I think it’s pretty interesting to see where the samples came from. This song also has one of the best music videos ever made attached to it.

“How to make Prodigy’s legendary track “Smack My Bitch Up” in Ableton. Video describes, which samples were used by Liam in this wonderful track.” – jimpavloff

Download the original song: click here (iTunes)

Ever wonder how popular a band or artist really is? Head over to http://google.com/insights/search/ and find out. Today I have three popularity wars set up (click to enlarge screenshots). First I go old school EBM (of course) and throw VNV Nation into the mix with Nitzer Ebb, Front 242 and Skinny Puppy. Surprisingly Nitzer Ebb looses big time. Next up on stage is MGMT vs Willie Nelson vs The Prodigy. The surprise to me here is that the Prodigy manages to stay on the chart at all. The final contest I go for some big bands: NIN vs Depeche Mode vs Kraftwerk. I knew DM would win but if you look carefully there were a few moments in time NIN over took them.

Of course popularity doesn’t always equal great tunes but this is a fun way to see who’s “the biggest”. Do you think any of these results are surprising?

Related post: Using Google Trends to compare sequencers.