Creativity Through Sampling?
A Look at the Inventive Use of Sampling in Popular Music of the Past Nineteen Years:
I find that the stigma associated with sampling is that it's a tool for the uninspired - a legal (sometimes) form of plagiarism of sorts, abused by the likes of Eminem, and that low sort of ilk. After all, why should Vanilla Ice have to write a catchy bassline when Queen's "Under Pressure" is so convenient?
But, this isn't always the case. Now, I present to you four brilliant albums in which sampling plays a vital role, debunking the negative stereotype aboot sampling.
The Beastie Boys - "Paul's Boutique" (1989): While I think I'll always prefer the live jazz grooves of "Check Your Head" (by a teensy margin), this album virtually reinvented sonic hip-hop production, with a little help from The Dust Brothers. I mean, for Christ's sake, there's an entire site dedicated to identifying every goddamn sample and obscure reference on the thing! Of course they were gonna alienate the MTV crowd that latched onto "(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)", but it was worth it to experience this psychedelic smorgasboard of 70's stoner vibes, sampling everything from Paul McCartney to Sly & The Family Stone. And the songs are just fantastic - "Johnny Ryall" is a groovy ode to a local bum, "Looking Down the Barrel of A Gun" is a badass fantasy built around Pink Floyd's "Time" chords, and "Egg Man" is self-explanatory...with the added bonus of Drew Barrymore's scream in E.T.! Listen close to the ping-pong game at the beginning of "3 Minute Rule". The centerpiece, however, has got to be the Beatles'-worshipping "The Sounds of Science"; an entire book could be written about that song, but I suppose that's why there's an entire site listing every fucking sample on the album!
"I'm just chillin', like Bob Dylan
Yeah I smoke cheeba, it helps me with my brain
I might be a little dusted but I'm not insane
People come up to me and they try to talk shit, man
I was making records when you were sucking your
mother's dick"
DJ Shadow - "Endtroducing..." (1996): "Guess who's coming!? Guess who's coming!?" So, if I'm not mistaken, this little record made it into the Guiness Book of World Records as the first (paraphrased) "album made entirely from samples." I have no idea how it's done, but I know I'll never get bored soaking into the textures of "Endtroducing...", ever since I bought it at some shady shop in Toronto that summer. The samples however, are taken out of context and incorporated into a haunting melting pot, somewhere in between hip hop, pop and jazz (let's call it Trip Hop!) Shadow supposedly has one of the largest private vinyl collections in the world, so it's only natural that an achievement like this would be possible. As for highlights, I love the haunting moaning melody and drum manipulation on "Building Steam with a Grain of Salt", or the absolutely sublime textures of "Midnight in a Perfect World" (perfect title, by the way.) "Organ Doner" (a pun!) also rules; check out the way the come in at 20 seconds, totally reinterpreting the downbeat of the rhythm. Recommended to all fans of......music, I guess.
The Avalanches - "Since I Left You" (2001): It's no wonder that these Australian masterminds have been unable to get a follow-up together after six years or so - this recording really is a unique piece of work. I've always viewed all 18 songs as really one long dream-sequence of sorts. It all flows as a unity, sort of a mess of influences and samples and implied melodies and...golly gee, I really can't describe it. "Frontier Psychiatrist" somehow became a left field hit, in all its twisted, therapeutic glory. "Two Hearts in 3/4 Time" is like a Disney waltz on mars in 2029. The rest is really up to you to describe, though. It's a planet of sound, with layers reaching China and back. Like "Endtroducing...", I believe it was created 100% from samples sounds. Probably one of the five or ten greatest records of the millenium so far, and I expect music fans and archeologists alike will still be gazing at its scope in another thousand years.
"Flight 22 is off to Honolulu!"
The Go! Team - "Thunder, Lightning, Strike" (2004): 35 minutes, and they're filled up with a sonic palette smothering your headphones with....happiness! Smiles! Cheerleader samples! Horns! Innapropriate exclamation points! It's all a bit gross, but irresistable. I guess these guys just had nothing better to do than make music just for the sake of music, and we should all be thankful. "The Power is On", "Ladyflash" and "Huddle Formation" are better than you! Give the Go! Team a chance to swallow your soul in this super-saturated high-fat noise!
"One, two, three, four!"
