On Friday January 29, I participated in The Long Table, an open discussion session part of Refest in which about 8 individuals were invited to discuss the state of remix in 2013. The video of the discussion is embedded above. The Long Table was co-curated by Tom Tenney. The event took place at La Mama streamed live and archived online by Culturehub. I had the pleasure to participate in this event along with Adriano Clemente, David Commander, Fabian Saucedo, Jennifer Weber, and DJ Spooky, among others. The discussion began with the copyright dispute over the song “Girls” between GoldieBlox and The Beastie Boys. It moved from there to other aspects of remix. Refest took place at La Mama from November 29 – December 1, and also featured a performance by DJ Spooky which took place on November 30. The video of the performance is embedded below. Many thanks to Tom Tenney for inviting me to participate, a special thanks to the entire staff at La Mama and Culturehub, who do an amazing job at producing high quality events.
I was able to set up a couple of decks recently, and decided to mix from time to time selected recordings from my own library to share. The “Trip Hop Revisit” above consists of well known tracks. The last “Beached,” however, is usually included in the genre of Acid Jazz. The list of all tracks is below. I hope you enjoy.
1) DJ Shadow: Lost and Found (S.F.L.), 1994
2) DJ Krush: Just Wanna Touch Her (Stoned Jazz Mix), 1994
3) Massive Attack: Blue Lines, 1991
4) Dread Flimstone: Roots, 1991
5) Tricky: Live W/Yo Self, 1996
6) Milk: Beached, 1994
Above: “La Femme Deadly Venoms Female DJS Beat makers”, included in the resource selections below.
List of online resources and music selection for week 7 of Hip-Hop to Dubstep, taught during the summer of 2013 at The New School’s Media Studies, Department of Communication. I will be releasing brief notes based on my class lectures in the near future. If interested in looking at the actual class webpage with all the weekly selections at once, feel free to peruse this link: http://navasse.net/NS/NCOM3039A/. My notes will not be available on the class webpage, only on each corresponding entry here on Remix Theory. Please note that links may become broken. If and when this happens, the best thing to do is to search for the source by name. And do let me know if anything is broken and I will look into it.
Above: “The Rise Of Dubstep | Documentary”, included in the resource selections below.
List of online resources and music selection for week 6 of Hip-Hop to Dubstep, taught during the summer of 2013 at The New School’s Media Studies, Department of Communication. I will be releasing brief notes based on my class lectures in the near future. If interested in looking at the actual class webpage with all the weekly selections at once, feel free to peruse this link: http://navasse.net/NS/NCOM3039A/. My notes will not be available on the class webpage, only on each corresponding entry here on Remix Theory. Please note that links may become broken. If and when this happens, the best thing to do is to search for the source by name. And do let me know if anything is broken and I will look into it.
24 Hours Experience – “Together” (1994) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjz6Nz9HGq0 Note that this is basically a house record. This a transitional song towards UK Garage as it came to eventually evolved in the well-known MJ Cole “Sincere” (see below).
24 Hour Experience – Together (Robbie Styles Remix) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBSKDx8f0aE
Above: “portishead – documentaire – 1998 (welcome to portishead)”, included in the resource selections below.
List of online resources and music selection for week 5 of Hip-Hop to Dubstep, taught during the summer of 2013 at The New School’s Media Studies, Department of Communication. I will be releasing brief notes based on my class lectures in the near future. If interested in looking at the actual class webpage with all the weekly selections at once, feel free to peruse this link: http://navasse.net/NS/NCOM3039A/. My notes will not be available on the class webpage, only on each corresponding entry here on Remix Theory. Please note that links may become broken. If and when this happens, the best thing to do is to search for the source by name. And do let me know if anything is broken and I will look into it.
Coldcut – “Say Kids What time is it?” (1987) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOlI-pi3Zug Coldcut – “Beats and Pieces” (1987) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyIQ2Nzcx_E (Coldcut remixed Eric B & Rakim’s “Paid in Full” thanks to the recognition of the two tracks above. See week 4 for links that explain more about “Paid in full.”)
