Two new tracks are and a movie clip are availible from Negativland
- MP3: Negativland - No Business
- MP3: Negativland - Downloading
The Mashin' of the Christ
"San Francisco's Negativeland have long been known to court public controversy as an integral part of their "fair use" art. So when a press release appeared on the group's website last week announcing that hackers had stolen their "top-sacred-for-internal-use-only" project, The Mashin' of the Christ, and it was now appearing online in various peer-to-peer file trading networks (the website offers detailed instructions on how to find it), it was clear the group was up to new tricks. The five-minute film is an exquisitely rendered video mash-up culled from a combination of decrypted footage ripped from DVDs rented from Netflix and Blockbuster, "found" 16mm film footage, original CGI, and films obtained from peer-to-peer file-sharing networks — including images of a beaten and crucified Jesus borrowed from more than 30 films like Ben Hur, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Last Temptation of Christ,and Mel Gibson's current blockbuster. The soundtrack is Negativeland's seminal 1987 release, "Christianity Is Stupid," from their breakthrough SST album Escape from Noise. The track, with its chant of "Christianity is stupid, Communism is good" was itself part of an earlier uproar that helped bring the group wider public attention: when Negativeland canceled a national tour by issuing a press release falsely claiming the track had inspired a real-life Minnesota mass murder, it sparked a national media firestorm (which the group promptly turned into their next project, Helter Stupid). As the issues of intellectual property in the digital age take on international importance — and Gibson's Passion takes its place as one of the highest grossing films of all time — Negativeland's fearless and playful projects are more timely than ever."
Stolen from the Earplug Newsletter