Boom Selection

When I wrote about mash-ups in Reason this past spring, I originally planned to include a review of the mammoth Boom Selection_Issue 01, a CD set that one critic has described as "minute for minute…the most illegal album in history." Unfortunately, the anthology had disappeared, leaving nothing behind but unfilled orders, uncollected payments, and unpleasant rumors about the anthologist's fate.

Now both collector and collection have resurfaced, and the latter is allegedly available again. He's sending out copies to people who ordered but never received them earlier, and he's mulling whether to burn some more to meet the new demand. If you think you'd be part of that demand, let him know.

I did finally score a copy a couple months after my article appeared, and it really is an amazing assemblage. I recommend it to anyone interested in this sort of music and this sort of social phenomenon, though I can't promise that any new orders will ever actually arrive. Caveat emptor.

Comments

[Anonymous]

"By the logic used in the patenting of genetically modified organisms, the makers of "Rock the Party" should be able to sue Pink and the Clash."

Owning a patent covering "organism X containing transgene Y" does not give the owner patent rights to "organism X" per se or "transgene Y" per se. Sure, you could try to argue otherwise to the Patent Office or a court. And yes, the Patent Office is a Federal bureaucracy, and the typical jury looks like the Peter Bagge Reason cover from a few months ago. Injustices happen. But blame the injustices on bureaucratic ineptitude or the tricks of trial lawyers, and not the Patent Clause of Article I.

[Chris Puzak]

The CDs are also available on various file sharing services. So, it's stil possible to get the tracks even if this guy gets shut down again.

[Julian Sanchez]

Y'know, the whole mash-up thing reminds me... I once popped in a Soul Coughing CD at a friend's place while someone else, unbeknownst to me, was pushing play on another machine that had a Medeski Martin and Wood album loaded up. Excellent combo; maybe I'll try cutting 'em together digitally. Unless the RIAA is listening, in which case... just kidding.

[Kevin Carson]

"While politicians debate the propriety of biological engineering, a similar sort of tampering is exploding in a network of underground laboratories."

By the logic used in the patenting of genetically modified organisms, the makers of "Rock the Party" should be able to sue Pink and the Clash.

[Anonymous]

Great to see Kevin ride his hobby horse already in this thread. All we need now is Lonewacko to compare mash-ups to Mexifornia.

[enfant T]

Uh, how is Kevin wrong?