Posts by Paul Barrett17

I get why you're pissed, but clearly you just can't handle a little cynicism or irony. You keep insisting "Margita being dead" is somehow "tasteless," but that phrase doesn't insult her or say anything bad about her—it just states the plain truth... that our favorite Margita isn't with us anymore.

The songwriter behind that name is a total provocateur, and I love how he refuses to play nice with those media-hyped "saints" that nobody dares to criticize. Musically speaking, not everyone is going to love EKV or Margita. As a fan of both the living Margita and the late Margita (and her bandmates), I’m totally fine with people either being all-in or hating it. There's no middle ground.

I know plenty of people who can't stand EKV, and they're just as right to feel that way as the die-hard fans. It's the exact same deal with Depeche Mode, Nick Cave, Cohen, Pope, U2, Bob Dylan, and all those other icons. To some, they're legends; to others, they're just noise they don't care to worship.

Look, sorry if you guys want to complain, but calling a project 'Margaret is Dead' is actually pretty creative.

It’s a total provocation, and honestly, it’s intentional. Life doesn't play fair and it doesn't care about being polite, so why should this name? Sure, maybe it rubs some people the wrong way, but this 'Margaret' persona covers some seriously edgy ground—stuff like 'Transsexual', 'Dumb Girls', 'Guys Love Inversion Today', 'I am Yours, You are Mine', 'In the Neon Shadow', and 'Blitzmädel'... It’s a wild, jumpy mix that definitely isn't for the purists or the conservative types. And hey, if things like 'black shit', 'Mustaches', 'Fiery Kisses', 'Pinkies', 'Wolves', 'Kawasaki 3-pointers', 'Flight 3', and 'Cold Beers' can exist in this world, then there’s gotta be a little corner for this obscure, late lady too (even if comparing her to those is just random).

Margaret is dead. Forever...

Remastered Anthology (all ten albums) - $333.

Speak & Spell, 1981
A Broken Frame, 1982
Construction Time Again, 1983
Some Great Reward, 1984
Black Celebration, 1986
Music For the Masses, 1987
Violator, 1990
Songs of Faith & Devotion, 1993
Ultra, 1997
Exciter, 2001

The whole set is from the original SACD series. They’re practically mint and barely touched.
Selling the full collection, not individual discs. Shoot me a PM if you want them. Peace.

Also, I just remembered this wild story that ties directly back to the thread title—"the art of sampling or blatant theft."

Not sure how many of you actually know the story from back in the early '90s involving that American ready-made band Negativland. Specifically, the massive scandal that dragged U2 and Island Records right into the middle of the mess.

Before that whole messy U2 situation kicked off, Negativland spent an entire decade churning out bizarre, subversive audio collages. Their goal was actually pretty noble: they wanted to tackle media freedom and free speech by hacking together archival clips—everything from old music and movie snippets to radio spots and TV commercials. The real magic of Negativland’s work is how they take these seemingly harmless samples and throw them into a much heavier context. They’re basically calling out how stagnant society has become, blindly swallowing whatever is served to them just because of sheer brand loyalty.

It’s a wild mix. On one hand, you’ve got this hilarious, witty, and super clever vibe. But on the other, there's this dark undertone about people going head-to-head with the law. In Negativland's case, it’s all about them pushing the limits when it comes to the art of sampling or blatant theft.

Negativland decided to mess with the whole idea of U2 being this massive, ultra-liberal rock icon promoting total media freedom and free speech. Right when U2 announced their big comeback with *Achtung Baby*, this weird record popped up. The cover is basically just "U2" printed everywhere in huge letters, with the actual artist—Negativland—hidden in tiny print underneath. In the middle, there’s this medium-sized picture of a U2 spy plane, which was Negativland's direct way of pointing out that the band actually took their name from the aircraft.

