I love the track from Escape From Noise (1987) that predicts our current housing crisis and criticizes the hypocrisy of anti-development mindsets and Prop 13 and all of that by comparing it to the way people talk about firearms prohibitions.

“When no more can be sold, you can see that the majority of adults will be virtually prohibited from ever owning one” — “so if you've always admired parts of Piedmont or Orinda…” — “well you could buy one, if you could convince someone to sell you his, and if you're willing to pay his price” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vPCIWbCOyY

(I will be at this irl btw)

I played Negativland on my radio show which was played on pirate radio in LA through Killradio.org

I remixed them, music, and dense political talks for a one hour show.

This guy was an internet friend of mine, claimed to be mentored by one of the Negativland guys, and definitely carries the flame with his weekly(-ish) releases. They used to play hella late night Thursdays on KPFA, not sure if that's still going. Give it a listen!

https://nationalcynical.bandcamp.com/

I love Negativland. Very interesting use of samples. Their album with Chumbawumba is really cool

I once changed a person's mind on flock cameras by showing them the More Data music video.

I have Negativland in my music collection. If you can, treat yourself to Escape from Noise and The Playboy Channel from the 1987 album Escape from Noise. Unforgettable.

playing tomorrow at the Internet Archive in San Francisco!

Evolution Control Committee had some wild stuff too in a similar vein. Totally not on Spotify, sooooo many copyright issues.

a good album— https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagiarhythm_Nation

I learned that Russia has 11 time zones because of Negativeland.

I would also not describe this music as timeless. It's incredibly hard for me to imagine people coming to this music fresh today.

Gimme the Mermaid is a work of art.

They played at my college freshman year (1989, cough, cough) and stayed in an empty room in my dorm, right next to mine. The show was great, though they were personally a little awkward (or just weren't sure what to make of a bunch of kids). Escape from Noise will always be my favorite as a result.

Negativland is a name I haven't heard in about 30 years. They were comparatively famous in the 90s, I guess, due to using the U2 samples.

Saw them in New York probably 1985ish. I love the band but I wouldn't attend another concert. During the encore, they ignited two toasters on fire. It was at the Kitchen in downtown Manhattan and the place was packed.

My favorite Negativland work is “Prologue/Helter Stupid”. It never fails to hit me in the feels by the time that final “that is correct” lands and you hear the sirens in the distance.

I love their albums! I was lucky enough to see them live 1-2 years ago. They performed their latest album and they still got it! Their satirical approach to sampling translates well to the 2020s.

Damn, makes me want to jump on a plane to SFO tomorrow morning...

I accidentally got New Coke, I poured it down the drain.

keep trying to listen to Negativland but then my mind just turns to Pepsi, and I couldn't tell you why...