Pogo Alohomora

You probably know Pogo from his viral hit "Alice," an electronic downtempo jam that samples Disney's "Alice in Wonderland." Since then, Pogo (aka Nick Bertke) has made a name for himself by releasing beautifully crafted songs made up of small samples from films. He has also gained what could be considered a cult following, where fans make tribute songs in the style of his music, and search the Internet for the unidentified samples used in his songs.

In an attempt to protect himself from legal action, Pogo has released his music at a low bitrate for free via last.fm and his website. Some of his YouTube videos and songs, such as "Bangarang," sampled from Steven Spielberg's "Hook," have been removed from the Internet due to copyright infringement.

Although "Alice" is by far his most popular track, Pogo is not just another one-hit-wonder; his other songs are of equal genius and just as great as the song that launched his career.

Weave and Wish is a 5-track EP that contains music sampled from what could be best described as "magical" films such as "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," and "Sword in the Stone." The first track, "Mending," from the 1968 film adaptation of "Oliver!," begins with a four-to-the-floor kick drum and a glitchy string sample tied together by an almost subliminal bass line. We soon hear snippets of speech whirling around our heads. Although vocal samples are usually the centerpiece of the music, there are no official lyrics; what the words may or may not be are left up to the listeners to interpret for themselves.

The second track, "Alohamora," inspired by "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," captures the magic I felt while seeing the film for the first time as a kid. The lyrics to this song are more intelligible, and almost serve as a narrative, telling a condensed version of the story of Harry Potter's first year at Hogwarts. The song is full of spells and twists and turns that any Harry Potter fan is sure to enjoy.

It will be interesting to see where Pogo's career goes, since there is no one quite like him and no one to compare him to. Will he be an artist that stays underground with a cult following, occasionally getting his music removed from the Internet? Or will film companies like Disney realize how valuable his services can be and use his music to promote films rather than call his remixes copyright infringement and label him a criminal?

In the meantime, Pogo's music will be available online for us to enjoy.