Swedish dance music maker Hakan Lidbo keeps producing musical ideas that are thought-provoking and outright mad. And danceable, too. Photo: Bengt Alm.
You’ll sometimes hear people complain that there are too many producers in the world. Fine. Let’s have them collaborate on finishing tracks, en masse.
With that many cooks in the kitchen, though, you’ll want one master chef in charge of the result. So it’s good news that Swedish production guru Håkan Lidbo takes the helm of a record-attempting crowd-produced record.
Producers: 57 (including Mr. Lidbo). The goal: set a Guinness Book Of Records world record. Oh, and make sure you can still dance to the result.
Beating the number of samples is out of the question. We already heard Johannes Kreidler do the absurd, with some 70,000 GEMA-thwarting samples transformed via Pure Data into sonic mayhem. Here, it’s about combining actual compositional processes – a fascinating goal in itself.
Have a listen to the results, which are amazingly harmonious – thanks, Hakan. And nicely enough, record sales benefit Amnesty International. Actually defending human rights standards worldwide? Now that would be some global change.
The project description:
This World record is about the greatest number of composers on one single song. Hakan Lidbo and 56 fellow artists has written a funky house tune released by UK’s We Are Woodville Records Nov 26. The record is called “The World Record Record”.
Hakan gave all participating artists a few bars of music, as an inspiration or to borrow sounds from. Then they created their own music, send it to Hakan who finally mixed it all into one song.
So what’s the point? Do too many cooks spoil the broth – or is it the other way around? The more the merrier. This World record attempt is exploring new ways of composing, officially registered at Guinness Book Of Records. If they approve, the World will see 57 new World Champions. Namely these fine artists:
Håkan Lidbo, Alf Tumble, Anders Ilar, Andre Pollman, Ben Ashdown, Bernd Jungwirth, Bjoern Scheurmann, Chra, Conny Skoog, Cornelia, DBPIT, Ascii Disko, Dave Pezzner, DJ Martoosh, Pete Skinner, Electric Indigo, Erik Levander, DJ Eva, Flash Atkins, Gabe Catazaro, Girilal Baars, Glander, Göte Borge, Håkan Hultberg, Håkan Ludvigson, Hardton, Jacob Adler, Johan Hansson, John Manderson, Karl Johan Berggren, Manical Swoop, Martin Sjögren, Martyn Pepprell, Miss CMY, Motoko Ishii, Noak Garberg, Olof Berg, Örjan Strandberg, Pål Pettersson, Perseid, Pfreud, Q-jic, Rob Adema, Scanner, SEKA, SGS, Snuffcrew, Spinello, Stefan Klaverdal, Stir Crazy, System Impossible, Toby Twang, T-11, Tony Hultquist, Vadim Gribedoff, Victor Coridass, Victor Hahn, Vincent Inc & Xyramat.
You can buy the song here: http://recordlabelservices.greedbag.com/buy/the-world-record-record-feat-the-2
Hakan Lidbo has generally made a name by suggesting political ideas around the music he produces, in his own work and the work he curates placing some frame around the output that provokes questions about the meaning of the music. There’s some discourse going on. And sometimes, you know, monkeys playing synths and blindfolded games of tennis.
At TEDx in Göteborg, Sweden, the artist addressed some of these issues at an event probing how to move “beyond borders.” With sound a way for a blind person to play a seeing person in tennis, these musical exercises become real inquiries into expression and communication – a reminder that music doesn’t just have to be passively-consumed and meaningless. (Yes, I’m looking at you again, deadmau5. Dance music can absolutely be, and is, part of that discourse – whether you want to be or not.)