MetaFilter posts tagged with parody

Artisinal Denim

mathowie — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:50:15 -0800

Park Slope Family Circus: Old Family Circus panels combined with jokes poking fun at denizens of Park Slope, Brooklyn.

CALL 1-800-HELLO NASTY

Room 641-A — Wed, 22 May 2013 21:21:13 -0800

If you were watching late-night television in July 1998 you may have seen the half-hour informercial parody that the Beastie Boys produced to promote their upcoming album, Hello Nasty. The ad features Mike D, MCA , and Ad-Rock taking on roles to shill everything from the services of phone psychics to get-rich-quick scams to a food processor that plays songs from the upcoming LP. (Warning: video auto-loads.) To navigate the main link above: Click NEXT below the YouTube frame to go to part 2. Click MORE INFO ABOUT THIS SHOW for background on the infomercial. (Sadly, part three of the infomercial is now copyright-blocked in the U.S. but that doesn't detract from the other videos.) Direct links to YouTube: Hello Nasty Informercial Pt. 1 (SLYT) Hello Nasty Informercial Pt. 2 (SLYT) Hello Nasty Informercial Pt. 3 (SLYT)

Do you know what happens when people start to learn?

MartinWisse — Mon, 06 May 2013 09:34:43 -0800

To save a world that fears and loathes them, four disparate heroes return and join forces to form a superteam like no other.

Plunderphonics: bettered by the borrower

filthy light thief — Sun, 05 May 2013 15:13:48 -0800

Composer/ musician/ artist John Oswald coined the term Plunderphonics in the essay "Plunderphonics, or Audio Piracy as a Compositional Prerogative," (previously) which discussed the efforts to create something new by sampling and distorting audio. Even though Oswald coined the term in '85, he has been working in the style since the late 1960s, and many people have joined in. When discussing sampling in music, all sorts of artists get lumped together. For instance, in an episode of the radio show Sound Opinions, John Oswald is grouped with Igor Stravinsky and MC Hammer as artists who dealt in musical quoting, re-contextualizing or “stealing” from other artists. In an interview, Osborn spoke on the differences between traditional musical quoting, directly lifting samples, and manipulating known music to point just before obscurity; the last category is the only which he considers to a case of "plunderphonics." The roots of plunderphonics stretch back decades, and span countries. In some ways, it can be traced back to manipulations of audio captured on magnetic tape, going back to 1944, with Halim El-Dabh (hear also: Leiyla Visitations on UbuWeb, created in 1959). In the realm of pop music, the 1956 novelty single "The Flying Saucer" was the first break-in record, bringing an emphasis to the "plunder" element in plunderphonics. Dickie Goodman and Bill Buchanan made a single that was inspired by Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds," presented as a radio broadcast with snippets from well-known pop songs of the day [transcript with notes]. 17 record labels tried to sue Goodman and Buchanan, a fate not to dissimilar to later audio borrorwers. To appease various parties, the song was re-recorded with different song samples, where most plunderphonic releases get pulled from general release and disappear into dusty corners. About two decades after The Flying Saucer, John Oswald was melding the tape manipulations with pop music re-appropriation, as heard in the track Power, sampling the intense guitars of Led Zeppelin and the vocals of a Southern US evangelist decrying that same "Devil music." In 1977, The Residents released a single with a track composed of samples from various songs by The Beatles, along with interview snippets. Plunderphonia had arrived in full. Oswald released an EP in 1988, with release notes that stated the tracks Pretender (previously) and Spring could be played at any speed to experience different nuances of the songs. The collection was expanded into an album (with NSFW cover art). The "Not For Sale" claims on the covers of the record and CD weren't enough to appease the artists and labels whose work he distorted, so Oswald found himself hiring an attorney, agreeing to a settlement, and giving up copies of his work. Oswald shares a link to the album, with thanks to "an anonymous & remote plunderphile," and you can hear a bunch of them online:

dab (with NSFW cover image at the beginning of the track) | white | dont | pretender | brown | net | birth | pocket | mist | tune | spring | rainbow