Good night.
I find that the stigma associated with sampling is that it's a tool for the uninspired - a legal (sometimes) form of plagiarism of sorts, abused by the likes of Eminem, and that low sort of ilk. After all, why should Vanilla Ice have to write a catchy bassline when Queen's "Under Pressure" is so convenient?
But, this isn't always the case. Now, I present to you four brilliant albums in which sampling plays a vital role, debunking the negative stereotype aboot sampling.
The Beastie Boys - "Paul's Boutique" (1989): While I think I'll always prefer the live jazz grooves of "Check Your Head" (by a teensy margin), this album virtually reinvented sonic hip-hop production, with a little help from The Dust Brothers. I mean, for Christ's sake, there's an entire site dedicated to identifying every goddamn sample and obscure reference on the thing! Of course they were gonna alienate the MTV crowd that latched onto "(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)", but it was worth it to experience this psychedelic smorgasboard of 70's stoner vibes, sampling everything from Paul McCartney to Sly & The Family Stone. And the songs are just fantastic - "Johnny Ryall" is a groovy ode to a local bum, "Looking Down the Barrel of A Gun" is a badass fantasy built around Pink Floyd's "Time" chords, and "Egg Man" is self-explanatory...with the added bonus of Drew Barrymore's scream in E.T.! Listen close to the ping-pong game at the beginning of "3 Minute Rule". The centerpiece, however, has got to be the Beatles'-worshipping "The Sounds of Science"; an entire book could be written about that song, but I suppose that's why there's an entire site listing every fucking sample on the album!
"I'm just chillin', like Bob Dylan
Yeah I smoke cheeba, it helps me with my brain
I might be a little dusted but I'm not insane
People come up to me and they try to talk shit, man
I was making records when you were sucking your
mother's dick"
DJ Shadow - "Endtroducing..." (1996): "Guess who's coming!? Guess who's coming!?" So, if I'm not mistaken, this little record made it into the Guiness Book of World Records as the first (paraphrased) "album made entirely from samples." I have no idea how it's done, but I know I'll never get bored soaking into the textures of "Endtroducing...", ever since I bought it at some shady shop in Toronto that summer. The samples however, are taken out of context and incorporated into a haunting melting pot, somewhere in between hip hop, pop and jazz (let's call it Trip Hop!) Shadow supposedly has one of the largest private vinyl collections in the world, so it's only natural that an achievement like this would be possible. As for highlights, I love the haunting moaning melody and drum manipulation on "Building Steam with a Grain of Salt", or the absolutely sublime textures of "Midnight in a Perfect World" (perfect title, by the way.) "Organ Doner" (a pun!) also rules; check out the way the come in at 20 seconds, totally reinterpreting the downbeat of the rhythm. Recommended to all fans of......music, I guess.
The Avalanches - "Since I Left You" (2001): It's no wonder that these Australian masterminds have been unable to get a follow-up together after six years or so - this recording really is a unique piece of work. I've always viewed all 18 songs as really one long dream-sequence of sorts. It all flows as a unity, sort of a mess of influences and samples and implied melodies and...golly gee, I really can't describe it. "Frontier Psychiatrist" somehow became a left field hit, in all its twisted, therapeutic glory. "Two Hearts in 3/4 Time" is like a Disney waltz on mars in 2029. The rest is really up to you to describe, though. It's a planet of sound, with layers reaching China and back. Like "Endtroducing...", I believe it was created 100% from samples sounds. Probably one of the five or ten greatest records of the millenium so far, and I expect music fans and archeologists alike will still be gazing at its scope in another thousand years.
"Flight 22 is off to Honolulu!"
The Go! Team - "Thunder, Lightning, Strike" (2004): 35 minutes, and they're filled up with a sonic palette smothering your headphones with....happiness! Smiles! Cheerleader samples! Horns! Innapropriate exclamation points! It's all a bit gross, but irresistable. I guess these guys just had nothing better to do than make music just for the sake of music, and we should all be thankful. "The Power is On", "Ladyflash" and "Huddle Formation" are better than you! Give the Go! Team a chance to swallow your soul in this super-saturated high-fat noise!
"One, two, three, four!"
Good night.
Labels: Beastie Boys, DJ Shadow, The Avalanches, The Go Team
