I bet we have another topic about this buried in the archives, but here goes anyway.
That new Surgical Meth Machine video, and the general goofiness of its hyper-sampling attack, got me thinking about what makes for a ‘well placed’ or ‘badly placed’ sample in music.
A couple I’ve always liked: Skinny Puppy’s “Worlock” in which the sample of Charles Manson singing “Helter Skelter” is overlaid with the opening guitar riff from the Beatles’ original.
It makes for a great and darkly funny contrast with the rest of the song’s melancholic atmosphere
Also Godflesh “Devastator” in which Broadrick’s chant of “there has to be…someone killed” is echoed by the sampled voice repeating the same phrase; I liked the juxtaposition of Broadrick’s intensity compared with the more matter-of-fact, almost instructional way that the sampled speaker says it.
One stinker that I can think of right away is “[url https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viB-S6rK1jo]Abattoir” by X Marks The Pedwalk, a satisfying slab of chilliness and aggression that is totally marred by some pointless sample of “see this playground, right here!” Yeah, ok…what about it? The “playground” sample is totally arbitrary and has the disruptive effect of my girlfriend reminding me to pick up cat food at the store while I’m zoning out to good music.
Hell…maybe they should put THAT in a song: BOOM, snare hit, BOOM, snare hit, “Tomasz, don’t forget the Fancy Feast”, BOOM, snare hit…
GOOD: The “Violent Years” samples in “So What” are excellent. They’re clear and enhance the track to give a dark and creepy vibe. “Thieves” is another excellent example with very properly placed and memorable bites. POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!!
BAD: I love “Relapse”, but that album has some of the most retarded samples ever. One song with samples that really make me grown is “Kleptocracy”. There’s some clip from a speech by a lady yammering about “the system is benched and the American people are benched” or some such jibber jabber. It’s vague and silly but also her voice is whiny and has a dumb accent like The Nanny or something. Also it’s tediously long so even if I liked it l there’s no way I could memorize it.
Best Charles Manson sample is in “Goin to Jail” by Hawd Gangstuh Rapper MC’s Wit Gat’s…
Haven’t heard that one, though I know of the project…Charlie must be one of the most heavily sampled subjects in any music genre outside of the ol’ standby “ranting televangelist”.
And that one could be a topic all unto itself, since there’s so many of 'em…
One I like is the repeated sample of “all I need is an amoeba!,” on Greater Than One’s “I Don’t Need God”. Amusing because you have to connect the dots with the other material in the song to understand that it’s a guy ranting against evolutionary theories, but even if you don’t get that, it’s still a good surrealistic image.
Yeah they contributed to a couple of Wordsound comps and one full length on Wordsound also called 2 Hype to Wipe…and then another full length on a different label called Wake Up and Smell the Piss…I found them hilarious…great spoof group…
[reply]
I don’t like that weird sample in Lava. Not sure what it is or where it came from.
It’s Charles Manson, pitched down.[/reply]
If you’re talking about the “REEEEEEEHHHHEEWWWW” sound . . . .
Around the time of the album (Filth Pig) I read a magazine interview (maybe Guitar World, not sure) and they discussed that sound.
Al explained that they were experimenting with a lot of “found object” sounds that might work in the songs and they had a remote control truck and when they revved the motor it made a cool squeely sound . . . then they ran it backwards and did some other stuff to it.
I wish I knew the exact source for that interview as the topic comes up fairly often, but no one else seems to have read or remembered the same.
The sampling in these Ministry songs always stood out:
Hizzbolah
You Know What You Are
Thieves
So What
Cannibal Song (love that mind is a labyrinth followed by the lil pitch down, breathing noises, then into just into the kick/bass)
I can’t think of a Skinny Puppy song that was fucked up by samples. Some stand outs in somewhat chronological order:
Church, Love, Glass Houses, Shadow Cast, Stairs and Flowers, Rodent, Hexonxonx, Worlock, Tin Omen, Convulsion, Natures Revenge, VX Gas Attack, Scrapyard, Left Hand Shake
I think Wumpscut has fucked up a song or two with some shitty samples. Du Neger? Really?
