Can I Get An Amen? is an audio installation that unfolds a critical perspective of perhaps the most sampled drums beat in the history of recorded music, the Amen Break. It begins with the pop track Amen Brother by 60’s soul band The Winstons, and traces the transformation of their drum solo from its original context as part of a ‘B’ side vinyl single into its use as a key aural ingredient in contemporary cultural expression. The work attempts to bring into scrutiny the techno-utopian notion that ‘information wants to be free’- it questions its effectiveness as a democratizing agent. This as well as other issues are foregrounded through a history of the Amen Break and its peculiar relationship to current copyright law.
idm
Squarepusher
I got a promo for the upcoming Squarepusher album “Go Plastic”, and so far, so good. It isn’t the revolutionary work that many have made it out to be, but it is a damn fine CD. Sometimes you think to yourself that Mr. Jenkinson has run out of new breakbeats and he is reusing ones from prior CDs, but I don’t think it is overbearingly derivative (just a smidge). It is definitely a more aggressive, less jazzy album (compare to the Big Loada EP), but the jazz influences are still there, they have just taken a back seat for awhile. It will take a few more listens before I make a final decision, but I am not disappointed as of yet.