[ANPPOM-Lista] Call for Articles, Podcasts, Videos, and Photo Series: sampling politics today

[Carlos Palombini]

*Call for Articles, Podcasts, Videos, and Photo Series*

*SAMPLING POLITICS TODAY*

the first digital, open-access publication on the upcoming Norient Space
«The Now in Sound»

Musicians and sound artists in the 21st century often engage with politics
in their music. However, this politics comes in new shapes and formats and
is at times hidden from listeners and audiences. One way of bringing
the political into music is the technique of sampling. So in «Sampling
Politics Today» we are focusing on precisely this topic. We are looking for
articles, podcasts, videos, photo series, or contributions in other formats
that will lead to our first publication on the new Norient Space «The Now
in Sound».

The production method and cultural technique of sampling has today become
a lingua franca for artists all around the globe. Sampling means the
process of working with foreign musical or non-musical material in order
to compose a larger piece of music. Musicians and producers sample
instruments, field recordings, media materials, and previously released
music in tracks and performances. In doing so, they transform the meaning
of their source material, especially with regard to its cultural and
political contexts.

This interdisciplinary, digital publication will examine the
socio-political potential of sampling. Given our broad understanding of
“the political” as a signifier of the social, we aim to examine the
relation between sampling and the political in at least six different
sections:

   1. *Sampling political material. *This is a common strategy in popular
   music. Examples range from the popular sampling of political leaders and
   activists in hip hop to Matthew Herbert’s highly conceptual sampling art
   and the processing of police sirens and gunshots. If possible, we should
   like to cover concealed sampling strategies as well, where political
   material is processed without being visible or audible to a larger audience.
   2. *Sampling with political intent.* If the sampled material is not
   political as such, it could be used in combination with intentions or
   concepts that are political in nature.
   3. *The problematization of sampling strategies.* Processing external
   sound material (such as ethnographical recordings) has always stoked
   controversy among scholars, journalists, and fans. In most cases, they
   criticize an imbalance of power between the sampling artists and the actors
   of the sampled sources.
   4. *Provoking conflict.* The British techno DJ Dax J sampled a Muslim
   call to prayer in a live set at a nightclub in Tunisia in spring 2017. The
   harsh reaction on the part of the authorities meant that Dax J had to flee
   the country immediately to avoid being arrested. This is an example of
   sampling practices that can directly provoke conflict.
   5. *Sampling in politicized contexts.* Non-political samples or
   sample-based music devoid of any political intentions could be played in
   politicized contexts. One example would be the use of sample-based music
   as propaganda or within a political campaign. The meaning(s) of the sampled
   materials might change considerably in such contexts.
   6. *Sampling in conflict with the law. *Sampling strategies could be in
   conflict with the law, particularly if they process copyrighted samples
   without clearing the rights.


Submissions should either deal with one of these perspectives, or create
others. These submissions may be made in various forms (as articles,
podcasts, videos or photo series). Articles should be short (between 400
and 1000 (!) words) and should focus strictly on one principal argument,
with a thesis, statement, or observation. We aim to encourage a focus on
sonic phenomena (all kinds of sounds and tracks), and a perspective on
creative processes in musical production (creative choices and
decision-making).

The submissions will be published in early 2020 as the first digital,
open-access publication on the new Norient Space «The Now in Sound», edited
by Dr Thomas Burkhalter and Hannes Liechti, MA. Submissions can be made in
English or German.

Proposals should be e‑mailed to Hannes Liechti (hannes em norient.com)
*by September
1, 2019* (in Word format, length: 100 words, including a biographical note
and contact information). You will be informed about the selection of your
submission by September 30, 2019.

For writers, artists, and producers who are not funded by an institution,
we can offer a small fee. Please get in touch with us.

The publication is part of the project Glocal Sounds – Re-Working and
Re-Coding Place at the Bern University of Arts (HKB), funded by the Swiss
National Science Foundation SNSF.

-- 
carlos palombini, ph.d. (dunelm)
professor de musicologia ufmg
professor permanente ppgm-unirio