I love the “It is not safe to hope for the best” sample in Front Line Assembly’s “Provision” also “Gun” with the “Front Line” sample is fucking rad.
It’s funny you mentioned that X Marks sample because it’s pretty obscure, but truly a great example of a bad sample. Cat Rapes Dog had some terrible sampling too. I feel like some of the European industrial bands don’t know English well enough to always get if the samples work or not, which can cause unintentional hilarity.
It’s funny you mentioned that X Marks sample because it’s pretty obscure, but truly a great example of a bad sample. Cat Rapes Dog had some terrible sampling too. I feel like some of the European industrial bands don’t know English well enough to always get if the samples work or not, which can cause unintentional hilarity.
I think we were on the Cleopatra promo list when I was at Invisible, so we got all the European hardbeat / EBM stuff that they licensed from the Zoth Ommog label…yeah, there were some real “huh? what?” samples in that bunch. But when your band is named “X Marks The Pedwalk” and one of your core members is “Brain Nerves” spelled backward, you’re already pushing the envelope for verbal randomness.
I should have already mentioned the ‘Belgian New Beat’ scene that Lords of Acid, A Split Second etc. came out of…whew there were some triumphantly cheesy samples in there.
For example try on Agaric’s [url hhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPVUUMVKNQQ]“I’m Gonna Beat Dis” for size…great filthy bass line but very much derailed by the silly repetition of the title phrase, and a sample of some woman ‘spookily’ intoning “Then he ran into her house, and someone shut the doahh!” Damn, I can only hope she had the ability to “beat dis” to defend herself.
101’s [url https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN-u2eJUVpc]Rock To The Beat is another great (bad) example of sampling one vocal phrase and looping it to the point where you want to tear your hair out. This song actually succeeds in making me NOT want Acid In The House.
Yea, that song. To me it sounded like some hick calling a pig.
HAHA!!! I think that might have been intentional too. It seemed almost like a carry-over from the Revolting Cocks’ “Squeal like a pig!!! EEEEEEEEEEEE!!!” samples from “Deliverance”.
My favorite sample (not sure if this counts since there’s no music during the intro) of all time might still be that whole silly voicemail recording about going to see “The Revolting Cock . . . I think it’s a strip show, male strippers” . . . .
My favorite sample (not sure if this counts since there’s no music during the intro) of all time might still be that whole silly voicemail recording about going to see “The Revolting Cock . . . I think it’s a strip show, male strippers” . . . .
“. . . cause the Village People are popular”
Yeah I love that one because of the good-natured innocence / naivete of the guy and gal who are chatting…they have absolutely no idea what they’re getting into, but seem up for anything…“well if y’all get a chance, come out!”
Also in the ‘bands sampling other people talking about them’ category…I have spent a few posts here mocking the Electric Hellfire Club, but their sample collage which opens their song ‘Black Bus’ is pretty infectious. You get sarcastic snippets of ‘Hotel California,’ Scott McKenzie’s ‘San Francisco,’ an exploitation film quip about “Psychedelphia” AND! to top it all off, conman ‘exoricst’ Bob Larson who foolishly invites people to call and hijack his show:
“If you don’t see anything WRONG with these KINDS of bands glorifying the devil, like the Electric Hellfire Club, I want you to to give me a ring at 1-800-821-TALK!”
It was compiled over ten years ago, but I bet the top 10 hasn’t changed much, and won’t be much of a surprise to industrial or EBM fans (Hellraiser, Videodrome, Aliens…). After reading the long version, I’m convinced that any future band using the “I want more life…” quote from Blade Runner should have the GOLDEN SEAL OF UN-ORIGINALITY stamped onto all their future albums.
Given my previous comments on Charlie, though, it’s surprising to see him only at #22 overall.