Research in Music Series - A Talk by Ben Court

Abstract: Scholars of musical sampling often presuppose a binary understanding of compositional techniques: “live” vs. “virtual.” In this presentation, I propose an alternative framework for understanding samples, which considers seemingly virtual composition techniques as interconnected with live bodily actions. I argue that an historically materialist definition of “sampling” ought to affirm the corporeality of the subjects who employ this technique; in other words, sampling is something you do with your body.

As my primary evidence, I explore “Rock You,” a track by Traxman, a pioneering DJ and producer of Chicago Footwork. Weaved alongside Traxman’s virtuosic drum programming, “Rock You” fuses together two identifiable samples: “Rocket Love” by Stevie Wonder and “We’re Rocking Down the House” by Adonis. Beside the structures, sounds, semiotics, and style of “Rock You” I add analyses of the body in motion, including original interviews with musicians and dancers who unsettle our assumptions about sampling and its materiality.

Biography:

Benjamin Court is a Lecturer in Music History at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He grew up in Western New York and received his Ph.D. in Musicology, with certification in Experimental Critical Theory, from UCLA in 2017. His research explores the politics of musical “amateurism” – music by individuals who claimed not to know how to play music, but nevertheless become musicians. He has published articles about the semiotics of punk in the UK, racial formation in rap and punk in New York City during the 1970s, and the Scratch Orchestra’s politics of music education, among other topics, in numerous international journals including Music & Letters, Popular Music and Society, and Third Text. He previously taught at UCLA and Woodbury University and currently serves as the Grants Manager for Berkshire Pulse, a nonprofit center for dance and creative arts.

As a musician, Benjamin has performed and recorded as a guitarist and multi-instrumentalist in a number of punk, rock, and experimental groups. He continues to compose ambient music and music for contemporary dance as FKA Muddytooth. As an active DJ and producer of Chicago Footwork, he releases music as DJ Ben; he is also a Chicago Footwork dancer and member of the Creation Global footwork crew.