That record features two insane takes on U2's hit "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." In the first version, they basically hijack almost a full minute of the original U2 creation. Then, in their signature Negativland style, they overlay this wild, high-energy parody of the lyrics: "I have climbed the highest mountains, and I have run through the fields only to be with you, yes you—the fat one, that's right—you're the fat one and I want to be with you..." 🙂)

It all gets mashed up with those specific samples Negativland stumbled upon—like those random, crude snippets of the famous American announcer Kasey Casem saying, "these guys are from England and who gives a shit?!"

Another version included in this release isn't quite as controversial, but it’s definitely just as intense. It’s basically a "karaoke" cut where Negativland goes even harder on Casem's crude outbursts of rage—you know, all that stuff like, "Play the goddam' record, this is bullshit, nobody cares...!"

Look, all this stuff about sampling culture shouldn't even be a big deal. But here we are. It’s only been a few weeks since that weird "new record" from U2 hit the shelves, and Island Records—the massive label backing them—decided to go scorched earth. They basically blindsided Negativland and their label, SST Records, with a nearly 200-page lawsuit claiming every possible copyright violation under the sun. What's wild is that the U2 guys themselves seem to be behind it, with R.E.M. acting as the middlemen. This is hilarious considering they just launched this whole big campaign about media freedom and protecting individual liberties. So now they’re orchestrating a hit job on some tiny, obscure band that wasn't exactly making millions off their experiments. Is Negativland actually innocent victims here, or just reckless experimenters poking at untouchable icons? Either way, U2 is definitely one of those untouchables, sitting right there in the middle of music, politics, and corporate power.

They clearly learned the hard way just how destructive a power play can be. Island Records went totally overboard with their legal move. Their lawsuit actually included a clause demanding that anyone who bought the Negativland parody release had to return every single copy so they could be destroyed—which, let’s face it, was basically targeting the record stores that originally agreed to stock this weird release. "U2" was pulled instantly, banned from all radio stations, and even DJs playing it risked being prosecuted under that ruthless lawsuit aimed at the band itself.

The fallout? It pretty much wiped out both Negativland and SST Records, who stood zero chance against Island. As for U2, they rarely said much about this bizarre mess, sticking to the usual script that they had no clue a lawsuit was even happening. But there are hints they weren't telling the whole truth. It looks like they knew exactly what was going down and might have even given the green light to strike back that cruelly, just because someone played around with their symbolism and poked fun at the massive media hype surrounding U2 (just look at that concert scene where Bono dresses up as the devil to call politicians live on stage in front of a cheering crowd...).

But it wasn't over yet. After losing the legal war and having their lives wrecked, Negativland got a shot at payback. They were secretly called to participate in a radio segment featuring The Edge, right around the time his album "Achtung Baby" was making huge headlines. The Edge had absolutely no idea he was being interviewed by the very members of Negativland. At first, the questions were totally standard, until the conversation drifted toward freedom of speech, expression, and the (mis)use of the media. The Edge started into the band's usual litany about being absolute champions of media freedom, but things turned incredibly awkward when the two Negativland members finally revealed who they were and thanked him for "tolerating" media freedoms in light of the release that cost them everything.

Mark Hosler, one of the main spokespeople for Negativland, mentioned during one of his frequent lectures on communication freedoms that while Negativland didn't get a "hit" out of the U2 situation, they definitely got a "hit-lawsuit."

I brought up M/A/R/R/S before, the group behind that massive hit "Pump Up the Volume" which was built entirely on samples. That track blew up right as stricter copyright laws were being passed in the UK, so M/A/R/R/S—specifically the Colourbox members Martyn and Steven Young—felt the legal hammer fall too. Because the production trio Stock Aitken Waterman were the ones pushing hardest for blood, the Young brothers were never allowed to perform or release anything under the "Colourbox" name again. Ironically, though, M/A/R/R/S survived as a project and kept feeding record stores that one tiny, miraculous sample-heavy hit that still gets people on the dance floor today.

urbannomad30 said:I’ve been listening to some Zoviet, but I honestly had no clue about these weird media formats 😳, Paul Barrett17, you got any photos to help me wrap my head around it?

http://www.the-edge.ws/zoviet/

Everything you need to know about them is right here... though if I recall correctly, the site hasn't been updated in a minute, so some links might be dead. Regardless, the examples of ceramics, asphalt, and stuff 🙂 are all there. Enjoy.

