Negativland True False

As I said in my last review, I know very little about Negativland but have been diggin' the two wacky discs that Rob Bell dubbed for me - Dispepsi and this one, their latest, released late last year. This one "experiments with the absurdity of everyday life, particularly the surreal reality of our political situation in America. It also samples things like Fox News hosts, Occupy microphone checks, and ecoterrorists." Timely, indeed.

This one may be slightly more musical than Dispepsi, but is still more of a sound collage set to a beat, with manipulated samples of what sounds like every and anything that they could get ahold of. While I understand that all of life consists of some form of manipulation, it is somewhat disturbing to realize just how most people let themselves be deluded by their preferred programming and Negativland seems to revel in this revelation.

Not "easy listening" or background music, this demands your attention and gives you plenty to devour'n'digest. Seeing as most of these tracks are more sound manipulations rather than "songs", I was actually a little surprised (naively so, I suppose) to find out that this was an outfit that does live shows and that tracks like "Discernment" have been a set staple for years. I would have thought that these were less controlled studio experiments more than planned out "songs". One of the more interesting combos around today.