Depending on your perspective, Canadian artist Brian Joseph Davis is either an innovative musical genius, the most original perpetrator of Found Art since Duchamp, or a total charlatan. I’m sure there are no indifferent opinions about the way Davis makes his music. You may hate or love what he does but there is no middle ground.

Take for instance, 10 Banned Albums Burned Then Played, The concept is just what the title says it is. Ten vinyl albums that were banned at some point are burned then played on a turntable. For the most part they are distinguishable noise. Yet there is a odd magnetism in these tracks. Snippets music appear but are then are destroyed by the hissing and jumping of the burned vinyl. Social commentary or the result of too much alcohol? You can decide for yourself. Personally I was all set to hate this but I found the tracks to be strangely hypnotic and found it worth several listens. Probably the most intriguing thing is that “Louie Louie” doesn’t sound all that different after be burned. I’m reminded of a column by Dave Barry in which he wrote that if you dropped a guitar off a cliff it would play “Louie Louie” as it bounced off the rocks.

Then there is Yesterduh in which Davis took people off the street and asked them to sing the Beatles’ song “Yesterday”. It didn’t matter if they did not know the lyrics, just make them up. Davis took the best of them and mixed them to make this odd and funny album. At times it is funny but at other times, such as on the second track, it becomes haunting and beautiful or more often, just embarrassing. I have a lot of empathy for these poor souls as my own voice is woefully lacking in aesthetic worth. I have learned from secret sources that this is how William Hung was really discovered.

If you can get in the swing of these two bizarre but entertaining albums you might want to check out Davis’ three other albums, all being offered free and online from Ubuweb. Minima Morelalis is a tongue-in-cheek attempt to turn Theodore Adorno’s book of the same name into a punk record. This is a raucous satire of either punk or Marxism…probably both. It is actually darn good punk rock. Greatest Hit takes six greatest hit albums by Whitney Houston, Kenny G, The Carpenters, The Police, The Rolling Stones and Metallica, then plays All of the tracks at the same time. Again, what should have been a mess becomes a fascinating cornucopia of sounds. Finally Original Soundtrack is a live performance using 20 TV sets and DVD players and is of course reminiscent of John Cage’s exercises in randomness with radios. This stuff can grow on you but even if you are shaking you head in skepticism, you should give this a try. The future may look kindly on these experiments. After all, this is now considered a masterpiece.

You can find all of these albums plus some other works by Brian Joseph Davis at Ubuweb or go directly to the album’s download page through the links below.

Download
Minima Moralia
Greatest Hit
10 Banned Albums Burned Then Played
Yester Duh
Original Soundtrack