In the early 1990s, Oswald was invited to "plunderphonicize" The Grateful Dead by Phil Lesh. He chose to plunder over 100 versions of Dark Star, a song the band had played for a quarter of a century. The result was a 2CD set entitled Grayfolded (auto-playing music; excerpt on YouTube) Other notable works of plunderphonia include Negativeland's U2, in which the band sampled Casey Casem's rant on the band (previously) in preparation for his coverage of the band on America's Top 40, and was packaged with a very predominant U2 on the cover, and Negativeland in a small font below. Though Negativland dealt extensively with sampled audio, most of their prior works were sourced from more obscure material. But with such material, The Tape-Beatles made an album of minute snippets, and it was an underground hit. It was called Music with Sound (full album on YouTube). The album even garnered a place on the top 10 import albums of the year from Tower Records (the album was originally released in Canada in 1991). Where most plunderphonic artists started working with tape splices, Christian Marclay started physically splicing and playing vinyl records in the 1970s, creating audio-visual works. Marclay, previously. Mash-ups were born by the plunderphonicians, Evolution Control Committee, when in 1993, they released a 7" record of Public Enemy a capella tracks over music by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, in their Whipped Cream Mixes (Rebel Without A Pause [official video] and By the Time I Get to Arizona [unofficial video]). Their plundering of Dan Rather's deadpan delivery on various atrocities was mixed with loops of AC/DC tracks was titled Rocked by Rape (official ECC video), which got the attention of lawyers at CBS. By 2003, the legal threats hadn't continued, and Rocked by Rape had been broadcast on NPR and played at a roast for Dan Rather that was aired on C-SPAN.

Press A to make these patronizing screens go away.

jbickers — Thu, 02 May 2013 11:42:22 -0800

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon's opening tutorial sequence pokes a whole lot of fun at the conventions of opening tutorial sequences. The game is a stand-alone, downloadable expansion of Far Cry 3. Staged as an 80's action sci-fi movie set in the far-away year 2007, it's getting some great reviews on its aesthetics ("It's Far Cry 3 taped onto a VHS tape, then duped over to another VHS tape with the commercials cut out, then copied for your friends at school and played on a filthy VCR that's been playing illicit tapes taken from the "steamy" section of the local rental store") and sense of humor ("Knowingly awful writing, rich with eye-rolling puns and delightfully inappropriate profanity, is a reminder that the dopey dialogue of ‘80s action movies is still a special sort of hilarious."). Released yesterday, it already has a fairly extensive TV Tropes entry.

Louis C.K. parody

paleyellowwithorange — Wed, 01 May 2013 14:16:58 -0800

Louis C.K. Tells The Classics. [4:08. Maybe NSFW?] All the classics told in that special Louis C. K. way: Why did the chicken cross the road? Why was six afraid of seven? Knock knock...Interrupting cow! Take my wife, please! What's the difference between Neil Armstrong and Michael Jackson?

Traveller's Tales Presents...

OverlappingElvis — Wed, 01 May 2013 09:16:38 -0800

LEGO Breaking Bad: The Video Game

Just a plant?

azarbayejani — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 23:13:53 -0800

Kyle put out a video on 4/20/2013. And 4/20/2011. And 4/20/2008. Here's a bonus Thanksgiving video. Kyle Mooney is a weird guy. Here's a playlist of his hilarious man on the street interview series. (Previously)

Buffy did it, Fringe did it, why not Downton Abbey?

hippybear — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 09:21:23 -0800

Broadway stars get together to "preview" Downton Abbey Series 4's premiere musical episode, with "Julian Fellowes" (Colin Mochrie) providing commentary. (10m). The complete credits for the piece are found in the "show more" of the YouTube page.

Cage Against The Machine

cthuljew — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 19:37:42 -0800

Hanksy, underground street fartist.

