On the cutting edge of mash-up culture
By MATT ASHARE | October 30, 2007
Oh Astro |
Shrouded in mystery and allied with those subversive, copyright-infringing folks in Negativland, the Illegal Art label has been flaunting its liberal interpretation of “fair use” since 1998. With a growing roster of samplists, Illegal Art is on the cutting edge of mash-up culture, thanks in large part to the success of Night Ripper, the all-samples, glitch-hop tour de force released by Girl Talk (a/k/a Gregg Gillis) last year. Now, a new Girl Talk disc is imminent, and Illegal Art has made a free four-song sampler available at http://illegalart.net/a/go.php. Here’s a rundown of the latest Illegal treats.
Steinski, “Voice Mail”
The title refers to the ringing phone that kicks things off, as a computerized voice answers, “Thank you for calling Sugar Hill. Please press one for old-school hip-hop.” What follows is a bewildering mix of vinyl scratching, thumping beats, whistles, and cries of “hip-hop!” spliced together over what sounds like a sample from the Jacksons’ “ABC.” The real shock, however, is that this track is just a taste of a two-disc set of Steinski’s work that Illegal Art is preparing to release. And the comp has tracks that date all the way back to the stone age of sampling, 1983.
Girl Talk, “Lets Run This”
No, this isn’t a preview of the next disc: it’s a cut from a long out-of-print compilation. But it’s as bold as anything on Night Ripper, nabbing Queen’s stomping “We will, we will, rock you” as a base for a conversation between Snoop Dogg and Nelly that leads into a jungle of smashed and trashed beats. And that’s just the first half-minute. Before long, Gillis is tying Kelly Osbourne’s “Shut Up” in knots around the chorus of “Cry Me a River.”
Oh Astro, “Hello Fuji Boy”
Seems it’s okay to steal the vocal track from Lionel Richie’s “Hello” as long as you gate it so heavily that only every third syllable is audible. That’s the conceit on which “Hello Fuji Boy” is built — that and a funky electro groove.
Realistic, “Music In the Round”
In very Negativland fashion, Realistic (a/k/a sound collagist James Towning) bases this piece on an old German folk song, “Himmel und Erde müßen vergeben” (“All Things Shall Perish”), sung by some sweet lass. She’s joined by an “instructor,” who explains how a canon or round works — just think of “Row Your Boat” or “Frère Jacques.”
Related:
Sports blotter: June 2, 2006, Keeping it surreal, Going on sale: February 15, 2008, More 
- Sports blotter: June 2, 2006
In what may be the highest-profile Crips murder case since the Snoop Dogg “Murder Was the Case” incident, a Los Angeles high-school football star on his way to a full ride at Oregon was implicated last week in an investigation that reads like a Sociology 101 lesson in Crips hierarchies.
- Keeping it surreal
This article originally appeared in the September 4, 1998 issue of the Boston Phoenix .
- Going on sale: February 15, 2008
The Kills, Cloud Cult, Jay-Z, and more.
- Static movements
The LA-based label Mush, home to the clever instrumental hip-hop of Caural, Daedalus, and Company Flow’s Bigg Jus, has signed one of our favorite local pop projects: Boy in Static. K-The-I???, "You're Not That Beautiful" (mp3)
- On the racks: October 31, 2006
Plus Lady Sovereign, Isis, and Flavor Flav.
- Techno or yes, part II
Bit of a frustrating week here at Circuits as the Hub continues to change. Paul Dailey live in Louisville (mp3) Slaine, "Rich Man Poor Man" (YouTube)
- Turnover
The big news on the local live-music front is the new management at the Asylum. Steve Woitasek has been running the city’s most perplexing venue for the past five years or so, but for 2006, Tim Reed has taken over management and booking.
- Breaking it down
There are so many things wrong with this review, both factually and in his dismissal and apparent ignorance of the whole culture of hip-hop.
- Kidz In The Hall | Land Of Make Believe
The Most Improved Player award goes to . . . Kidz in the Hall for finally living up to the hype that caught their sail in 2008.
- 30 songs to spill beer on your iPod to
No song captures the quiet desperation of a hard-drinking, hardscrabble nowhere town better than this one.
- No advil, no booze
...Musing on science fiction, existentialism, and stalker ex-husbands.
- Less
Topics:
Download
, Entertainment, Hip-Hop and Rap, Music, More
, Entertainment, Hip-Hop and Rap, Music, Snoop Dogg, Lionel Richie, Girl Talk (Musician), Negativland, Kelly Osbourne, Less
