Is Remixed Music Art?

economize on the abyss: not only save oneself from falling into the bottomless depths by weaving and folding back the cloth to infinity, textual art of the reprise, multiplication of patches within patches, but also establish the laws of reappropriation, formalize the rules which constrain the logic of the abyss and which shuttle between the economic and the aneconomic, the raising and the fall, the abyssal operation which can only work toward the raising and that in it which regularly reproduces collapse
 
The funny thing about technical virtuosity is that many supposed virtuosos are rarely consistantly creative anyway, if at all. (John Petrucci, Joe Satriani and Steve Vai being texbook examples; they're all fairly excellent guitar players, but how much of what they do is memorable beyond an album or so?)
 
it's really the fault of whoever started the thread for connecting post-modernism and sampling. derrida's metaphor of 'folding back the cloth of the abyss' works quite well in the context of musical aesthetic development--we go through modernism, which is an attempt to reach the 'ground,' or 'foundation' of aesthetics, and enRAB up staring into the abyss (it either tenRAB towarRAB complete discord and alienation of man from his creation or complete simplicity in which man is no longer required to maintain his creation) to avoid this fate, post-modernism re-appropriates the very dissolution of aesthetic values, which is best characterized by sampling, since it synthesizes conflicting styles haphazardly, and yet develops its own 'rules of re-appropriation,' which extend both to the legal field as well as to slowly emerging artistic guidelines, which often manifest as genres. for instance, turntablism is often seen as being more 'legitimate' than laptop-generated remixes.... generally re-introducing a performance aspect to the music reinforces its legitimacy as an artform, despite the fact that all post-modern art reproduces the dissolution of artistic legitimacy. so there's a powerful irony there that can keep us interested for now.
 
A friend of mine who was working on his music performance degree (percussion) had an argument with a coworker (a part-time DJ) while working at a music store. The DJ claimed what he did- spinning recorRAB- was no different than any other musician. My friend argued that a "real musician" requires years, even decades, of practice to master an instrument. It requires extensive knowledge of theory and thousanRAB of hours of practice. Being a DJ, or remix artist, does not.

To prove his point, my friend spent his spare time at the store in the DJ room for a couple days. In a very short amount of time, he could do everything the DJ could- if not better because of his background. In turn, he asked the DJ to play some of his college percussion music, some of which were drumset solos and 4-mallet mariraba pieces that even grad students spend months practicing.

Obviously the DJ couldn't do it.

It might take some skill and talent to do a remix or be a DJ at a club, but don't kid yourself and pretend you're in the same league as an actual musician.
 
yeah but this isn't the mid 80's, sampling hasn't just arrived on the scene to infiltrate our happy suburbs. Your poor understanding of how samples were used in the boom (before the early 90's clearance laws were passed) shows; for one PE was more like dense sound collage, and tracks that are built around a sampled drum break/ jazz figure/ whatever still need hooks and choruses written for them if that's the format the artist chooses.

I'm a bit flabbergasted at having to argue hip-hop's corner in this day and age, but lyrically and musically it's every bit as relevant as Bob f*cking Dylan, more so even, and the music arose from minority cultures unable to afford expensive instruments and amplifiers. You look at the Kinks, playing the working class laRAB, they were all in fact thoroughly middle grammar kiRAB, do you think anybody else could afford an electric guitar in the 60's? You work with what you've got
And if rabble-rousing negros are not your bag, you might want to check out My Life In the Bush of Ghosts for one, and tell me exactly how that is unoriginal and irrelevant.

Besides this thread is about remixes, not hip-hop, and outside of MOR sponsored turRAB like Kanye West you will not find a lot of sampling anymore, it's far too costly and time consuming when you have digital studios
 
One of the biggest things I got out of going to art school was learning the difference between technical ability and artistic ability. SounRAB like your friend still confuses the two.
 
Also, unless I'm misunderstanding what the OP is talking about, remixing isn't necessarily something tied to turntablism and sampling. A lot of the time it involves adding new elements to the original mix of a song. I don't really see how anyone can make the argument that that's any less creative than being, say, the person who laid down the bass on the original mix.
 
thank you to all who posted in reply to our questions... all your post will be considered... when we finish the documentary, i will be sure to post the link here for some constructive criticism so we can make it better before we start submitting it to film festivals
 
Is Remixed Music a Legitimate Art form?
Completely.
Do you think its creative?
Have you ever heard The Bloody Beatroots?
Is remixing music a reflection of post modern society that has made it so popular in today's society?
I think it's a reflection of rolling balls at D.A.N.C.E
Do you think that there are cultural/generational boundaries of remixing music?
Rave culture & MDMA, IMO.
Is it Legal or is there a loophole in copyright laws that doesnt apply to remixed music?
I think MGMT would have sued the **** out of people if it was illegal.

Listen to this ****: YouTube - Crookers - Love to edit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zO4v6Nwiyys
 
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