Motion Picture Mayhem
Encyclopedia
Motion Picture Mayhem is a five-part collection of musical albums put together by Universal Records
artist Michael Barber
. The series is best known for being recorded using only a DVD player and computer software sampling programs. The music on the albums all pays homage to movies, including some songs having double and triple meanings. The albums have developed a cult following of fans. Barber writes and produces all the material. Barber has released two of the albums to much success, the first landed him his deal with Universal Records; the second was more of a commercial success, selling roughly 10,000 singles on Itunes. Barber has stated that he got the idea from a childhood friend from his hometown in Evansville, Indiana
.
The second release was a featured download torrent on the website Frostwire
The two have combined for over 100,000 total downloads. The album featured the first ever recordings of multi-platinum producer and artist, Akon
.
Part 3 was released on Christmas Day 2010, and had a special guest host and production from The Wu Tang Clan official DJ Mathematics
. Barber also brought in Rock Producer, Josh Tifer
in to produce the album.
Despite Barber's lack of liking his critics, the album was called "genius" and "ahead of its time" by two different online music blog sites.
Barber was also criticized by other sites for being "too experimental" and "heavily influenced by drugs". Barber is currently living a sober life.
After being a free download, the second installment went on to sell close to 10,000 singles.
. Four arrests were made for drug-related offenses, but Barber was not arrested, and the police said he was not a suspect.
In 2010 a student was arrested in his home in Germany after causing chaos to the local branch of the biker gang, "The Hells Angels". The student was found and arrested after being found alone on his roof listening and singing the Motion Picture Mayhem album.
Universal Records
Universal Records was a record label owned by Universal Music Group, and it is now owned by Manny Patino and Michael Jackson, and operated as part of the Universal Motown Republic Group.-History:...
artist Michael Barber
Michael Barber
Michael Barber is an American musician signed to Universal Records through Hoopla Media Group. Barber is best known for inventing the Messy Music genre that mixes all types of current genres to create his own...
. The series is best known for being recorded using only a DVD player and computer software sampling programs. The music on the albums all pays homage to movies, including some songs having double and triple meanings. The albums have developed a cult following of fans. Barber writes and produces all the material. Barber has released two of the albums to much success, the first landed him his deal with Universal Records; the second was more of a commercial success, selling roughly 10,000 singles on Itunes. Barber has stated that he got the idea from a childhood friend from his hometown in Evansville, Indiana
Evansville, Indiana
Evansville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Indiana and the largest city in Southern Indiana. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 117,429. It is the county seat of Vanderburgh County and the regional hub for both Southwestern Indiana and the...
.
The second release was a featured download torrent on the website Frostwire
FrostWire
FrostWire is a free, open source BitTorrent client first released in September 2004, as a fork of LimeWire. It was initially very similar to LimeWire in appearance and functionality, but over time developers added more features, including BitTorrent support. In version 5, Gnutella support was...
The two have combined for over 100,000 total downloads. The album featured the first ever recordings of multi-platinum producer and artist, Akon
Akon
Aliaune Damala Badara Thiam, better known as simply Akon , is a Senegalese American R&B recording artist and songwriter.According to Forbes, Akon grossed $21 million in 2010, $20 million in 2009 and $12 million in 2008. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of "Locked Up", the first...
.
Part 3 was released on Christmas Day 2010, and had a special guest host and production from The Wu Tang Clan official DJ Mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
. Barber also brought in Rock Producer, Josh Tifer
Josh Tifer
Josh Tifer is a musician and producer whose work has ranged from Metal Rock to Hip Hop. He put out ground breaking, music in the Philadelphia area with the metal group, Chemical Dependency in the early 2000s. In 2010, Tifer was the executive producer on Michael Barber, Motion Picture Mayhem series...
in to produce the album.
Critics and accomplishments
Barber has stated in many interviews over the years that the majority of people did not understand his "big picture" behind the albums. He has said that even magazines who reviewed the albums did not write anything about the link between movies and music. He has said that third installment will come out on his own label, ECP Music Group, and that he will not be giving any away for reviews or selling them in stores.Despite Barber's lack of liking his critics, the album was called "genius" and "ahead of its time" by two different online music blog sites.
Barber was also criticized by other sites for being "too experimental" and "heavily influenced by drugs". Barber is currently living a sober life.
After being a free download, the second installment went on to sell close to 10,000 singles.
Controversy
The second album's release party was raided by the Orlando Police department, considered to be a raveRave
Rave, rave dance, and rave party are parties that originated mostly from acid house parties, which featured fast-paced electronic music and light shows. At these parties people dance and socialize to dance music played by disc jockeys and occasionally live performers...
. Four arrests were made for drug-related offenses, but Barber was not arrested, and the police said he was not a suspect.
In 2010 a student was arrested in his home in Germany after causing chaos to the local branch of the biker gang, "The Hells Angels". The student was found and arrested after being found alone on his roof listening and singing the Motion Picture Mayhem album.