Customer Reviews

A Big 10-8 Place

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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Negativland have been carrying on for nearly 25 years now, an amazing longevity for a band with admittedly narrow appeal. Their sonic landscapes have captivated, perplexed, and infuriated thousands, and they have taken a role that will probably place them in pop music history as one of the most ardent defenders of the copyright concept of fair use. But before they were sued into oblivion by U2's record label, before they became Fair Use poster children, they were four or five geeky guys from Contra Costa county who made sound cutups.

Their early peak, and one they have never quite equalled since, is A Big 10-8 Place. The album came in a plain sleeve, and even the CD reissue never had a proper insert booklet. Never mind, it's the sound that counts here. After a brief "overture" of sorts, they launch into a splendid sound collage, "A Big 10-8 Place Part 1", of nearly 20 minutes in length. Two song-length tracks then intervene, "Clowns and Ballerinas" (a recording of a young girl singing to piano with subtle added electronic noodlings) and Mark Hosler's eccentric acoustic guitar ditty "Four Fingers".

Then the true magic begins. "180-G: A Big 10-8 Place Part 2" is one of the all-time great sound collages. Equal parts John Cage, Brian Eno, and Firesign Theatre, the 20 minute excursion, narrated by the whimsical drawl of David Wills (who many consider to be the true voice of Negativland), takes you from San Francisco into Contra Costa county to house 180 on G so that you can clean up the dog juice on the orange carpet, but only after shoplifting the HR steam cleaning system from Safe Muffins. Don't forget to spray the talking toads with the Formula 409 before driving backwards to San Francisco to get back into your sewer pipe.

This album is not for first-time listeners and not for the uninitiated in avant garde music. Go listen to Escape From Noise first. If you like it, then come back and get this album. You will never look at music the same way again.

This was their third release and the first one I ever heard. I remember playing this many times on my late-night radio show. The original LP came with a "Car Bomb" bumper sticker, which spent many years on the back of my 1978 Mercury station wagon.

There are two actual songs on this release: Four Fingers, a cute little folk tune that counts fingers, and the car bomb track, which was very timely in the early 80's. The centerpiece of the album is the two-part title tracks, a wonderful travelogue through Contra Costa County, CA, narrated by The Weatherman and filled with inside jokes. This is a perfect extension of the work Negativland did on their "Over the Edge" show on KPFA in Berkeley; lots of samples (not called samples back then, of course), lots of stream of consciousness, and a giddy sort of experimentation with radio and recorded music/comedy. They picked up where Firesign Theater left off.

This and their next one, Escape From Noise, were their best.

it is THIS album, and especially the song: A Big 10-8 Place, Part 2" that turned me on to Negativland so many years ago!

The first song was so VERY STUPID! (over and over) I mean, who in the world could have such a nasal, whiny voice like that and be public about it? :)

Bit it was the magical storytelling ability of that whiny, nasal voice that started my secret crush on a certain individual: David Wills, aka The Weatherman, aka The Clorox Cowboy!

It was pure magic! Just put that track on, close your eyes and The Weatherman guides you from San Fransisco (driving backwards) to the magical address of 180 and the Letter G! Of course, there has to be a reason to go there: To clean up that horrible dog juice off the orange carpet at 180 and the letter G!

He gets into so much hillarious detail during that fantasy trip to 180 and the letter G! Including signposts to look for, radio distortion to expect, and talking toads telling you "Herbiss, spray me with the Formula 409!"

For those who are not familiar with The Weatherman, this album is a good place to meet him and get introduced to all his strange words like "Seat Bee Sate"

This albumn, from 1983, trys to tell a story. The story is in a place called pleasant hill, where the green slim can make you turn invisible. The whole album is based around this story.
pretty classic negativland.
includes a sticker, a map of contracosta county and a burnt piece of wood that is part of the story.

pretty cool in my opinion.