John Oswald is best known for his plunderphonics, which involves using samples of existing recordings to create a new work. A year before Negativland got sued for their U2 EP, Oswald was taken to court for his 1989 Plunderphonics CD by one of the many sample sources, Michael Jackson. Plunderphonics was deemed a copyright infringement and all unsold copies were destroyed. He has since recorded Rubiyat Plunderphonics and the demonstrative Nine Examples of Plunderphonic Techniques, as well as written papers and given lectures on related topics. Oswald is also well-known for his Grayfolded releases, a plunderphonics-like treatment of recordings of the Grateful Dead’s “Dark Star.”
About the album Plexure 1993
“John Oswald’s piece de resistance. Twenty minutes of some of the most insane editing, cross-fading, beat matching, cultural name dropping and sampling. No other work even comes close to the intensity of Plexure. John Oswald proves he is a virtuoso of Pro Tools, over a thousand different artists edited, spliced and mixed together. Many of the sampled pieces are just long enough to be recognizable and yet short enough that by the time you can consciously identify the track your ears have been pummeled by another 15, and all matched up as seamlessly as humanly possible. One of the most beautiful and simultaneously insane and aggravating experiences in audio ever produced. A must listen and a must have.”