Dab by John Oswald – The Estrangement of the Familiar

Using portions of existing sound or music recordings and integrating them into other songs in order to create new pieces of music, John Oswald develops his own personalized versions of well-established songs. He distorts popular music, inter alia by fragmenting, combining, rearranging and changing the velocity of the original musical compositions. In his piece “Dab”, Oswald disengages the proper order of Michael Jackson’s “Bad” but, although the resulting outcome sounds considerably different, the still recognizable signature and iconic sounds of the King of Pop can be quickly assigned to the original source.  

 

“Dab” sounds disconcerting at the first listen. Due to the rapid succession of the seemingly incoherent components, my hearing is bemused, and I cannot conceive any clear thought. My elusive thoughts are flying past me, and even if I get hold of one, the thought process will not bring me to a successful conclusion. I am skipping from one consideration to the next. Countless, most various associations are elicited, and an overwhelming influx of ideas and thoughts occupies my mind and my attention. Since I am inundated by these inflowing disconnected thoughts, I keep losing every thread of thought.

 

While listening to the song for a second time, I get slowly more accustomed to its peculiarity. I believe to recognize familiar sounds and structures, in particular if I try to orient myself by the musical patterns of “Bad”. Yet, this impression is deceiving. When I think I know, where I am approximately located in the song and what could follow after, I learn that the complete opposite is true. In some respects, my listening experience can be compared to a walk through a maze. The walk is impeded by intricate passages, branches and dead-end paths which complicate the overview. I go astray in the maze in a similar manner as I get lost in the chaos of my thoughts when listening to “Dab”.

 

Near the end of the soundtrack, after the rushing noise falls silent, the restless thought processes are terminated, and the focus is drawn to a single sound that is remindful of a jumping glass marble that moves further away with each bounce until it is out of earshot. What initially began as rushed, frantic disjointed thinking interestingly ends in a slow, calm thought withdrawal.

 

Oswald’s plunderphonic piece detaches parts of another musical work, takes them out of their context, and releases them from the original work’s boundaries to bring into being an entirely new work with an entirely new significance. It requires the listener to fully concentrate on his composition and be consciously involved with it despite its difficulty to be interpreted. Passive listening is impossible as the listener is obliged to take an active part in “Dab” because its unique characteristics cause curiosity and captivation.