Search - Negativland :: Dispepsi

Anything but typical

Ryan Hennessy | Albany, NY | 07/04/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"So if you've never heard of them, Negativland are sound collage artists, for the most part at least. They take sounds from commercials, movies, music, or anything they can get their hands on and manipulate them and blend them to make something new. There are lots of sound collage artists out there, but what seperates Negativland from the pack is that they've always been able to find the most unbelievable sounds and quotes, while their music sounds no more melodic than a train wreck, but still remains bitingly satirical.They've been at it for a few decades now, and some of their favorite targets include pop music, religion, and nuclear power. But this time they've chosen one target: Pepsi. An obvious choice? Probably. Can they squeeze and entire album out of Pepsi commercial samples? Yes. As I said, they have archives of sounds, and there's probably no one else out there with the resources to make this album. A lot of people argue that Dispepsi's concept is too limiting, but I disagree. The album's songs don't really repeat themselves surprisingly, and there seems to be a flow and a real storyline to the album. The album is dense and and full of jingles and celebrity endorsements, reflecting our world where its impossible to escape advertising.The best song on the album is the power pop song "Aluminum or Glass." Its very catchy and the lyrics are some of the best Negativland has ever written: "Would a man living in Los Angeles understand what a seagull is? / Would he know about the ants there in the grass?" Between all the verses, that weird-voiced Weatherman recites lines from guide to making commercials. "These Pepsi ads should not look too urban, too ethnic, too new wave or too anything!" The final song is an amazing attack on commodities. Here in America "we want soaps and cigarettes, cereals and soft drinks, cake mixes and candy, frozen pies and shaving cream, laxatives and beers, Kool-aid and clear toothpastes and margarines and fruit juices, Hallmark cards, the lotions, the pet foods, the shampoos and hair dyes, puddings, and headache remedies in their tins." The key word is that we "want" them, but we don't need them. We do not want to be ugly. We want money. Who are we? I mean, really? A hundred years ago, something like this would be unimaginable. Music was about people, and it was about feelings. The fact that an album about a soda company can be made today is as good a reflection of our times as all those silk-screened pictures of Marilyn Monroe. The idea is the epitome of pop art. The only problem is that almost everything on this album has been said before."

What you REALLY need to know about DisPepsi

GraceNoteX | Houston, TX United States | 07/16/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Rather than actually review DisPepsi, I'm going to make these observations:1.) This CD qualifies as art. It says more than the mere sum of its words and music. 2.) Yes this a sound collage work. But unlike most (even great) sound collage albums, this one is totally musically satisfying and stands up to repeat listenings. I'm willing to wager that by the third listening, you'll find yourself singing along to "Aluminum or Glass: the Memo." 3.) The CD is often very funny, and quite profound. But there is so much more to this CD than humor or the overt message, that long after the joke is too familiar, it will still be listenable. 4.) This is often a surprisingly emotional CD. 5.) If this were the ONLY great CD in Negativeland's catalog, it would be strong enough to earn them a place as one of the greatest US underground bands of the 20th century. 6.) What you really need to know, is that you really need to hear this CD, and that it will be worth keeping after that first listening."

Culture jamming at its finest

Scott Richardson | Chicago, IL USA | 01/19/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Is this the ultimate in culture jamming? Poignant, intelligent, funny, bitingly satirical, and foot-tappingly catchy, DisPepsi assaults the listener with snippets of advertisements, advertising training materials, and other materials to show us what ad execs _really_ think about us (I'll give you a hint: we, the consumers, are an army of brainless sponges).Simply brilliant.I feel like I've just been shot point-blank in the stamper. I think I need a Pepsi."