Is Imitation Really a Form of Flattery?

Nearly all of the music I like has been inspired by what came before it or has at least some reference to the past. Indeed, the only producers I love who have always claimed that no one else inspires them are Drexciya, even though I never believed this. I also don't buy Omar S' claim that he listens to no other producer - surely it's impossible to make music in a vaccum? If he had never listened to anyone else, how come the (admittedly great) music he makes is a form of house music and something we have never heard or even conceived of? Anyway, I'm willing to indulge the caprices of a maverick producer like Omar S or Drexciya, but I think that when a producer blatantly copies another one, then he/she has overstepped the mark. In 2002, Dan Bell claimed that Josh Wink had copied his 'Phreak' track on Wink's 'SuperPhreak' release and that Wink had also copied production techniques that he (Bell) had pioneered. Furthermore, Bell claimed that this was audible on Wink's 'Don't Laugh', which, he said, used the same vocal fading technique as his own 'Losing Control'. At the time I wanted to write a story about the argument (which was eventually published). Bell outlined his argument in an email, but when it came to speak to Wink, his PR at the time called me and threatened me with legal action if I wrote a story that cast his client in an unfavourable light. I'd never been threatened before, so I laughed at the guy and published the story (unfortunately, it's not online). The whole episode seemed to fizzle out without resolution and Bell even said in an interview last year that he wanted to forget the whole thing. However, in an interview for his new album, a journalist described Wink as one of the arcitects of minimalism thanks to 'Don't Laugh'. It was an ill-informed remark, but just to put the cat among the pigeons and see if there would be any reaction, I repeated the allegations Bell had made in 2002 on an RA thread about a podcast Wink did for the site. One or two replies, but no response from Wink or any of his fans. No one seemed to care. The following week, RA publishes an interview with Shlomi Aber, who last year was accused of ripping off Aril Brikha's 'Groove La Chord' (having listened to both tracks, I feel the similarities are way too close for it to be a coincidence). Aber's replies in the interview about the allegations are very weak and don't lend much weight to his argument that he didn't knowingly copy Brikha. Consequently, the reaction to him on the site's forum has been pretty negative, but why was it so muted for the allegations about Wink? After all, if the claims are true, then what Wink has done is perhaps more serious-  copying production techniques. Do people not want to question an established name like Wink's credibility, or are they willing to put the boot into a less well-known name like Aber (who I'm not defending). It seems like a strange imbalance in  values, slate the young pretender, revere the old 'innovator' - or are people afraid to ask the bigger question, that these kind of rip offs have been going on since electronic music's year zero?

Comments

[gmos]

to play devil's advocate, I would say the fact that Aber's "crime" was a lot more recent has a lot to do with it, in fact it had already been mentioned on RA at the time of the dispute

[Richard Carnage]

"If he had never listened to anyone else, how come the (admittedly great) music he makes is a form of house music and something we have never heard or even conceived of?"

All he says is that he's not really listening to much music by other people at the moment - not for the whole of his life.

[wood]

Josh Wink has always sucked and the sheer fact that he has a PR agent to threaten people like you is credit to the reality that Wink, like a lot of other over hyped bullshit, just is in music for the BUSINESS. If you want to look to a true artist in this game, look at who you point out, Drexciya. Nearly never played a live show, had a day job as a long haul trucker and produced truly original music.

I'm just so fucking sick of PR hype and people getting behind it because they can't think for themselves..

check out this interesting article to that fact.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2009/jan/20/animal-collective-hall-oates

and I think what DopeJams in NYC has to say about Deepchord etc, no matter how much they are pleasant to listen to, is spot on..

http://www.ustem.org/dopejams/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=92

[kuri]

hey Richard,
I saw that statement you posted about Wink ripping off Bell on RA and was laughing when someone didn't have the slightest idea what you were on about. as for the Aber thing, the other slight against him was that "Phylps Track II" and Brothers Vibe mashup that he had denied as his own remix that seemed to really stir the pot. And to Gmos's point I think it's got more to do with what scandal is most current and well known to the current audience, whereas the Wink scandal is well worn at this point. honestly, i still like some of his early tracks ("Feel the Warmth" off the Deepest Shade of Techno for one).

at wood: i saw those same comments on Dope Jams about Deep Chord and laughed since they are true in a lot of ways. it actually made me question a lot of the recent stuff and I've gone back and really listened to them and thought that some of them really aren't all that good and are highly derivative.

[chrisdisco]

i really disagree when it comes to deepchord...

on wink, i think a lot of it comes down to the stories we tell, what is remembered and what is forgotten. so many of the people who comment on RA seem relatively new to techno/house etc, and this tends to be reflected in the comments.

[kuri]

chris: what sets deepchord apart? i'm ready to be convinced otherwise but would like to hear a good argument that would sway me.
listening to "Vantage Isle" DC Mix II now and it's sounding like just another version of M7 or therabouts. "Grand Bend" DC07 mix has a great mid-tempo organic groove but don't know if it really goes anywhere.

[Dave A]

Why can't people use the same production technique? The Groove La Chord rip off was clearly a rip off - the style, the groove, the chords, the noises, nearly the whole thing.

But Bell can't feasibly say "don't laugh" was a rip off of "losing control" - unless Bell is contending that nobody else can use a filter on a vocal. If that's the case, then everyone using the 909 kick drum owes some guy a lot of money.

And whatever about Wink's production style being derivative (there aren't very many people that aren't in some way), I saw him DJ once and he was utterly explosive, really amazing stuff.