John Oswald - Plunderphonics

John Oswald born in 1953 is a Canadian musician and composer that is the originator of the contemporary genre plunderphonics. 

Plunderphonics is a term or genre that is based on taking already existing music, vocals, and sounds and transforming them into a new piece of music by remixing and reediting the piece. 

Underlying plunderphonics is the concept of mechanical reproduction and the cut-up method. Mechanical reproduction (c.f. Benjamin 1937 see PPT) simply means the ability to technically reproduce sounds and sequences of an already existing piece of music and e.g. fast forward, repeat or reverse it. This is also based on the cut-up method, which not only applies to music but to all forms of art underlined by the concept of juxtaposition. Simplified, this means that certain parts of music, sounds, or vocals are cut and then paste and rearranged randomly. 

Plunderphonics is influenced by these prior concepts and using recognizable sounds and familiar sequences of music to create something new is the core idea of this genre. 

However, this raises the argument and question of plagiarism, authenticity, and parroting in art. One could argue that the genre is based on “stolen music” created by other artists.  Oswald elaborates on this question in his essay “"Plunderphonics, or Audio Piracy as a Compositional Prerogative" (1985) where he elaborates the term plunderphonics and argues that by defining a record player as an instrument and a sampler “... in essence a recording, transforming instrument, is simultaneously a documenting device and a creative device, in effect reducing a distinction manifested by copyright.”. Conclusively plunderphonics is not a genre of plagiarism and piracy but can be seen as a sound collage that reassembles and even alienates already existing music with individuality and originality. Another central argumentation of plunderphonics is that the genre makes it blatant that the sounds contained are “re-used” and due to its obviousness, the question of a sound or sequence being “stolen” vanishes. 

One example of plunderphonics and Oswald’s work is Dab from the album Plunderphonics 69/96 and based on Michael Jackson’s song Bad. While listening to the piece it is recognizable that some parts are reassembled and remixed to a degree where there seems to be no similarity to the original song and other parts, especially vocal sequences, remain almost unchanged and identifiable for a listener that knows Michael Jackson’s song. 

What is also remarkable is that the video created for Oswald’s piece uses the original music video but also reassembles and rearranges the images, in a well-thought-out way, that visually describes and portrays what is done with the music piece. This is shown by slowing video frequences down or fasting forward, as well as shaking and blurring images. 

Dab recreates Michael Jackson’s song, partially giving it an almost techno-like feel when the beat steadily fastens. This reminded me of today’s contemporary techno music and how techno music that is for example played in clubs often uses techniques of plunderphonics by integrating vocals of famous pop songs into their sequences of beat. 

In the end, the beat picks up even more and the music gets faster and faster till a point of escalation. After this peak, however, the music then drops and is very quiet, “down-beat” and calming, ending in an almost meditative tic-tic sound. For me as a listener, who has been unfamiliar with the concept of plunderphonics, Dab is a great self-explanatory piece of this genre. It is blatant that Dab is created with the use of the already existing Michael Jackson’s song Bad however it is rearranged, reassembled, and recreated in such an individual and unique new way that it becomes a piece of authentic art by itself.