I actually discovered the Tape-Beatles via Psycho Cat's last.fm profile. Due to the limited number of plays, I thought it was safe to assume that he hadn't had a chance to listen to a full album by them yet, so I hope this comes as a surprise to you Psycho. I was also surprised to discover that the Tape-Beatles, under the moniker of Public Works, sampled heavily from an obscure album titled the Conet Project, that I recently discovered thanks to Allywonderland (a former guest-blogger here). It's a small world after all...
The Tape-beatles (also known as Public Works) are a multi-media group from Iowa City that formed in December 1986. Don't let the name fool you though. This group has more in common with Negativland than the fab four. Its members include Lloyd Dunn, John Heck, Ralph Johnson and Paul Neff. Beginning with analog tape recorders, and later expanding to include digital technology and film media, the group has used collage techniques to create works that challenge the notion of intellectual property. Their works make extensive use of materials appropriated from various sources through a process they call "Plagiarism®". The Tape-beatles' body of work consists mainly of music and audio art recordings, 'expanded' and 'performed' cinema performances, videos, printed publications, as well as works in other media. They produce and release work under an umbrella organization called Public Works Productions.
In 1993 the Tape-Beatles released their third album, The Grand Delusion, still hailed as their masterpiece by those familiar with the entirety of their work. The Grand Delusion is a bitter mediation on the U.S. Persian Gulf War and the historical context that created it. It uses voice samples from a wide variety of sources, including speeches from George H. W. Bush, television news, and the occasional right-wing religious zealot. These voice samples are accompanied by collages of sampled sounds and music, which generate an overall atmosphere of uncertainty and unease. In addition to their musical evolution during this time, the group refined their presentation approach as well, distilling it down to just three 16mm projectors, used in a configuration the group named 'Polyvision', in honor of Abel Gance's pioneering movie techniques of the 1920s
Year of Release: 1993
Label: Staalplaat
Genre: Sound Collage, Plunderphonics, Experimental
Bitrate: 160kbps
Track List:
1. The American Adventure
2. Primary Delusion
3. America Is Confident
4. Lament
5. Frog Story
6. Mind Problems
7. Love
8. Home Problems
9. Behold A Republic
10. Grave Implications
11. Great Difficulties
12. Chilling
13. You Have To Participate
14. Candidate
15. Flowers For Dead Heroes
16. Thus
17. Back To The Start
18. More Difficulties
19. The Difference
20. Mother
21. Help
Download: The Tape-Beatles - The Grand Delusion
Download Size: 68MB
3 comments:
hey thanks for the link =]
I have the Plunderphonics box which is fascinating, although kind of a tough listen. Thanks for this one.
philliebuster: Which plunderphonics box are you referring to? I would like to give it a listen if you could share it. I find that I enjoy most plunderphonics/sound collage material.
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