G-G-Get Down!

April 30, 2010 7:54 AM

The remix artist Pogo (Previously Previously) goes a little darker and danicer in his latest offering, Skynet Symphonic, entirely built from Terminator 2 clips.
posted by The Whelk (20 comments total)

Man, I'm never going to be able to refind this one track by Marilyn Manson's keyboardist (his stage name is/was Pogo; I don't know if he's still in the band). It was an interesting ambient piece called Mung Effusion.

I guess there are so many artists out there now that there's going to be more and more repeat names.

On topic, I really like this collage. Is there a proper name for this genre? Does this fall under "mash-up?"
posted by wires at 8:07 AM on April 30, 2010

Wow, this hasn't been on here? This is one of my favorite pogos.
posted by The Devil Tesla at 8:13 AM on April 30, 2010 [1 favorite]

The thing that gets me about the whole "entirely built from samples of X" gimmick is that you can make a techno synth out of a seed input plus a delay with feedback, and some enveloping. The seed input can literally be any sequence of non zero data points, and has very little effect on what the synth will sound like. In other words if you are working with a fed back delay and an envelope you are literally able to make synths from scratch, no matter what you input was (which this guy clearly does, unless he is cheating and using a premade synth).

Not to dis on the artistry or the final product, it is great for what it is. But "entirely made from samples of X" is really not that remarkable of a feat - and for the melody carrying portion, the nature of the samples had very little to do with the resulting sound.
posted by idiopath at 8:14 AM on April 30, 2010

Doh. There is also the possibility that he is sampling tones from the sound track (which come to think of it is more plausible). But he is definitely using resonant filters and/or autotune to bring out pitched content from incedental sounds.
posted by idiopath at 8:17 AM on April 30, 2010

I don't really know how he does it, but I enjoy it regardless. It was a nice surprise to hear him take on a darker movie than the Disney cartoons, complete with that unexpected "sonofabitch" clip in the middle. I also liked how the video was a narrative of the first part of the movie.
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 8:38 AM on April 30, 2010

"There is also the possibility that he is sampling tones from the sound track (which come to think of it is more plausible). But he is definitely using resonant filters and/or autotune to bring out pitched content from incedental sounds."

Thanks! For a second there I was worried that I might be enjoying something in the moment without making it about me. I am so relieved that, now that I know how it works, I can convince anyone who will listen that I could have done the same thing if I had only wanted to.
posted by mister-o at 8:41 AM on April 30, 2010 [1 favorite]

It's good, I guess. Like the movie itself, I got a little tired of all the flashing and banging by the end. But I like what Pogo's up to. Limit yourself to your sampler and one basic source, and then go nuts from there. But he's hardly the only one doing it.

I wish I could remember his name, but there's an Austrian "filmmaker" who was doing much more nuanced and hypnotic stuff way back when (the 90s) with clips from Judy Garland movies. If this rings a bell with anyone, please throw up a link or something.
posted by philip-random at 8:42 AM on April 30, 2010

I love his other stuff (especially "Alice"). This is pretty awesome! Sounds like Yello and FLA had drunken sex and birthed a very cranky baby!
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 8:43 AM on April 30, 2010

mister-o: "I am so relieved that, now that I know how it works, I can convince anyone who will listen that I could have done the same thing if I had only wanted to."

No. I totally lack skill in this genre. My point is that "only samples of X" is kind of misleading when you are using the kinds of effects and filters he is using - he is creating synths out of the samples.
posted by idiopath at 8:47 AM on April 30, 2010

For an analogy, saying "only made with samples of X" when using that kind of processing equipment is like saying a sculpture was made of "a paper mache entirely composed of strips from the mona lisa, then painted over". The techniques involved have the power to totally eliminate the character of the source material.
posted by idiopath at 8:54 AM on April 30, 2010

idiopath:

so kinda like Jingle Cats?
posted by Kirk Grim at 9:09 AM on April 30, 2010

It's a broad spectrum, yes. Pogo could go the purist route and stick to compositions where every note is unaltered and recognizable, but ultimately that's going to leave his songs sounding a bit one-dimensional. Or he could go to the other extreme and distort his samples so greatly that the character of the source material is lost, but then he's just another techno artist and his gimmick is wasted. I think the thing so many people like about Pogo, whether they realize it or not, is that he's able to stay firmly in the middle. That is the art. He manages to keep the flavor of the movies he samples, and also infuse them with his own personal style, without diminishing either.
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 9:15 AM on April 30, 2010 [4 favorites]

Not quite, because with jingle cats you are still getting the unique timbre of the cats, just manipulated by playback speed to create a melody. What I am talking about is the resonant filters and enveloping and chorus that significantly mask and homogenize the timbre of the input sound (as well as some pitch shifting too for good measure). Look at the similarity of the way pogo makes Alice sing and the way he makes the boy in Terminator 2 sing - the result has more to do with pogo's artistry than it does with the source material.

And don't get me wrong, I think it is a wonderful thing that what we are hearing is pogo's artistry - he is good at what he does. It just seems a little handwavey to claim that what we are hearing is just samples from that movie. Pogo could have done the same thing with the sound of passing traffic or throwing kitchen tools around, focusing on the sample source may have a romantic appeal but has little to do with the results.
posted by idiopath at 9:21 AM on April 30, 2010

And on failure to preview: you make a good point The WInsome Parker Lewis, I guess I would place Pogo's stuff in a different place in the original sound / processed sound spectrum but admittedly there is a subjective element here.
posted by idiopath at 9:24 AM on April 30, 2010

Well put, Parker Lewis.
posted by Mister_A at 9:31 AM on April 30, 2010

I thought that was pretty great. When I think of the work that goes into this sort of thing it kind of blows my mind. Where do you even start?

(This will always be my favorite "Terminator" remix, though. NSFW!)
posted by lysistrata at 9:55 AM on April 30, 2010 [1 favorite]

Thanks! For a second there I was worried that I might be enjoying something in the moment without making it about me. I am so relieved that, now that I know how it works, I can convince anyone who will listen that I could have done the same thing if I had only wanted to.

WTF!!1! Is someone here discussing the content of the links? Flagged.
posted by barrett caulk at 10:04 AM on April 30, 2010

On topic, I really like this collage. Is there a proper name for this genre? Does this fall under "mash-up?"

Tasman Richardson of "Fame Fame" fame calls it Jawa style [pdf manifesto]. My favourites are Vader and Godzilla.
posted by tronfunkinblo at 10:14 AM on April 30, 2010

Ooh! I just used a sped-up version of "Alice" in a podcast [Soundcloud] I posted not half an hour ago. Love it, although it sounds a bit crowded when sped up to 120 BPM.
posted by LMGM at 8:46 PM on April 30, 2010

His latest "Gardyn" is taken from samples of the real world - his mother's garden and her voice.
posted by The Whelk at 7:12 AM on May 11, 2010