I don't like Andrew Sullivan much, as a writer, as a thinker, as a political commentator. Never have. Whatever. But I still like visiting his blog because he links to some really cool stuff sometimes. To wit. YouTube videos remixed into songs for Kutiman's new album, Thru You. Totally fun.
But then Sullivan writes this about the project: "The wisdom of crowds just got musical and online."
Uh, no.
Unless Kutiman is actually just the nom de tune (heehee, get it?) of the anonymous masses who appear in the videos, and who spontaneously generate these songs from the seemingly ramdom confluences of their separate projects, then, no, this has nothing to do with the wisdom of crowds. It's the wisdom of one guy. Who has a lot of talent, and even more patience. The bottom falling out of the stock market--that's the wisdom of crowds! Rousseau's ideal legislature--that's the wisdom of crowds! Sampling? Not so much.