Negativland stop culture jamming, start songwriting

Today marks the release of Thigmotactic, Negativland’s 19th full-length release in their 28-year career. If anyone were to assume that this new record would be just more of the same, they’d be foolishly wrong.

For a band that’s built a career on “culture jamming,” this record is decidedly devoid of samples and the like. The sound collages have instead been replaced by bona fide songs with rather unexpected instrumentation - you know, guitars and such.

Not a bad decision, especially considering the litigious tendencies of the RIAA in recent years. But although it might look like they’re playing it safe trying to avoid potential future lawsuits (they’ve already been dragged into court twice for copyright violations), they’re also running the considerable risk of alienating all of their long-time fans, which might be the ballsiest move of them all.

Here’s some MP3s so you can judge for yourself:

• Basketball Plant
• Influential You