Coldcut was heavily influenced by the aesthetics of cut & paste as performed on the turntables by Grandmaster Flash on his well-known “Grandmaster
Flash’s Adventures on the Wheels of Steel” (1981) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXNzMVLqIHg
Worth considering how Massive Attack’s cover gets remixed to fit the dialogue of a film (pay attention to how the verses get rearranged to complement the film): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU4EnYbCHJM
Above: “Pump Up the Volume – Part 1, The History of House Music”, included in the resource selections below.
List of online resources and music selection for week 4 of Hip-Hop to Dubstep, taught during the summer of 2013 at The New School’s Media Studies, Department of Communication. I will be releasing brief notes based on my class lectures in the near future. If interested in looking at the actual class webpage with all the weekly selections at once, feel free to peruse this link: http://navasse.net/NS/NCOM3039A/. My notes will not be available on the class webpage, only on each corresponding entry here on Remix Theory. Please note that links may become broken. If and when this happens, the best thing to do is to search for the source by name. And do let me know if anything is broken and I will look into it.
The Salsoul Orchestra. “Ooh, I Love It (Love Break)”. 12″ Original Remix Shep Pettibone. (1982) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkDmbJegNpw Short version (break mix): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynSP04nUThk (Note that in the above mixes you can already hear the drum arrangement that Frankie Bones would come to perfect with drum machines.)
On The House – “Move Your Body” (1986) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enyh56-Q_Cs (First record to use a piano in house music. Became a house anthem because it uses the word “house” in the lyrics)
Jungle Brothers – “I’ll House You” (1989) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFGhQSiGHWM (The above crosses over to what came to be called “hip-house.” Some house purists did not like rap combined with house. Often times only the dub or instrumental versions of this record was remixed on the dancefloor.) One of various intrumental versions that were released:
“Richie Rich Instrumental” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0k1qLGVjsM
Inner City – “The Good Life” (1988) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUwfOOdg4eE Inner City – “Big Fun” (1988) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omfiVkkJ1OU Inner City is a crossover act, and is not necessarily considered a techno group, even though Kevin Saunderson is one of the three founders of Techno in Detroit. The songs by Inner City were also mixed with Freestyle and some Electro-Funk, depending on the club.
Joey Beltram – “Energy Flash” (1990) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALsHox5sYCk Considered a pivotal track in defining the sound of techno particulary in Europe. It is one of the compositions that also opened the door for the aesthetics of trance. Beltram considered his composition to be part of house music, but it eventually became labeled as techno in Europe for selling purposes.
Above: The Amen Break documentary by Nate Harrison, included in the resource selections below.
List of online resources and music selection for week 3 of Hip-Hop to Dubstep, taught during the summer of 2013 at The New School’s Media Studies, Department of Communication. I will be releasing brief notes based on my class lectures in the near future. If interested in looking at the actual class webpage with all the weekly selections at once, feel free to peruse this link: http://navasse.net/NS/NCOM3039A/. My notes will not be available on the class webpage, only on each corresponding entry here on Remix Theory. Please note that links may become broken. If and when this happens, the best thing to do is to search for the source by name. And do let me know if anything is broken and I will look into it.
Newcleus was clearly influenced by the sound coming out of Germany. “Push the Button makes this quite evident.” Also note that while Newcleus were very much experimenting with electro-funk, they also would rap, as you will notice one of their most successful songs is included under the rap section below.
Kid Frost – La Raza (1990) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZ8AS300WH4
(See disco section for the original song “Viva Tirado” by El Chicano to hear the source of melody and percussion samples)
Above: Skatalites Authentic, included in music selections below.
List of online resources and music selection for week 2 of Hip-Hop to Dubstep, taught during the summer of 2013 at The New School’s Media Studies, Department of Communication. I will be releasing brief notes based on my class lectures in the near future. If interested in looking at the actual class webpage with all the weekly selections at once, feel free to peruse this link: http://navasse.net/NS/NCOM3039A/. My notes will not be available on the class webpage, only on each corresponding entry here on Remix Theory. Please note that links may become broken. If and when this happens, the best thing to do is to search for the source by name. And do let me know if anything is broken and I will look into it.
