Publication: Hannes Liechti: "This Track Contains Politics: The Culture of Sampling in Experimental Electronica"
This Track Contains Politics: The Culture of Sampling in Experimental Electronica
What does it mean to process field recordings from the Ukrainian war in an electronic music track? How can the sampling of an Armenian keyboard melody be read as a critique of traditional gender roles? And what does it say about voyeurism in our culture when a techno producer uses viral YouTube videos as the basic material of his compositions?
Across five detailed case studies, Hannes Liechti discusses the culture and politics of musical sampling from a new perspective. Giving particular attention to the reasons behind sampling processes, Liechti’s in-depth analysis of sampling strategies by artists such as COOL FOR YOU and Lara Sarkissian shows that sampling political material, and sampling with political intentions reveals a complex net of contexts, meanings, and often deeply personal choices and creative decisions.
Offering tangible tools and concepts for further exploration of sample-based music, the book illustrates the potential of popular music to tell stories about the world, and it describes the habits, thoughts, and realities of the laptop producer, one of the core actors in 21st century music-making.
URL: https://norient.com/books/this-track-contains-politics
DOI: https://doi.org/10.56513/xkwv4402
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Liechti’s careful study is a welcome and needed contribution to our understanding of sampling as a central practice in the production of music – and of meaning. Grounded in ethnographic fieldwork and focusing on poetics rather than reception, this book steers clear of interpretive speculation about what certain samples might mean. With analytical rigor and nuance, and a laudable focus on non-commercial productions spanning various styles, Liechti foregrounds producers’ perspectives as he examines a range of approaches to ‹political› sampling. Going beyond questions of what is being sampled and how it has been processed, Liechti’s work crucially addresses why certain producers deliberately link sampling to politics.»
- Wayne Marshall, Berklee College of Music