Kitsch or Art? Guessing Game

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A series of questions designed to gauge your aesthetic sensibility. Structure is dualistic\either/or, usually.

>>>> question one

Which magazine would you prefer to read/look at with interest?

The New Yorker

-or-

jodi.org

>>>>>question two

Which mode of highly-organized Western music appeals to you?

Mozart, symphony no. 40 in g minor, 1st movement

-or-

Tchaikovsky, Serenade for Strings in C Major, Op. 48

>>>>>question three

What film is more enjoyable?

The Royal Tenenbaums 

-or-

Rear Window

>>>>>question four

do you wear thick-framed glasses because your eyesight is so very poor it necessitates a heavy frame to support the weight of your lenses, or do you wear them because it is fashionable?

>>>>>question five

Which graph makes more sense?

-or-

>>>>>question six

Which painting seems "familiar?"

American Gothic / Grant Wood

-or-

Angelus Novus / Paul Klee

Total Anatomy of Sampling: Case Study RJD2 "Ghostwriter"

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I am obsessed with instrumental hip-hop music for two reasons:

1. Listening to instrumental hip-hop throughout the day makes it easier to buttress the grand illusion that my life is a movie scored by incredible beat-makers.
2. More importantly, instrumental hip-hop allows anyone, not just me, to unconsciously survey the history of pop music as a result of IHH's fucking awesome use of samples.

To demonstrate, I have selected a song that everyone likes, RJD2's "Ghostwriter."

First, listen to the original:

Incredible, right? But where did it come from? See if Paul Desmond's "A Taste of Honey" (1964) sounds familiar:



How about those angelic voices? Would you believe they're from Elliot Smith's "I Didn't Understand?" (1998)



And the generally awe-inspiring horn section, which someday I hope to listen to while robbing a bank or something, is taken from Betty's Wright's "Secretary" (1970-something)



And there you have it. I'd recommend Derrida's essay "Structure, Sign, and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences" if you are interested in understanding the sort of meaning and method of such musical bricolage.