The inaugural BIA blogger post story so far doo-dah.
Alas, the moment has come. I must sully the shiny newness of this website with my ill conceived words. Time for a potted history, blatantly lifted from my infinitely more talented friends at http://www.mutebox.co.uk...
BIA was formed in 1986 when a young Doug F. looked over someone's shoulder at school and realized nicking other people's hard work could be fun. Having experienced first hand (often at full volume) the bedroom genesis of Cats Against The Bomb's first demos and being a fan of plunderphonics legends like Negativland and the KLF, our man purloined some software off his brother and made a demo called "The Eighties Movie Soundtrack Disaster" in a week. The classics were all there: Akira, Terminator, Transformers, Zardoz, Biggles... He then spend the rest of the year trying to work out what all the knobs and buttons on Sonic Foundry actually do... If you like cheap, nasty soundtracks, dated synth-pop and dialogue samples of questionable artistic merit, then download away. It's not like youre stealing or anything...
I'm starting this blog in lieu of a proper website as quite frankly I know f*ck all about html and technical jiggerypokery (can I swear on here?) and don't have time to learn right now. Better than nothing I s'pose.
The name Big In Albania comes from a song by Norman Wisdom and the Pikinis which was only released in Albania itself. There's a book by Tony Hawks called "One Hit Wonderland" which recounts his attempts at scoring a number one in any country and believe the song in question didn't actually top the charts. Maybe someone that's actually read the book can correct me if I'm wrong, though no comments on Mr Hawks skateboarding skills please.
As of the present moment, there have been a shedload of Big In Albania releases in a little under a year. More potted history follows...
The Eighties Movie Soundtrack Disaster was the pre-BIA name demo made ultra-quickly in a matter of days. Most of it sounds fairly awful to me now, though it does contain the original version of "Seeds Of Evil" and sometime BIA classic "Bigboote". In total, about 10 copies were made, though I did manage to get one to Canada and another to Australia.
Escape From The Eighties Movie Soundtrack Disaster was the inevitable sequel which every bad film needs. Again, a bit rushed. "Kicked In The Nadsat" stands out by a mile as a good example of when samples fit together purely by chance. About 5 copies were made of this one, all with atrocious photocopied artwork. If you have the Director's cut version with all twelve tracks then you have one of about 7 or 8 copies. Keeping track of my output so far is not something I'm particularly good at despite being rather anal about it.
Pixel Dust was the low point of the early years (or should that be year?) as just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong. The theory - make a album entirely out of computer game sounds. The practice - too bloody ambitious for my own good. Most of this demo is padded out with stuff added at the last minute that didn't fit on EFTEMSD. About 6 copies of this one, all of 'em rubbish!
Dance Like 1984 was a rush job sampler put together for ATP in November 2004 which I didn't give to anyone at the festival out of no particular reason. This is actually the best thing I've done just because I'd finally worked out how to make descent songs at last! Features the new and improved version of "Seeds Of Evil" and five other excellent tracks. Only five copies made.
Here endeth the history lesson. Next time, expect the latest news on the return of the Soundtrack Disasters, the story of the "Special Dedication" EP and the latest on the second proper BIA release.
Now I must depart, for there is an old BBC record that needs listening to before bedtime.
BIA was formed in 1986 when a young Doug F. looked over someone's shoulder at school and realized nicking other people's hard work could be fun. Having experienced first hand (often at full volume) the bedroom genesis of Cats Against The Bomb's first demos and being a fan of plunderphonics legends like Negativland and the KLF, our man purloined some software off his brother and made a demo called "The Eighties Movie Soundtrack Disaster" in a week. The classics were all there: Akira, Terminator, Transformers, Zardoz, Biggles... He then spend the rest of the year trying to work out what all the knobs and buttons on Sonic Foundry actually do... If you like cheap, nasty soundtracks, dated synth-pop and dialogue samples of questionable artistic merit, then download away. It's not like youre stealing or anything...
I'm starting this blog in lieu of a proper website as quite frankly I know f*ck all about html and technical jiggerypokery (can I swear on here?) and don't have time to learn right now. Better than nothing I s'pose.
The name Big In Albania comes from a song by Norman Wisdom and the Pikinis which was only released in Albania itself. There's a book by Tony Hawks called "One Hit Wonderland" which recounts his attempts at scoring a number one in any country and believe the song in question didn't actually top the charts. Maybe someone that's actually read the book can correct me if I'm wrong, though no comments on Mr Hawks skateboarding skills please.
As of the present moment, there have been a shedload of Big In Albania releases in a little under a year. More potted history follows...
The Eighties Movie Soundtrack Disaster was the pre-BIA name demo made ultra-quickly in a matter of days. Most of it sounds fairly awful to me now, though it does contain the original version of "Seeds Of Evil" and sometime BIA classic "Bigboote". In total, about 10 copies were made, though I did manage to get one to Canada and another to Australia.
Escape From The Eighties Movie Soundtrack Disaster was the inevitable sequel which every bad film needs. Again, a bit rushed. "Kicked In The Nadsat" stands out by a mile as a good example of when samples fit together purely by chance. About 5 copies were made of this one, all with atrocious photocopied artwork. If you have the Director's cut version with all twelve tracks then you have one of about 7 or 8 copies. Keeping track of my output so far is not something I'm particularly good at despite being rather anal about it.
Pixel Dust was the low point of the early years (or should that be year?) as just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong. The theory - make a album entirely out of computer game sounds. The practice - too bloody ambitious for my own good. Most of this demo is padded out with stuff added at the last minute that didn't fit on EFTEMSD. About 6 copies of this one, all of 'em rubbish!
Dance Like 1984 was a rush job sampler put together for ATP in November 2004 which I didn't give to anyone at the festival out of no particular reason. This is actually the best thing I've done just because I'd finally worked out how to make descent songs at last! Features the new and improved version of "Seeds Of Evil" and five other excellent tracks. Only five copies made.
Here endeth the history lesson. Next time, expect the latest news on the return of the Soundtrack Disasters, the story of the "Special Dedication" EP and the latest on the second proper BIA release.
Now I must depart, for there is an old BBC record that needs listening to before bedtime.
posted by Doug AKA Big In Albania at 7:26 am
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