The Evolution Control Committee is an experimental music band based in Columbus, Ohio. The ECC was founded by Mark Gunderson in Columbus, in 1986. They create music that falls within the borders of the sound collage genre, as it typically uses uncleared and illegal samples from various sources as a form of protest against copyright law. The ECC also produces numerous audio experiments, such as the disfiguring of compact discs in live performance, known as "CDestruction", and has produced a few video works as well, ranging from re-edited 50's corporate shorts to Teddy Ruxpin reciting the works of William S. Burroughs. Other activities include culture jamming.
The Bran Flakes are a Canadian-American indie pop group formed in Seattle in 1992. The group, whose line-up comprises Otis Fodder from Montreal, Quebec, and Mildred Pitt from Seattle, Washington, specializes in creating sound collages from pre-existing sources. Until 1997, they recorded on 4-track in bedrooms and did not play any shows, putting out hand dubbed cassette tapes and distributing tapes through direct mail-order, zines and indie catalogs.
Anne Erin Clark, known professionally as St. Vincent, is an American singer, musician, and songwriter. Her music is noted for its complex arrangements utilizing a wide array of instruments. St. Vincent is the recipient of various accolades, including three Grammy Awards.
The Blueprint is the sixth studio album by American rapper Jay-Z, released on September 11, 2001, through Roc-A-Fella Records and Def Jam Recordings. Its release was set a week earlier than initially planned in order to combat bootlegging. Recording sessions for the album took place during 2001 at Manhattan Center Studios and Baseline Studios in New York City. Contrasting the radio-friendly sound of Jay-Z's previous work, The Blueprint features soul-based sampling and production handled primarily by Kanye West, Just Blaze, and Bink, as well as Timbaland, Trackmasters, and Eminem, who also contributes the album's sole guest feature.
A mashup is a creative work, usually a song, created by blending two or more pre-recorded songs, typically by superimposing the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the instrumental track of another and changing the tempo and key where necessary. Such works are considerd "transformative" of original content and in the United States they may find protection from copyright claims under the "fair use" doctrine of copyright law.
Illegal Art is a sampling record label that was started in 1998. The label gained immediate notoriety from legal threats surrounding Deconstructing Beck, a compilation made exclusively from sampling Beck's music. This was followed by two other theme-based compilations, Extracted Celluloid and Commercial Ad Hoc. All three were co-released with Negativland's Seeland Records label and sponsored by RTMark. After these theme-based compilations, Illegal Art focused on artist releases. One of the most popular artists on the label is Girl Talk, who in 2006 released his third album, Night Ripper, to critical acclaim on the label, earning a Wired magazine Rave Award a year later.
Richard Philips, better known by his stage name Richard X, is a British songwriter and music producer. Gaining attention as a pioneer of the bootleg craze, Richard X has earned success as a producer and remixer. He has helmed hit singles for artists including Annie, Kelis, Liberty X, Rachel Stevens and Sugababes. According to an early issue of the now defunct Popworld magazine, Philips' alias comes from a postcard which was sealed with a kiss misinterpreted for the letter X.
The Peoples Champ is the second studio album by American rapper Paul Wall. It was released on September 13, 2005, by Swishahouse, Atlantic Records and Asylum Records. The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling 176,000 copies in its first week. This serves as his first number one in two solo studio releases, after Chick Magnet (2004). The album was supported by four singles: "Sittin' Sidewayz" featuring Big Pokey, "They Don't Know", "Girl" and "Drive Slow". Both "Sittin' Sidewayz" and "Girl" are certified gold by the RIAA for selling more than 500,000 copies each in the United States.
Gregg Michael Gillis, known by the stage name Girl Talk, is an American disc jockey who specializes in mashups and digital sampling. Gillis has released five LPs on the record label Illegal Art and EPs on both 333 and 12 Apostles. He was trained as an engineer.
"Human Nature" is a song performed by American singer Michael Jackson, and the fifth single from his sixth solo album, Thriller. The track was produced by Quincy Jones and performed by members of Toto with Michael Jackson providing vocals.
Night Ripper is the third studio album by American musician Gregg Gillis, released under his stage name Girl Talk on May 9, 2006 by Illegal Art. It is a mashup album primarily composed of samples taken from other artists' music, while also incorporating minor amounts of original instrumentation recorded by Gillis himself. Produced as one seamless piece of music before subsequently being broken into individual tracks, Night Ripper was composed by Gillis in a period of around eight months, during which he divided time between production of the album and his work as a biomedical engineer.
Unstoppable is the second studio album by American musician Gregg Gillis, released under his stage name Girl Talk on April 6, 2004 by Illegal Art. Like Girl Talk's other releases on the label, Unstoppable was made available for purchase on the Illegal Art website through a "pay what you want" pricing system.
Secret Diary is the debut studio album by American musician Girl Talk, released in 2002 on Illegal Art. The album was later made available for purchase through a "pay what you want" pricing system on Illegal Art's website.
Person Pitch is the third solo album by American recording artist Noah Lennox under his alias Panda Bear, released on March 20, 2007, by Paw Tracks. Departing stylistically from his prior work as both a member of Animal Collective and a solo artist, the album was recorded using the Boss SP-303 sampler, with instrumentation largely composed of manipulated samples and loops, accompanied by Lennox's layered vocals. He described it as a collection of "super dubby and old sounding" songs inspired by his then-recent marriage, fatherhood, and move to Portugal.
"Lip Gloss" is the debut single by American hip hop recording artist Lil Mama. It was released June 19, 2007, as the lead single from her debut album VYP: Voice of the Young People. "Lip Gloss" is a percussive hip hop song and it samples "Roxanne's Revenge" by Roxanne Shante.
"Say Yeah" is a song by an American rapper Wiz Khalifa. Released as Khalifa's first single following his signing to Rostrum and Warner Bros. Records but second in overall, following his first single, "Pittsburgh Sound". the song was written by Khalifa and Johnny Juliano, with production of the song being handled by the latter. The song heavily samples the 1998 song "Better Off Alone" by Dutch Eurodance group Alice DeeJay.
Theater of the Mind is the sixth studio album by American hip hop recording artist Ludacris. It was released in the UK on November 21, 2008 and in the US on November 24, 2008 and on other release dates throughout the world, through Disturbing tha Peace and Def Jam South. Ludacris calls the album "theatrical".
All Day is the fifth studio album by American musician Gregg Gillis, known by his stage name Girl Talk. The album was originally released as a free digital download by Illegal Art on November 15, 2010. Gillis composed the album using overlapping samples of 372 songs by other artists. All Day was released as one seamless 71-minute file and as 12 separate tracks, available in MP3 and FLAC. As with prior Girl Talk albums, the Illegal Art website states that All Day was "intended to be listened to as a whole," but was "broken up into individual tracks only for easier navigation."
Nostalgia, Ultra is the debut mixtape by American singer-songwriter Frank Ocean. It was released on February 16, 2011. Ocean was inspired to make the mixtape after Hurricane Katrina in his native New Orleans and his subsequent relocation to Los Angeles. After joining alternative hip hop group Odd Future in 2010, he self-released the mixtape, without initial promotion. Nostalgia, Ultra has a unique R&B aesthetic and features surreal themes and nostalgic lyrics. The songs mostly focus on interpersonal relationships, personal reflection, and social commentary. Following its release, the mixtape received rave reviews from music critics. The cover features a picture of a bright orange BMW E30 M3, Ocean's "dream car", in plain sight amidst lush greenery.
Broken Ankles is an extended play by American rapper Freeway and American music producer and mashup musician Girl Talk, both of whom hail from Pennsylvania. It was released digitally on April 8, 2014.
