one of their own songs, so it’s arguably a work of self-promotion. But even though we’d never heard of these guys before, we have to admit that this song matches up with the Serial theme very smoothly. It’s definitely a better fit than Wrecking Ball.
B.I.G. remix by Fafu
This Serial/Notorious B.I.G. mashup was posted just in time for the final episode this week, and it’s our favorite Serial remix so far. It incorporates clips from the podcast, the iconic piano soundtrack, and Biggie’s “Somebody’s Gotta Die.”
The first season of Serial may be over, but the fascination with it is still alive and well. We doubt we’ve seen the last of the Serial mashup genre, so while you’re waiting for more remixes to show up, you can listen to Nick Thorburn’s entire soundtrack on Bandcamp.
Photo via Vox Efx/Flickr (CC BY 2.0) | Remix by Jason Reed