Self Goes Shopping has spent the past quarter-century existing in an unusual place within Self's catalog. Released as a collection of bizarre instrumental reworkings of the band's songs, it has become a curiosity for fans interested in the more experimental corners of Matt Mahaffey's work.
But according to Mahaffey, that wasn't really what it was supposed to be. As he put it during a recent Q&A, the material was never intended for artistic or critical evaluation.
What might seem like six deliberately eccentric experiments in genre pastiche were purely pieces of pre-show music designed to get a reaction from an audience. Mahaffey went on in the Q&A to discuss what sparked a few of these mixes, which makes it all the more possible to inspect them critically anyway.
Self Goes Shopping: A two-day experiment meant for the stage
The revelations came during Mahaffey's fifth Q&A in the Self Discord server and his 19th appearance in the community since joining in November 2024, the day after his latest single "Love You Less". The session included over 20 questions, with much of the discussion focusing on Self Goes Shopping.
Mahaffey revealed that the entire project was created in just two days, and that its original purpose was considerably less ambitious. When the six mixes were played before Self's concerts, audiences were often left bewildered by the strange renditions coming through the speakers.
"It was really fun to watch people in the crowd be like, WTF, oh! WTF", Matt shared on what he witnessed at shows. It seems his sense of humor employed through the extended play successfully worked on the band's unsuspecting fans before its release in 2000.
Varying genre shifts from martial arts to rave music
"Sassy Britches (Kung-Pow Mix)" kicks off the project, turning the original into a cartoonish, martial-arts-inspired rendition. This percussion- and string-oriented take is reminiscent of the bossa nova Self employed months earlier on the bridge of Gizmodgery's "Trunk Fulla Amps", feeling at home in the era.
The mix runs at 170 BPM, nearly the same as the original 172, while cutting a full minute from its runtime, landing at 3:53. Finishing off with some soft flutes, it's a very welcoming way to invite listeners to the playful yet still somewhat professional soundscape of Self Goes Shopping.
The most drastic transformation of its source material is "Cannon (Rave-A-Licious Mix)". It originally paced at a strong 82 BPM, while the remix nearly doubles that to 123 BPM and reduces the song to just 1:39. Only a single verse and chorus remain, surrounded by a repetitive synth-driven beat that serves as both an intro and an outro.
Rather than developing into a full reinterpretation, the track abruptly falls apart during its final ten seconds into a dark, wobbling passage before fading out. It's an intentionally strange treatment, especially for one of the band's signature songs, feeling the least satisfying as a standalone listen.
High-quality homages to beloved franchises
Bringing back the energy is "Fliptop Box (Super Mario Mix)", spinning the originally serious tale into a bouncy arrangement of chiptune flutes backed by synth bass and handclaps. The creaky shopping cart and ambient store noise at the end of the track are perhaps the closest the EP gets to connecting with its title.
"Crimes on Paper (David Sanborn Mix)" retains its original 100 BPM tempo as well as its length of just under three minutes, being the most compositionally faithful mix of Self Goes Shopping. It parodies classic sitcom themes like that of Seinfeld, boasting MIDI saxophone solos and catchy slap bass.
Mahaffey explained that the idea of this rendition was to be as cheesy as possible: the exaggerated instrumentation would annoy the audience until they eventually realized the melodies being heard belonged to Self. The funky groove of the mix helps it stand beside the original, arguably making it the project's best song.
Turning to family for collaboration
Not every mix on the EP was made by Matt Mahaffey, either. His brother and bandmate Mike Mahaffey handled "So Low (Banjo Kazooie Mix)", and Matt suggested there may have been another remix made by Mike as well. He referred to them as "the good ones", showing his humility persists no matter the project's size.
The new mix of "So Low" changes the original tempo of 84 BPM to 103, though it now features a new climax in which the song rapidly speeds up before crashing down and landing at 98 for its outro. It's a decent enough track, being a minute shorter than the original and resembling the titular game.
Throughout the song are various lines spoken by toys, including a toy that rings a phone and asks questions. A different voice counts to 4 for the intro in the same manner as the track "I Am A Little Explosion" from the toy-performed Gizmodgery, hinting that some extra toys from the album might've been used here.
Singing like Billy Joel in the shower, literally
Closing out Self Goes Shopping is "Uno Song (Billy Joel) Mix", which differs drastically stylistically. Instead of more MIDI instruments, the Mahaffey brothers present the song's melodies in doo-wop and harmonize acapella with finger snaps to keep time. It's a chill, laid-back track, slowed from 138 BPM to 130.
Mahaffey said the mix was inspired by Billy Joel's appreciation for doo-wop, particularly naming "Allentown" as an example of the influence that style had. Revisiting other Joel hits like "Uptown Girl", the number of lush background harmonies becomes more noticeable after hearing how Self highlights them.
He further shared that the original "Uno Song" and its reworking were both recorded in the bathroom of Mahaffey's studio house, the same location earlier used for the horn sections of "It All Comes Out in the Wash" and a scene in the "Cannon" music video. An odd spot to work in, but Mahaffey has never been ordinary with his methods.
An EP never meant to be an EP
Mahaffey also revealed that the mixes he created were sequenced using an Ensoniq EPS-16+, an early '90s sampler and workstation. This technology gives some more context for the EP's tightly quantized arrangements and distinctly dated instrumentation used for the exaggerated mix styles.
Ultimately, Self Goes Shopping makes more sense once its original purpose is understood. These six songs were simply two days' worth of music designed to confuse and amuse concert audiences, a point Mahaffey has repeatedly emphasized recently to dissuade critical evaluation.
Yet more than 25 years later, that's exactly what makes the EP worth examining. Self Goes Shopping may not have been created to withstand scrutiny, but its bizarre arrangements, genre experiments, and technological limitations have preserved it as a fascinating snapshot of Self at the turn of the millennium.
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