Links used to contextualize why everything is not a remix, but why the concept of remixing has become popular to discuss recycling of material in forms beyond music:
Above: “Rehab” by the Jolly Boys, Mento cover of Amy WineHouse’s composition (listed below as part of music selection)
This summer I am teaching an onlline class on the history of remix in music since the 1960s for The New School’s Media Studies, Department of Communication. I will be making available the music selections for each week in a total of 7 entries. I will be releasing brief notes based on my lectures in the near future, for now I am sharing the online resources and music selection. The first week’s list of resources is below, following the description of the class. If interested in looking at the actual class webpage with all the weekly selections at once, feel free to peruse it: http://navasse.net/NS/NCOM3039A/ . My notes will not be available on the class webpage, only on each corresponding entry here on Remix Theory. Please note that links may become broken. If and when this happens, the best thing to do is to search for the source by name. And do let me know if anything is broken and I will look into it.
Course Description
This course is a theoretical and historical survey of popular music influenced by or part of the remix tradition in hip-hop and electronica. Emphasis is placed on the shaping of culture by media and vice-versa. Remixes are compositions that reconfigure a pre-existing music recording, often to make it more danceable. As simple as the definition sounds, it carries a complex set of cultural variables that include issues of class, gender, and ethnicity. Listening exercises and analysis of recorded music is complemented by readings that provide understanding of the historical context and theoretical underpinning of remix practices. Our survey begins with popular music in the United States in the early 1950s, including Blues, R&B, Rock n’ Roll, and early funk. In the 1960s, this music was appropriated in the Caribbean and gave birth to new styles, Calypso, Ska, Reggae, and Dub. Then it came full circle back to the United States with the development of hip-hop music. The rise of the international styles called trip-hop, drum ‘n’ bass, and dubstep and the parallel history of techno and house music and styles in-between are then considered, in order to arrive at a theoretical understanding of the complexity of contemporary music and the extent to which it has been defined by the principles of sampling and remix.
Image: The four diagrams of The Framework of Culture. Each is discussed below.
Note: This text was commissioned for the exhibition Reuse Aloud, taking place at the NewBridge Project Space, Newcastle, England; and broadcasting 24 hours a day on basic.fm throughout March, 2013. Many thanks to the curators Will Strong and Rosanna Skett for commissioning the text. A recorded version is also part of the exhibition.
An earlier version of this text was presented as my keynote speech for Remixed Media Festival in NYC. In that occassion I only focused on literature. The version for Reuse Aloud was revised to include art and music as well. My thanks to Tom Tenney, director of the NYC festival for giving me the opportunity to test my ideas in front of a very receptive audience.
This text can also be downloaded as a PDF, which is friendlier for print, or for reading on tablets: NavasFrameNC_Web
Introduction
We live in a time when the self-awareness of recycling of material and immaterial things is almost taken for granted. I state almost because, as the following analysis demonstrates, the potential of recycling as a creative act in what we refer to as remix is in constant friction with cultural production. Consequently, the purpose of this essay is to demonstrate the importance of remix as a practice worthy of proper recognition exactly because of its ability to challenge the mainstream’s ambivalent acceptance of aesthetic and critical production that relies on strategies of appropriation, recycling, and recontextualization of material.
Proper recognition is only worthy when it is an attestation of a particular achievement, which can only come about through struggle. Arguably a type of struggle that is certainly recognized and even celebrated quite often, (which admittedly makes for romantic narratives) is the basic human struggle: the will to live. We can think of struggle here as a term spanning across all types of activities, from war to natural disasters—many which are now commonly shared all over the world.
But to begin with a more basic premise, struggle in its most abstract form can simply consist of reflecting on the pain of self-awareness; of having the burden of knowing that we just exist and, for the most part, will do anything to make sure that we will exist for as long as possible. Many of us are willing to find ways to extend our lives before we take our last breath. Others, admittedly, will struggle to leave this world as soon as possible; thus, it may be suicide the subject of struggle in such cases. But this brief reflection on struggle as a humanistic preoccupation is mentioned because we diligently have extended it to everything we produce. It is an important ingredient in what we may call progress. As romantic as it may sound, human beings have the tendency to struggle in order to be better; whatever that means. And as we have grown as a complex global society, we have been able to extend our struggle on to and through media.
