John Oswald: Dab – Something

 It appears as if we are getting to an entirely new kind of avantgarde artists now. While some of them already borrowed heavily from other works, previous composers discussed here still crafted something with the musical material that was discernibly their own, and sometimes this was even listenable. John Oswald is one of the artists that does away completely with notions such as borrowing or, it seems, inspiration. Instead, copying others cannot be “blatant” enough, and as long as the original source of a sound or phrase or even tune remains recognizable, it’s free real estate. At least that’s my understanding of Oswald’s writings on “Plunderphonics.”

Even though I didn’t know what to make of the title “Dab” (it was clear that it’s not about the dance move, though), I expected almost instantly recognizing several famous tunes. Well, I was right, and I was not. It all begins with an even sound like that of a metronome, intensifying in loudness all the time and soon joined by a percussive sound and a ticking like that of a clock, all phased. If there were doubts where these beats come from, Michael Jackson exclaiming “Bad” multiple times did away with these doubts. It’s entirely clear it’s Michael Jackson, not only from the “Bad”s but also from his famous interjections, laid over an alienated bassline that seems to gradually lose coherence.

Speaking of alienation: From this point, “Dab” starts to lose semblance to “Bad” more and more. Around minute 1:50, what I would describe as sci-fi/alien sounds starts to occur as the rhythm dissolves entirely, even with RPM changing. By minute 2:30, all that’s left are singled-out synthie sounds accompanying a stuttering Michael Jackson. About a minute later, all that’s left of “Bad” are mechanical clicking sounds like that of a failing machine of some sorts, perhaps a tape recorder. Isolated sounds from “Bad” are then rearranged in multiple ways, swelling and subsiding again, until the songs finally fades out.

While researching Oswald, I read that his “Plunderphonics” EP was actually banned from sale, at least in Canada, after a record company filed a copyright lawsuit against it – and the courts ruled in favor of the plaintiff. Indeed, every single sound in “Dab” seems to come from “Bad” – so why not make it even more “blatant” and just call it “Bad” as well? There’s no rule against calling a song a name that was already given to another song. The answer is simple: While the original is still recognizable at least in parts of Oswald’s song, it has become something entirely different. No-one is going to listen to “Dab” because they like “Bad,” at least not if they don’t like Oswald or avantgarde music in general in the first place. By isolating and rearranging the sounds in Michael Jackson’s song, Oswald opened up a new way of listening to sounds that are – so to say – in plain sight but normally aren’t perceived by the average listeners.

So, Oswald has turned a very popular and indeed perfectly listenable song in something, something else. Were the courts right in ruling that “Plunderphonics” is plagiarized? I don’t know; I didn’t make it past the second semester in my law studies. But about “Dab” I personally would say the following: If – God forbid – my taste in music were universal, the copyright lawsuit would not have been necessary at all. Copyright lawsuits are motivated by money, and money is made from recorded music when people buy it and listen to it. And to me, “Dab” is certainly neither a song I would have listened to without this seminar, nor do I think I would like to listen to it again. It’s more of an interesting intellectual and technological experiment that shows us how popular music is constructed and what its sonic ingredients are, and what modern technology is capable of in terms of remixing and rearranging sounds. And that, in my book, is the true value of “Dab.”