As for the whole culture of sampling and how they influenced everything by mixing found sounds into music, check out this killer NBC documentary 'The Wrecking Crew'. It covers the pioneers (well, some of the first ones) of sampling and the Motown studio, an institution that was way ahead of its time with sound.

Talking about Philip Jecko actually made me realize I totally glossed over his legendary predecessor—the band that basically defined what sample art is all about: *Zoviet : France*.

Beyond just the tracks they built using random analog gear, Zoviet : France feels real because their physical media is pure treasure. We’re talking handmade stuff—jute sacks, asphalt, ceramics, plywood... the whole works.

It’s just pure superficiality from the folks at Guinness World Records. It's obvious they haven't heard a single album by Philip Jecko 🙂—the guy actually earned a ton of respect for his 'Vinyl Requiem.' Look, Jecko's stuff is straight-up ambient music built from samples of broken records spinning live, running them through distortions to make that vinyl crackle feel even more mysterious.

I’m pretty sure the specific laws regarding copyright "misuse" didn't really tighten up until the late eighties—specifically when that massive single
Pump up The Volume by m / a / R / R / S hit the scene.

Because an experiment like that—built entirely out of snippets from other tracks like Ofre Haze, that Eric B. & Rakim duo, and Bomb The Bass—ended up absolutely crushing it on the charts, certain producers (looking at you, Stock Aitken Waterman) did everything in their power to bury the track.
Even though the crew behind m / a / R / R / S (members of the killer Colourbox and A. R. kan groups along with DJs Dave Dorell and C. J. Mackintosh) lost their day in court,
'Pump Up The Volume' still stands as the ultimate hit. It was way more radical than anything before it and basically jumpstarted the whole revolution of making music from found sounds. You can trace that lineage back to Burroughs, Jean Dubuffet, and the legendary Karlheinz Stockhausen with his 'Gesang der Jünglinge'.
Personally, I don't see sampling as blatant theft. To me, it's pure fun, a way to test your technical skills, or just a direct homage to something that inspired you. Sure, the music industry slapped down these ruthless copyright laws (even if they don't always follow them themselves), but I think if you actually credit the source you used for a piece of your work—even if that's harder than it sounds in real life—that's enough of a nod to let people go find the original.

Sampling is everywhere. It goes from nature sounds, which nobody owns, to specific recordings from avant-garde artists, rock legends, or even the lowest-tier pop acts. Nowadays, regardless of how much skill someone has, there isn't a single person who hasn't sampled *something* at some point, whether they were messing with tape loops, dictaphones, or hardware samplers. Now, it's all just in a computer. Everyone has their own version of 🙂 Proteus IV.

As for that middle ground where things get tacky—I can't stand those lazy samples where some old, classy hit gets slapped with a cheap dance or house beat just to force it onto club crowds.

The roots of hip-hop sampling? I remember flipping on the radio once and hearing nothing but record scratching and rapping. It sounded incredible—raw, high-energy, and without all the extra fluff that turned modern hip-hop into kitsch comparable to trashy pop music (all that glorifying crime and over-the-top flashiness). Hip-hop’s knack for sound collage is what really helped it break into the mainstream. Before the 'Pump Up The Volume' moment, you had The Art of Noise leading a small revolution, using a 'Kraftwerk-style' approach to turn Dadaism and Futurism into irresistible dance patterns—either through their own records or by acting as production wizards on Malcolm McLaren’s seminal 1982 hip-hop album, "Duck Rock".

The famous critic Biba Kopf once said that hip-hop's roots, especially regarding sampling, are deeply embedded in the early sonic art-terrorism of Cabaret Voltaire and Throbbing Gristle, who managed to fuse avant-garde noise and sampling with electro-pop melodies.

It’s just not my thing, but honestly, looking at all the pop music from the last few decades, there is definitely way worse stuff out there than Justin Timberlake... that's all I'm saying.