What is your criteria for how you decide if you like noise?

[luciferjonez]

I've never really thought about it this way.
But basicly its the same as with any music. If it sounds good to me and has that *something*.
What is that something? No idea. It just is what it is.

Please share what that something is that you're listening to today. Hook a brother up with some noise that's touching your soul or tickling your taint.

Neandertaal, Electric Hobo/Junkayrd Shaman, Haare, Vincent Dallas, Yana, Scarlet Diva for example.
Even those are different in style but most of the time it is something low ended, crunchy stuff.
Dont know. Good tunes are good tunes.

Thank you! Digging Neandertaal!

[Namahs]

Please share what that something is that you're listening to today. Hook a brother up with some noise that's touching your soul or tickling your taint.

Neandertaal, Electric Hobo/Junkayrd Shaman, Haare, Vincent Dallas, Yana, Scarlet Diva for example.
Even those are different in style but most of the time it is something low ended, crunchy stuff.
Dont know. Good tunes are good tunes.

Thank you! Digging Neandertaal!

Neandertaal kicks ass!
Doing a collab jamsession with him next weekend.

[shrouded.in.antiquity]

I recently had the same experience with Skinny Puppy – VIVIsectVI. When it came out I could not wrap my head around it. Now I'm listening to it with a different "more mature" set of ears.

Update. After posting and listening again, I still don't like the LP.

I go through this song and dance with Black Flag's album My War. I go back to it periodically but I just cannot get into it for the life of me.

I saw an interview with John Cage when I was younger that I've not been able to find again where he says something along the lines of asking yourself WHY you dislike something upon hearing it. With that in mind I sometimes go back and revisit albums or projects that didn't hook me on the first listen. I hear that interview in my head late at night and ask myself "are you SURE you don't like it? Are you positive?" Being in the right mindset to hear something is probably more important for me than any inherent qualities the sounds or the approaches have themselves.

Asking myself why I like something (sounds / films / books / smells... etc) and attempting to understand the big why is all part of growing as a person or in this case as a listener. It's one of my favorite things about experiencing sound (specifically non music). The deeper you go with yourself the more fun it gets imo.

I don't really have much to add to the discussion (expressing my thoughts with written words is kinda hellish for me) BUT I too think it's important to periodically ask yourself why you don't enjoy a given set of sounds? And then making an attempt to understand that too. It's EASY to shelve a new noise / experimental album and just say "that's not my thing". I'm certainly guilty of it but I have also learned a lot about what I like by exploring my dislikes in detail (why don't I like this texture? this edit? this pace? this mix? etc. etc.) It too can be fun and also equally rewarding! It's not something I feel the need to do all the time but certainly a very beneficial exercise.

I should also echo this sentiment, I certainly don't spend hours seeking out material that I really dislike. The open-ended and nebulous nature of noise and experimental sound makes it more important to me to articulate what I really like and dislike about a release. I'm also a serial over-thinker which is a main contributing factor here. This also helps me to situate my own output as part of the conversation, at least when I'm not over-analyzing to the point of total hatred and then not releasing anything.

[luciferjonez]

I recently had the same experience with Skinny Puppy – VIVIsectVI. When it came out I could not wrap my head around it. Now I'm listening to it with a different "more mature" set of ears.

Update. After posting and listening again, I still don't like the LP.

I go through this song and dance with Black Flag's album My War. I go back to it periodically but I just cannot get into it for the life of me.

I saw an interview with John Cage when I was younger that I've not been able to find again where he says something along the lines of asking yourself WHY you dislike something upon hearing it. With that in mind I sometimes go back and revisit albums or projects that didn't hook me on the first listen. I hear that interview in my head late at night and ask myself "are you SURE you don't like it? Are you positive?" Being in the right mindset to hear something is probably more important for me than any inherent qualities the sounds or the approaches have themselves.

Asking myself why I like something (sounds / films / books / smells... etc) and attempting to understand the big why is all part of growing as a person or in this case as a listener. It's one of my favorite things about experiencing sound (specifically non music). The deeper you go with yourself the more fun it gets imo.

I don't really have much to add to the discussion (expressing my thoughts with written words is kinda hellish for me) BUT I too think it's important to periodically ask yourself why you don't enjoy a given set of sounds? And then making an attempt to understand that too. It's EASY to shelve a new noise / experimental album and just say "that's not my thing". I'm certainly guilty of it but I have also learned a lot about what I like by exploring my dislikes in detail (why don't I like this texture? this edit? this pace? this mix? etc. etc.) It too can be fun and also equally rewarding! It's not something I feel the need to do all the time but certainly a very beneficial exercise.

I should also echo this sentiment, I certainly don't spend hours seeking out material that I really dislike. The open-ended and nebulous nature of noise and experimental sound makes it more important to me to articulate what I really like and dislike about a release. I'm also a serial over-thinker which is a main contributing factor here. This also helps me to situate my own output as part of the conversation, at least when I'm not over-analyzing to the point of total hatred and then not releasing anything.

I can appreciate it having ADD with more than a smidgen of OCD. I tend to overthink, which is why I posted the question. There is some noise that I find fascinating and some that I find to be less interesting than it's title which can be attributed to any genre. I'm looking for criteria to gain a better understanding and everyone here has been amazing thus far in helping and suggesting some interesting artists.

