No Business
Encyclopedia
No Business is a 2005 album
by the sound collage
band Negativland
. While the songs encompass a variety of topics, the overarching theme of the album is copyright
issues, especially those pertaining to peer-to-peer
file sharing
. Although the title track and especially the track "Downloading" are the only ones that explicitly relate to this topic, the rest of the album can technically be considered so, on account of the fact that they consist entirely of samples, unlike Negativland's other albums.
book
pertaining to copyright law; and a yellow
whoopie cushion with a black
copyright symbol
on it, referencing the band's motto-of-sorts "N©!". The CD itself also contains a bonus music video
for an earlier track, "Gimme the Mermaid", which first appeared on Fair Use: The Story of the Letter U and the Numeral 2
. The surreal
video was created by then-Disney
animator
Tim Maloney
using his company's equipment during after-hours, and is the first-ever music video for a Negativland cut. One can load the CD on a computer
and check its contents to find the video.
The audio tapes used to create the song "God Bull" on this album (from Disneyland's "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" attraction, one of many sets of tapes acquired from a former employee) would later inspire the animatronic Abraham Lincoln in the Negativlandland exhibit, opened in September 2005, in Manhattan's Gigantic Artspace gallery. The audio used in the Lincoln statue, in contrast, comes from blooper tapes. The sound engineer telling Lincoln's voice actor what to do is left untouched, but Lincoln's own voice is edited into madness, conveying the image of a robot on the verge of breaking down.
The songs "Favorite Things" and "No Business" both had music videos made and released on the DVD Our Favorite Things
in October 2007, along with Negativland's other "hits".
Video (available on CD): "Gimme The Mermaid" 4:42
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by the sound collage
Sound collage
In music, montage or sound collage is a technique where sound objects or compositions, including songs, are created from collage, also known as montage, the use of portions of previous recordings or scores...
band Negativland
Negativland
Negativland is an experimental music and sound collage band which originated in the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1970s. They took their name from a Neu! song, while their record label is named after another Neu! song...
. While the songs encompass a variety of topics, the overarching theme of the album is copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
issues, especially those pertaining to peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads among peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application...
file sharing
File sharing
File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digitally stored information, such as computer programs, multimedia , documents, or electronic books. It may be implemented through a variety of ways...
. Although the title track and especially the track "Downloading" are the only ones that explicitly relate to this topic, the rest of the album can technically be considered so, on account of the fact that they consist entirely of samples, unlike Negativland's other albums.
History
The album is especially unique in Negativland's body of work because it is their first to not contain any original sounds by Negativland, but use exclusively "stolen" sound. It does not come in a regular-sized CD case. Instead, it comes in a flip-open package about the size of a book covered with images of copyrighted characters (again referencing copyright issues.) The package contains the CD and two other items: Two Relationships to a Cultural Public Domain, a 49-page essayEssay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
book
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
pertaining to copyright law; and a yellow
Yellow
Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S cone cells. Light with a wavelength of 570–590 nm is yellow, as is light with a suitable mixture of red and green...
whoopie cushion with a black
Black
Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...
copyright symbol
Copyright symbol
The copyright symbol, or copyright sign, designated by © , is the symbol used in copyright notices for works other than sound recordings . The use of the symbol is described in United States copyright law, and, internationally, by the Universal Copyright Convention...
on it, referencing the band's motto-of-sorts "N©!". The CD itself also contains a bonus music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for an earlier track, "Gimme the Mermaid", which first appeared on Fair Use: The Story of the Letter U and the Numeral 2
Fair Use: The Story of the Letter U and the Numeral 2
Fair Use: The Story of the Letter U and the Numeral 2 is a 270 page book and ten track CD released in 1995 by Negativland detailing their lawsuits with U2's record label Island Records for their EP U2, including many legal documents and correspondences....
. The surreal
Surreal humour
Surreal humour is a form of humour based on violations of causal reasoning with events and behaviours that are logically incongruent. Constructions of surreal humour involve bizarre juxtapositions, non-sequiturs, irrational situations, and/or expressions of nonsense.The humour arises from a...
video was created by then-Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
animator
Animator
An animator is an artist who creates multiple images that give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence; the images are called frames and key frames. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, video games, and the internet. Usually, an...
Tim Maloney
Tim Maloney
Tim Maloney is an American filmmaker and animator who has made films for the band Negativland, the Walt Disney Company, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.While at Disney TVA, he was the director of the popular segment Mrs...
using his company's equipment during after-hours, and is the first-ever music video for a Negativland cut. One can load the CD on a computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
and check its contents to find the video.
The audio tapes used to create the song "God Bull" on this album (from Disneyland's "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" attraction, one of many sets of tapes acquired from a former employee) would later inspire the animatronic Abraham Lincoln in the Negativlandland exhibit, opened in September 2005, in Manhattan's Gigantic Artspace gallery. The audio used in the Lincoln statue, in contrast, comes from blooper tapes. The sound engineer telling Lincoln's voice actor what to do is left untouched, but Lincoln's own voice is edited into madness, conveying the image of a robot on the verge of breaking down.
The songs "Favorite Things" and "No Business" both had music videos made and released on the DVD Our Favorite Things
Our Favorite Things
Our Favorite Things is a compilation DVD by the band Negativland, released on November 27, 2007. The original release date on October 23 was skipped due to a pressing error in the DVDs and the bonus CD, a collection of Negativland covers done by an a cappella doo-wop group. It contains 20 of the...
in October 2007, along with Negativland's other "hits".
Track listing
- "Old Is New" – 1:19
- "No Business" – 4:13
- "Downloading" – 9:51
- "Favorite Things" – 1:58
- "God Bull" – 4:59
- "Keep Rollin'" – 3:12
- "Piece A Pie" – 8:40
- "New Is Old" – 1:32
- "No Business Again" – 0:36
Video (available on CD): "Gimme The Mermaid" 4:42
External links
- No Business on NegativWorldWideWebland — "No Business" and "Downloading" available as sample tracks
- [ No Business at Allmusic]