It’s a very fine line between “tribute” and “rip-off”. The second song on this four track EP, “Stuff Like That”, is a case in point. It’s almost note-for-note, 100% derivative of Spencer Kincy’s “Don’t Stop” from the brilliant Tangled Thoughts EP on Cajual. And by “derivative”, I mean identical: if this were released as a remix of the original back in 1994, you’d still wonder what the remixer actually did. The percussion is a little more lively but really it simply sounds like a remastered or reconstructed cover of “Don’t Stop”.
Never one to jump too far to conclusions, I emailed Phil Weeks to ask what the story was. He professed to be a fan of the original and intended this as a tribute by sampling the same record Spencer did for “Don’t Stop”. When I asked what the original source sample was from, he first asked why I would want to know, and then stated that he doesn’t remember. So there’s that. Caveat audiens. [ Terry Matthew ]
Updated 5/13/10: After this review was published in our April 2010 issue, I (and every other member of our staff) received an email from DJ Sneak (owner of Magnetic) taking exception to it.
In a nutshell, Sneak accused me of having a “hatter [sic] attitude towards the record” and “putting down people or records because of personal reasons” – and then added that if I didn’t have anything good to say, I shouldn’t say anything at all.
The irony wasn’t lost on anyone that after probably a half dozen uniformly positive reviews in the last couple of years (for example, here, here, here, here and also here), the only one which elicited any feedback at all from Sneak was this one – and that after publishing all of those positive reviews (not to mention this recent interview), I’m accused of having some kind of political vendetta against him.
This – along with the correspondence with Phil Weeks – has been preserved, and should anyone have a good reason to see it, I’ll be glad to share it. I did the legwork here and have nothing to hide.
Nevertheless, because I believe you’re smart enough to come to your own conclusion, embedded below are samples from both Phil Weeks’ “Stuff Like That” and Gemini’s “Don’t Stop”. I strongly recommend taking the Pepsi Challenge: close your eyes or walk away from the computer, play both of them a few times and see if you can tell which one is which.
Gemini aka Spencer Kincy: Don’t Stop
Phil Weeks and Joss Moog: Stuff Like That
photo via discogs
[…] the “greater good”, or lift his basslines or hooks to “pay tribute”. When I called out the latter, I was dubbed a “hater”. Was I right? If not: who, if anyone, should say something […]
[…] wrote a review of the track “Stuff Like That” and pointed out (after emailing you about it) that it was nearly identical to Spencer’s […]