 John
Rifle
"Francas Nurture" CD
Rabbit
Surgeon
Musics
Genres: sound collage, plunderphonics
Mar 3 - 9 2003 |
Some of our readers may be aware of a computer game that came out in
the early nineties called "Sam N' Max Hit The Road".
It was based on the lives of a duo of private investigators, Sam, a
dog, and Max, a rabbit. Sam was the normal, more serious
character, adding a sense of relative averageness that was a stark
contrast to Max, who was wackier and more immature than Bugs Bunny could every
hope to be.
As hinted by the little bunny rabbits pictured all over Francas
Nurture's liner notes, John Rifle is a new breed of Max.
He takes dozens upon dozens of serious samples from all forms of
media, and converts them into massive jumbles of crazy - and sometimes
scary - sound collages.
A perfect example of Rifle's work is "Detective,"
a piece made up of two audio tracks (they're one after another on the
disc). Like The Bran Flakes, Rifle starts off with a beat
and a melody, and then mixes in various interesting samples including a
fictional television interview with him as the subject. He then
adds in excerpts of interviews and "Behind The Music"
samples about famous bands and artists like Brian Wilson and The
Doors. Genius.
"Ghosts" is another neat track. With a creepy
background of little bells (reminiscent of the theme to those
"Home Alone" movies), it runs through a panoply of horror
movie samples and wind ambiance. It's as frightenin' as all
hell.
Fans of plunderphonic masters like People Like Us, Negativland,
John Oswald, and The Bran Flakes may wish to give Rifle's
new album a shot. He may not be as well-known as the other artists
on the scene, but his style is a fresh one that may really appeal to
you. It ain't too often that you come across an album this
fuckin' crazy.
85%
Fun Fact: John Rifle wins points for
having one of the wickedest websites ever: www.johnrifle.com.
Matt Shimmer [Vitals:
24 songs, distributed by Illegal
Art, released 2002] |
