The Books - Be Good To Them Always

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And here is a bit from their blog that I thought was relevant to our discussion of cut ups (it refers to a song from their new album, not the one above):

Along with Group Auto I and Chain of Missing Links, this track forms the third in the trilogy of hypno-themed tracks that bookend the record. There was such an avalanche of great voices from thrift shop tapes that it was clear early on that we had to spread them out over several tracks. Thinking in reverse, we knew that the final sample on the record would be: “and it feels so good, so relaxed and so at ease, and you’re becoming the world and everyone in it”
This, of course, is a deep manipulation of the original tape… at some point Paul took on the singular mission of turning a weight-loss record into a weight-gain record. Despite it’s overt silliness, it is a strangely apt concept. The real subliminal voices out there do exactly this, chanting the mantra ‘more’. Not to pontificate too much, but it really seems that our culture is in the midst of a pathetic consumeristic trance.
Yet conversely, this sample also represents a hopeful kind of zeitgeist. I think of music as a survival instinct. There is so much noise all the time, so much conflicting and emotionally pointed information coming from all directions, we need a strategy for dealing with it so it doesn’t drive us crazy. Unprocessed noise is a drag on the mind: it either overwhelms to the point of numbness, or it corners you into becoming jaded and apathetic. Neither are ok. Sampling is a good practice for dealing with the noise Find a quiet spot, pop in a random tape and simply sit and listen. Whether or not you agree with the material is not important, just try to hear what they are saying and save it if it resonates and otherwise let it go forever. Over time the fragments can be reconstructed into a world that is worth inhabiting.