Sampling technology has drastically changed since samplers hit the market in the early 80s. Apparently, no one informed all these damn kids these days recording their beat-tapes to actual tape. I heard you used to have to manually sequence together eight or nine samples in order to make a four-beat loop, because the sampling times of each button were so miniscule. Nowadays, you could record eight or nine minutes to one button, press play, and forget the sampler is even there. So, why all the cuts? It’s like watching a 35mm film with every other frame removed. Each little drum hit is held out just long enough to catch your attention before the sampled reverberation comes to a sudden halt, and the next drum hit sample is started. I can’t keep up. This is how I felt counting the number of camera cutaways when I watched the one episode of Glee that I’ve seen.
But once you learn to bob your head to the glitch rather than the groove, it starts to sound surprisingly smooth. Take this Dink/Tuamie Split Tape on New York’s Dirty Tapes. It looks like a ransom note, but reads like a James Joyce novel. Pure poetry.
Give it the once- (or twice-) over below, and buy the tape over at Dirty Tapes.
• Dirty Tapes: http://dirtytapes.bandcamp.com
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