CD – Illegal Art
In the ever-changing landscape of specific samples use in music, Illegal Art label represent a constant artistic challenge to copyright and its zealots. His roots are deep in plagiarism first and then mashup, that have extensively generated a myriad of sound works crafted with the attitude of sampling as art. Oh Astro (Jane Dowe and Hank Hofler) are one of the leading label acts and in their previous ‘Hello World‘ they already proved their elegant sinuous skills of sequencing of according sound fragments. In this album the vocal manipulation software coded by Dowe is used with some virtuous peaks (like in ‘Hello Fuji Boy’ that features a sample from Lionel Richie’s love song ‘Hello’) with sharp cuttings and perfect timing. More accessible than the previous works, the album, featuring a cover by Terre Themlitz using drawings by Aiko Tsuji is a brilliant example of experimental equilibrium. The consequent pop flavored result is enchanting, even in the interludes or the more glitchy tracks. A fresh listening experience, that is joyously treating commercial music as it deserves: an inspiring source.