It's as if he became so enamored of the beauty of the sample that he just had to take it apart, to discover what it was that made it so great, all the while creating something else equally lovely.
--L.A. Weekly
There is nothing commonplace about the sophisticated sampling practiced by Carl Stone, who has been in the musical transformation business ever since graduating from CalArts in the '70s. For Stone, who says he is fascinated by everything from Japanese Enka to Motown to Mozart, sampling provides a way to encompass all his musical interests. Sampling that which is carved in Stone is like voyaging microscopically deep inside sound. "Sometimes," Stone says, "I'm simply attracted to a kind of wonderful moment in an otherwise dreary piece. So I'll say to myself, 'What would it be like to go in and really examine this closely and see how it works and see what can result from turning it inside out?'
"It is my hope," he continues, "to make music that makes you wonder, so it's interesting for me to start with something that's not so wonderful, a musical cliche, and then put it through the paces so it becomes something I enjoy." |