Search - Negativland :: Deathsentences of the Polished & Structurally Weak

Not a typical Negativland recording

E. Kruger | Carpinteria, CA | 02/13/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Since Escape from Noise(1991), Negativland have released albums comprised primarily of shorter noise/narrative pieces or "songs." This record does not follow that structure. First of all the recording includes a book with the same title, containing reprints of 12 "found" documents (letters, notes, shopping lists, mix tape song lists, sheet music, etc.) on one page. On the adjacent page there is a photograph of a smashed automobile (presumably wherein each document was discovered).The song titles on the reverse side of the compact disc sleeve are taken mainly from the "found" mix tape song list entitled "This Tape Belongs to Ron," but have no apparent correlation with the recording at all other than serving as track indices.About the music: It is basically one long, uninterupted electro-acoustic piece. There is no narration or singing, other than found and treated voice.Unlike most Negativland releases, this piece contains little overt humor. In terms of atmosphere, it's noisy, moody and threatening. Congruent with the overall theme of automobiles and accidents, the source material seems to be related. I hear (or at least project) car horns, doors closing, engines, turn indicators, glass breaking and various other sounds of smashing, crushing or destroying.All in all, it's actually a great piece. My only problems with the album are 1) the packaging/cost-I would have liked to have been offered the option to purchase the recording without the book and 2) it doesn't really sound like most of Negativland's studio recordings. Actually, it most closely resembles A Big 10-8 Place(1983), minus the narration/found voices.Again, it's a fine piece of classic electro-acoutic music, it's just not Negativeland. If this recoding did not have Negativland's name on it I probably would have given it 5 stars."

A monument of unpleasant experience.

fatherratboy | Fresno, Ca United States | 03/02/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The novelty of this CD is very clever indeed, but that dose zero to distract the listener/reader from the horrofying affect of the presentation. The sense of loss and sorrow hits you immediately as you witness the record of tragedy starting with page 4, track 1. A haunting note from a child to her now presumably dead father. This is NOT music, so don't expect any and don't expect to come away detached from the aftermath. You would have to be a sociopath if you could. The packaging is definitely unusual but necesary for the originality and impact.
Negativland have never done anything this visceral before so if your capable of handling harsh sound collage, you will be treated to something that will take your breath away.This is only for the most adventurous listener but well worth the investment in time and cash. Or, you can just keep listening to The Strokes and The White Stripes all day."

Negativland's most poignant - and painful - collage of dark

Daniel R Barnett | Dallas, TX United States | 02/24/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Those of you who were lucky enough to grab a copy of Negativland's debut 1980 release were treated to 20 "songs" with no official titles that were actually sound collages pieced together by the artists. Although occasionally foreboding, the album was overall whimsical and pleasing, although way off the beaten path. And it even came with a SEAT BEE SATE button and a recipe for your kitchen file.



Then there's DEATHSENTENCES OF THE POLISHED AND STRUCTURALLY WEAK, in which Negativland took the original formula for their 1980 album and transformed it into a dark, ominous, and sometimes terrifying peek into the immediacy and tragedy of human mortality - by examining the aftermath of automobile crashes.



The CD packaging resembles the folder for an owner's manual one might acquire with the purchase of a new car - except that the manual inside this folder contains pictures of smashed cars and various personal notes found within the wrecks. A child's simple "I love you" note to her father is juxtaposed with the remains of a red minvan, victim of a violent front-end collision. And that's just for starters. Page after page reveals shopping lists, desperate love letters from jail, a cassette tape cover (which supplies the titles for all but one of the compositions in DEATHSENTENCES), a typed resume, and a certificate from a sobriety program where the recipient apparently backslid.



Then there is the "music" itself. It is uncomfortable at first, but becomes deeply moving, especially when considered in context with the images in the book. Random patterns of sound, snippets from movies and television, oscillators, synthesizers, and feedback all collide with each other repeatedly throughout the CD, right up until the last few minutes, where a bleak but undefined glimmer of hope seems to shine through before being cut off with a sense of impending doom and an unrelenting sonic wall of sickening crunch, outrage, and realization of human potential now lost forever. If you do not understand, the only recommendation I can make is to actually listen to the CD.



DEATHSENTENCES makes no moral judgments or statements, offers neither solace or condemnation, and leaves the listener both exhausted and challenged on an artistic and emotional level. This is not a CD to be listened to over and over; to do so would cheapen the overall effect. This is something to be pondered, to possibly shed a few tears over, but never to be ignored. Negativland has taken their concept of "found content" to a new and sobering level with this release, for which they are to be commended thoroughly."