plunderphonics: c or d?

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inspired by the resurrection of the dead (pun, sadly, not intended) thread...the best deadverk by far, for me, is "grayfolded," john oswald's mammoth two-disc reconstruction of "dark star" etc. into the type of 'lectro-'coustic space-jaunt everyone i think *wants* to hear when they listen to the dead. but never actually do. ('cept those who trick themselves into it, i stupose.)

but while "grayfolded" is routinely shelved admist the bilge overflow of any major record stores dead section, it's also the only work of oswald's that i know of in print. (excepting of course the semi-mythical recent release of a plunderphonics box on negativland's seeland label and of course the original plunderphonics cd available for mp3 download at his website.) so...for those who have managed to hear any of it...plunderphonia and it's attendant offspring...classic or dud?

― jess, Thursday, 4 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

(i sampled this question from someone else.)

― jess, Thursday, 4 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

It's not semi-mythical, it exists, and you can actually find it in stores here and there. To avoid polluting the database here I'll just say that you can find my review of the album here. You can also spot a bit of Plunder vs. Negativland elsewhere on this board.

― Sean Carruthers, Thursday, 4 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

And the point of it all is it's good and Jess is doing himself a severe disservice by not having a copy and we can make fun and point and laugh. *points* Ha.

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 4 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

GRAYFOLDED slaughters!

― Kodanshi, Thursday, 4 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

This seems an odd record in that people talk about the story surrounding the album much more than the music itself. Does it sound cool? Is it fun to listen to? Can comparisons be made with other sample-based artists?

― Mark, Thursday, 4 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

(I'm talking about Plunderphonics, not Grayfolded.)

― Mark, Thursday, 4 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh, Plunderphonics is hilariously great. Not every track is a success, and some of the results sound dated production-wise, if only because computer editing now allows for different culture jamming approaches. But when it's on, it's just plain nuts. You'll not hear the Doors or Queen in quite the same way again. ;-)

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 4 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

it's good to see that my friend Asshole Ned (ask for him by name) is back. ;)

anyway, i do have copies of almost all previously available plunderphonia (the original disc, the elektrax cd, grayfolded) except the new one which i just saw at the rekkid store on the way home so :P

d. toop in a recent wire review of the box basically = oswald less theoretical prankster or semantic explorer than pop musician at heart who "does what all of us want to do when our favorite artists don't give up the goods," in other words exascerbate what we like/love about these artists while discarding the rest. (his theory being that the weakest of oswald's works are the ones where he is mocking rather than reverental or actually interested in the source material..."dab" or "o'hell" versus his beatles reworkings.

― jess, Thursday, 4 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

twenty-two years pass...

on sale via Bandcamp for one day only

https://pfony.bandcamp.com/album/evolver

Why the Beatles?
John Oswald: 'Well i’m still a bit of a fan, but more importantly they provided during their short maturity, a very interesting bridge between the most popular music of the 20th century and some very unpopular things. I won’t make a case for branding my efforts as unpopular, but i think some of these tracks would have been perfectly at home on a Beatles album in 1967 or ‘68.'

― I painted my teeth (sleeve), Friday, 16 February 2024 17:29 (one year ago)

twenty-two years pass...

― I painted my teeth (sleeve), Friday, 16 February 2024 17:30 (one year ago)

Purchased, thanks for the tip. Kinda surprised this thread is so sparse as well.

― brimstead, Friday, 16 February 2024 17:39 (one year ago)

some sample based vaporwave has the same weird dramatic alchemical stitching as some of Oswald’s stuff. I also think about some Terre Thaemlitz stuff too, like on lovebomb when it suddenly bursts into that flock of seagulls song.

― brimstead, Friday, 16 February 2024 17:43 (one year ago)

Funny, I just listened to Grayfolded the other week for the first time in years. (Love it.) Will check this out ASAP.

― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Friday, 16 February 2024 17:45 (one year ago)

huh, was thinking the other day how it was interesting how vaporwave has definitively embraced the term "plunderphonics" for this and that you never hear the phrase "mash-ups" or "sampledelia" much these days.

― Judi Dench's Human Hand (methanietanner), Friday, 16 February 2024 17:56 (one year ago)

cheers for the tip!

― stirmonster, Friday, 16 February 2024 18:05 (one year ago)

yeah that’s interesting. it’s sort of like seeing sampling from different vantage points, maybe? Plunderphonics to me evokes diving deep into a specific sample source and really mining/exploring it. Sampledelia I see as more macro, samples as building blocks and musical elements to be molded together. Mash Ups are pure id, exacting pleasure science

― brimstead, Friday, 16 February 2024 18:14 (one year ago)

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