You Are Now Revolt-ing With-- Enjolras & Marius

cendawanita — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:13:29 -0800

Tom Hooper's Les Miserables in the style of will.i.am's 'Scream and Shout' ft Britney The original music video for visual comparison purposes.

Important Changes to Federal Tax Form 1080-VQ.Ω8

Potomac Avenue — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 14:23:53 -0800

ATTENTION: The IRS has made important changes to Federal Tax Form 1080-VQ.Ω8. Please review the document below and familiarize yourself with the revisions.

Calvin and Hobbes - the movie?

pjern — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 09:12:42 -0800

This Gritty Reboots Calvin and Hobbes reimagining is fun. Wormwood hall, indeed!

MAYBE I'LL GO EAT THESE LEAVES

lazaruslong — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 16:37:32 -0800

SNAIL! A snail-based parody of the ubiquitous AWOLNATION song "Sail".

They get around

jbickers — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 09:26:22 -0800

The Beach Boys shred "I Get Around," in the style of StSanders (previously).

That Makes It Invertible! (by The Three Directions)

zachlipton — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 13:58:31 -0800

Three professors at Harvey Mudd College wanted to do something special to mark the final lecture of Math 40: Linear Algebra that their students could relate to. The result: they transformed themselves into The Three Directions and performed "That Makes It Invertible!" for their class, complete with choreography and bad math puns. (SLYT)

Prom night is coming.

fuse theorem — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 11:14:01 -0800

Prom night is coming at Westeros Valley High, the School of Thrones. (SLYT. Possible spoilers if you aren't current through season 2 of Games of Thrones)

"Politics determine who has the power, not who has the truth."

Fizz — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 09:18:42 -0800

Breitbarted! [BUSINESSINSIDER.COM] "Conservative news site Breitbart.com duped by fake story that Paul Krugman declared dankruptcy. A satirical item published last week purporting that economist Paul Krugman had filed for bankruptcy has spread to Boston.com and the conservative website Breitbart this morning. The item originated in The Daily Currant, a satirical news site. Austria's Format online magazine picked it up, and their report was subsequently cited by Boston.com [It has since been taken down 404 error.]. Then it spread to Breitbart. It has since been taken down this morning, but here's a screenshot:"

"Krugman responded [NYTimes.com] to the mix-up this morning, writing on his blog that he knew of the fake news item and was asked about it by a Russian television station. He wrote that he did not address it on his blog because he "wanted to wait and see which right-wing media outlets would fall for the hoax."

New Parasites for 2013/ The Cat That Screamed Like A Man/ Coffin Bro

The Whelk — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 17:13:52 -0800

Liar Town Usa: An alternate USA where our products, signage, headlines, and fads are all slightly more surreal, sinister, and threatening.

I have this song in my head, and it cannot be exorcised until I hear it

KokuRyu — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 18:05:08 -0800

Call Me A Hole I have this song in my head, and it cannot be exorcised until I hear it

Digital Life a Buggles Parody

humanfont — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 05:17:49 -0800

Amy Burvall made a video updating the original MTV classic by the Buggles for her final project in "E-Learning and Digital Cultures" #edcmooc a free open course offered this spring on Coursera. [warning earwormy]

This Sunday, see the Dandy Fish take on the Prancy Horsies!

JDHarper — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 04:35:48 -0800

David Rappoccio has redesigned all the NFL logos to be British.

Les Militaribles

Artw — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 20:55:56 -0800

A Korean airforce parody/tribute to Les Miserables

"I did it all in one take!"

The Whelk — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 08:41:51 -0800

For Your Consideration - Anne Hathaway (Emma Fitzpatrick) reminds the Academy to think of her on Oscar night via the magic of song.

The Word of the Father

killdevil — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 06:56:33 -0800

Laws Concerning Food and Drink; Household Principles; Lamentations of the Father [single-link Atlantic]