CC'ed collage of computer game sounds by Bob Ostertag

Peter says:

Bob Ostertag, sound artist and professor of technocultural studies at UC Davis, just released a new sound recording (formerly known as "album") "w00t!" on his website. The katamari-instired "cover" art, co-option of the sounds of many popular games, and intelligent writing about digital art in the internet age (read this) is right up BB'ers alley.

Unlike Radiohead and NIN with their massive followings, catchy songs, and built-in marketing, Bob has a long standing and well-known reputation of ingenious sound artistry and political writing. That is to say, he's not selling a lot of records, but he is paving the way for artists of the future. Remixes, of course, are encouraged!

Link

[#1 posted by phasor3000 , October 16, 2007 12:52 PM]

So did he get permission to use the game music, or is it claimed that this is "fair use?"

I don't always agree with Ostertag's politics, but I've always liked his music, especially the stuff with Fred Frith and John Zorn.

[#2 posted by A New Challenger , October 16, 2007 8:40 PM]

@Phasor:

I'd imagine the latter. Either way, game companies typically tolerate remixes of game music for non-profit purposes the same way they treat visual fanart, often embracing it.

I liked the WarioWare section. It's hard to think anything from that game could be made more bizarre, but there you go.

Sound collages are odd things. He mentions that this started as the soundtrack for a live show about Israel's invasion of Lebanon last year, and that gives this a whole other flavor that screws with my head. Hearing Smash Bros. and Balloon Fight sounds used in this context is kind of funny.

It's fascinating, and I like it, but I'm still not sure what to think about it. If you're a gamer, though, you'll have fun hearing the familiar tunes chopped up and trying to identify them.

[#3 posted by Teresa Nielsen Hayden / Moderator , October 16, 2007 9:59 PM]

Phasor:

So did he get permission to use the game music, or is it claimed that this is "fair use?"

Enough, already!

I've had enough of you taking (almost) every entry the Boingers post as a potential test of their supposed liberal hypocrisy.

The problem isn't your political orientation; it's that these routines you pull are boring and unresponsive. In a world of complex and variable events and reportage, your reactions are unvarying. That's what makes it inappropriate. When you come up with the same response to every occasion, the response has nothing to do with the occasion.