[33033]

Keeping things succinct (within the realm of noise that is), production being reasonable (doesn't have to be anything super fancy), some development/dynamics. Even in some harsher, denser stuff there are dynamics on a more macro scale. Having a bit of restraint too, being able to pull back when needed and realize there's more you can do with some sounds that don't necessarily mean immediate harshness.

[holy ghost]

I go through this song and dance with Black Flag's album My War. I go back to it periodically but I just cannot get into it for the life of me.

I hope my friend, that one day you find joy in this wonderful record and then you come back and share it with us.

I feel like at some point in my mid to late twenties I realized gym shorts/long hair Rollins was thee perfect Flag era and I've never looked back. I didn't click with Loose Nut or In My Head when I was a teenager but now I love them.

[holy ghost]

I also wanted to say that I think in this day and age of oversaturation, high shipping rates, deluxe reissues and the overall high cost of living there's a huge difference for me between "I like this" and "I will purchase this".

There's just too many albums of all genres I don't even have time to listen to. You ever worry that when you finally have time to listen to all these records and catch up you'll be in your Carlsberg years being super fucking boring? Oh ha ha look how much I spent on those Incapacitants reissues, well, sorry Mikawa I'm only really listening to Yes these days....

[Namahs]

I also wanted to say that I think in this day and age of oversaturation, high shipping rates, deluxe reissues and the overall high cost of living there's a huge difference for me between "I like this" and "I will purchase this".

This is so true. I could spend like thousands in blink of an eye if I'd just buy everything I like.
Being brokeish and with limited storagespace I nowadays need to think hard what I can and what I actually want/need to buy.

[Bubble-Congeries]

It's highly variable. Some days, I try to listen to things I "know" or "remember" or "think" I love as bonafide classics and they just don't move the needle at all. This is more true of noise releases than anything.

Sometimes a lot of it seems so flat and colorless/monotone to the point of frustration when it shouldn't seem that way (because it didn't before). It falls flat and fails to satisfy. I dunno if it's just depression or daily life withering my leisure time enthusiasm/patience/focus or what.

It's not that I dislike "monochromatic" sound when it's what I want and expect to hear. What I don't like is when stuff I used to like, or everyone else insists is great, sounds like bland mush to the point that it doesn't even seem like the same recording I remember anymore. Noise is really weird for me like that sometimes. There are characteristics of sound and genre tropes I know I don't like, and ones I know I do. What's bothersome are the times when I can't even recognize any of those appealing characteristics anymore across half a dozen releases, or else they have no impact, at which point I have to just stop seeking any satisfaction and look at garbage on my smart tv.

I think I prefer hearing it over loudspeakers as opposed to headphones more often than not these days. Somehow it feels easier to get wrapped up in it this way. I want to be absorbed by and to lose myself in/to it. Hearing it piped directly into my ears doesn't seem to provide that sensation as well anymore.

I enjoy noise best when it makes me feel like a chunk of pineaple suspended in its aspic, or like it's mashing my head and its held consciousness into potted meat.

[luciferjonez]

It's highly variable. Some days, I try to listen to things I "know" or "remember" or "think" I love as bonafide classics and they just don't move the needle at all. This is more true of noise releases than anything.

Sometimes a lot of it seems so flat and colorless/monotone to the point of frustration when it shouldn't seem that way (because it didn't before). It falls flat and fails to satisfy. I dunno if it's just depression or daily life withering my leisure time enthusiasm/patience/focus or what.

It's not that I dislike "monochromatic" sound when it's what I want and expect to hear. What I don't like is when stuff I used to like, or everyone else insists is great, sounds like bland mush to the point that it doesn't even seem like the same recording I remember anymore. Noise is really weird for me like that sometimes. There are characteristics of sound and genre tropes I know I don't like, and ones I know I do. What's bothersome are the times when I can't even recognize any of those appealing characteristics anymore across half a dozen releases, or else they have no impact, at which point I have to just stop seeking any satisfaction and look at garbage on my smart tv.

I think I prefer hearing it over loudspeakers as opposed to headphones more often than not these days. Somehow it feels easier to get wrapped up in it this way. I want to be absorbed by and to lose myself in/to it. Hearing it piped directly into my ears doesn't seem to provide that sensation as well anymore.

I enjoy noise best when it makes me feel like a chunk of pineaple suspended in its aspic, or like it's mashing my head and its held consciousness into potted meat.

A. I had to look up aspic and found a horrifying tomato aspic recipe that looked like an old congealed bloody mary, though thinking back on it adding vodka would make an interesting jello shot.

B. I usually like listening with headphones but I've been falling asleep with buds in my ears at night and it has increased the tinnitus ringing so I have to settle for the car or speakers at home even though layered music and or noise is something I really enjoy on headphones. I think that its one of the reasons I don't mind online music, especially with noise. I can scrub through a song to see if it's going to interest me and not waste time or wear out an old cassette player.

[RandomInsults]

For me personally I prefer it structured, somewhat repeating. Death Industrial, PE etc. are my preferred noise genres and experimental industrial music. It just speaks to me, some other noise products don't. Very individual.