História de sampling com final feliz

O episódio é relatado na mais recente newsletter da Stones Throw e pode ser lida aqui ou, para maior comodidade vossa, reproduzida mais abaixo. Apesar de todos os processos - alguns dos quais movidos contra a própria etiqueta de Peanut Butter Wolf - é ainda possível encontrar quem perceba o real impulso de quem sampla - e neste caso quem samplou foi alguém cuja paixão pela música é indiscutível, Madlib! Num momento em que o hip hop avança para lá da samplagem do passado (ouvindo trabalhos de Ras G ou Jneiro Jarel ou Flying Lotus parece que se está a samplar o futuro!), pensar a forma como a memória foi processada em incontáveis gestos de "pilhagem" via sampler é, mais do que nunca, urgente. Não restam dúvidas de que a imagem que hoje temos do passado - imagem construída entre lançamentos da Strut, Soul Jazz ou Analog Africa e Now Again, entre tantas outras - é a que a lupa do sampling tornou visível. A mudança de interface - do sampler para o sintetizador ou laptop - pode significar que não há mais passados para descobrir? Para perceber que passados há ainda por cartografar teremos mesmo que esperar pelo... futuro.

Egon May 12, 2009

Matthew Larkin Cassell: The Complete Works
Coming on Stones Throw in 2009

It’s not often that a sample clearance claim against a record company turns out to be an altogether pleasant experience. Usually it’s a blustery, puffy-chested affair with lawyers on both sides citing arcane copyright cases and threatening court proceedings as if the year were 1987 and Biz Markie had just released his first album on Cold Chillin.’

We’ve been fortunate to have gained access into the superb Raymond Scott catalog through our association with Basta Audio Visuals and Scott’s musical steward Irwin Chusid and, more recently, we inked a deal with singer, songwriter, pianist and man-in-the-know Matthew Larkin Cassell.

MLC hit us up after he heard his “Heaven,” from his superb (and superbly rare) album Pieces on the song “3.214” from the album Madvillainy 2: The Madlib Remix. At first Madlib had no idea of the import of his decision to lift MLC’s work until he put two and two together and realized that the Japanese bootleg 12” labled “MLC” stood for, well, you guessed it.

Who wouldn’t want access to the multi-tracks to MLC’s break-beat laded “My Life?” Madlib certainly did. And MLC wanted to see his entire catalog (comprised of the Pieces album, an EP entitled Matt The Cat, a 7” single and a recent vinyl EP) issued on CD and distributed digitally. So, I flew to the Bay Area, hung out with the man and committed his story to tape and got down to negotiations. Five months later, here we are. We’re officially announcing the soon-to-be-released Matthew Larkin Cassell The Complete Works and hinting that we might do something special with those multis. With MLC’s permission of course.