Negativland | Artist
Negativland is an American experimental music band formed 1977 in Concord, California, by Mark Hosler (electonics, multi-instruments), David Wills aka "The Weatherman" (vocals, electronics, saxophone), and Richard Lyons (electronics, keyboards). The lineup changed over time but founders Hosler and Wills continue to the present day tegether with Peter Conheim (keyboards, vocals, MiniDisc) and Jon Leidecker aka "Wobbly" (synthesiser, keyboards, drum machine). As much a radical arts organization as a band, Negativland have made a major impact on the world of experimental music, as well as culture and mass media as a whole. Similar to composer John Oswald's concept of plunderphonics, Negativland coined the term "culture jamming" to describe their particular brand of subversive media manipulation. The band started out when Hosler and Richard Lyons were still in high school. The pair recruited David Wills, more famously known as the Weatherman in later years, to make up the original trio. Wills, a cable TV repairman by trade, was just as obsessed with home recording and experimentation as the other two, and his wry, drawling vocals became the core trademark for many of Negativland's releases. Their eponymous debut album appeared in 1980, and further releases followed in the early 1980s. But it wasn't until their breakthrough sample and cut-up sonic barrage Escape from Noise in 1987 that Negativland gained wider attention. Vinyl copies of the album came with "CAR BOMB" bumper stickers, in reference to the album's song "Car Bomb". Faced with the prospect of touring to promote the album, which they had no budget for, they decided instead to craft a hoax press release claiming that Negativland were prevented from touring by law enforcement, citing "Federal Authority Dick Jordan", because the song "Christianity Is Stupid" from Escape from Noise had supposedly inspired the widely covered case of 16-year-old mass murderer David Brom killing his family. To deliberately inflame the media, the press release went on to vigorously deny the purported connection between Negativland and the murders. The claim that Brom's crimes were inspired by Negativland was disseminated and discussed, in local media as well as the Village Voice, with at least one Bay Area television station apparently believing the claims of the press release to be factual. The incident became the conceptual foundation for Negativland's next release, Helter Stupid, which featured a cover photo of TV news anchorman Dave McElhatton delivering the Brom murder story, with the album prominently sampling news coverage of the hoax. Negativland has released a total of 26 studio albums ranging from pure sound collage to more musical expositions. These have mostly been released on their own label, Seeland Records. Standout albums include Escape From Noise (1987), Helter Stupid (1989), Over the Edge Radio Archive (2015), True False (2019), and The World Will Decide (2020). Negativland were sued by the U2's record label, Island Records, for their 1991 parody EP U2 which brought them widespread publicity and notoriety. The band is also part of the Church of the SubGenius parody religion. The band took their name from a track by German band Neu!, with their record label Seeland Records also being named after another Neu! track.
Artist Website: negativland.com
Featured Albums: Negativland
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