Trends in Contemporary Noise (with Examples!)

[RUBBISH]

I’m sorry that happened to you RUBBISH. That’s yet another example of why Facebook is bad. I will check out with an open mind!

Honestly I was looking to bother them with it because they seemed to be taking thier halfassed crap way too seriously.
I'm not even sure that its technically 'Wall'.
I was just having fun.

[drift]

facebook reminds me a little of the popular kids at school, vacuous and cliquey... or just "why don't they like me" haha. the idea of popularity being everything, at least. it's just the nature of the platform, I'm sure.

anyway, i remember the ULF record. it was pretty weird. maybe hoggle belongs in that sort of variety of HNW: hnw about the labyrinth movie. a little gothic and a little glam, anyway.

[Bubble-Congeries]

Haven't thought about Hoggle in a while. I hope Joe the Stache (another one for the "Whatever happened to..." file) is doing well now. Last I heard from him, he was trying to sell some old stock and some of his collection to make rent, and I wish I'd offered to buy something then. But anything I had money to buy at that very moment wouldn't have amounted to much. I still feel ashamed about not even reaching out to him. He was gracious enough to release stuff I'd done on splits and comps and was coming up with intetesting ideas and putting out a lot of cool releases.

EDIT: It looks like Joe's still living the dream. Apparently I'm the one who fell off the edge of the world! I'm way behind on HOMF releases. Life makes keeping up with things so damn difficult.

[moozz]

Hoggle's Shifting Walls Reveal The Four Guards is great! I don't really care if the "obsession" is nylons, sharks, pussy, unicorns, Labyrinth or Katy Perry. As long as the HNW sounds good it is good. Visuals/theme can be a nice plus but it does not make weak HNW sound great.

[SS1535]

Visuals/theme can be a nice plus but it does not make weak HNW sound great.

Very true, but it will make a difference at the point of sale!

[Bubble-Congeries]

I agree...

Given the choice between buying a Labyrinth-themed HNW release or a(nother) faux-Xerox, TOTAL FUKKING DETH-themed HNW release, I know which one I'd be most inspired to pick!

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with expressing feelings of cosmic angst or existential nihilism. That's basically what my entire artistic career has been built on! But you get where I'm going with this.

[minimal.impact]

reissues / bandcamp noise / facebook noise / archive noise / etc.. seems, to me, like we are intimately tied to what platform we are using. can't tell you about trends in gear, anything of that sort, nor new styles.

I remember being surprised about what looked like econoise a few years back. it seemed pretty lazy and lacking seriousness, imho.

all else I have to offer is delusion hahah.

Definitely feel I've seen similar trends in 'econoise' in projects, Kjostad and a few other come to mind for example, but I'd love to hear you elaborate on this, delusion or not. Is your critique more in content of the noise, or adherence to the subject?

[luciferjonez]

For myself (and also for how I approach my own work) I often feel like modern noise can be broken down into a few distinct categories:

- Personal -- relating to the self/consciousness/trauma (ex. Jason Crumer's final trilogy)
- Socio-political -- often overlaps with 'personal' but with greater scope (ex. socpophilia's "violent for being sexually desired," Koufar's "Minority Report")
- Cultural -- frequently related to other forms of media; films, popular music, literature, etc. (ex. Slit Throats's Joshi work, Cory Strand's film soundtrack reinterpretations)
- Fetish -- self-explanatory (prime example would be The Rita's "Nylons Of Laura Antonelli")
- Process -- more about the specificities of how the sounds are crafted, often tangental to musique concrète (ex. Raoul van Herpen's "Composition For Two Oscillators and Two Tape-Recorders")

Not sure if this exactly answers the question being posited here, but this is how my brain organizes/thinks about themes related to noise.

I think I'm leaning towards process both from a listener and musician viewpoint.

[SafetyPropaganda]

I never hear people talk about Kevin Drumm anymore. He used to be very popular. I know he has that bandcamp subscription thing. So maybe I’m way off base and he’s still very popular.

I quite like his releases. Especially Sheer Hellish Miasma and a few others.

I am a Drumm fan (Dominick and Kevin at No Fun '09 was undeniably one of the best live noise experiences of my life, fucking blistering) so it doesn't please me to say this: a lot of that Bandcamp shit feels and sounds phoned in, low effort, like he's not believing in his work as much as he once did or that it perhaps means less to him than it once did.

[luciferjonez]

For myself (and also for how I approach my own work) I often feel like modern noise can be broken down into a few distinct categories:

- Personal -- relating to the self/consciousness/trauma (ex. Jason Crumer's final trilogy)
- Socio-political -- often overlaps with 'personal' but with greater scope (ex. socpophilia's "violent for being sexually desired," Koufar's "Minority Report")
- Cultural -- frequently related to other forms of media; films, popular music, literature, etc. (ex. Slit Throats's Joshi work, Cory Strand's film soundtrack reinterpretations)
- Fetish -- self-explanatory (prime example would be The Rita's "Nylons Of Laura Antonelli")
- Process -- more about the specificities of how the sounds are crafted, often tangental to musique concrète (ex. Raoul van Herpen's "Composition For Two Oscillators and Two Tape-Recorders")

Not sure if this exactly answers the question being posited here, but this is how my brain organizes/thinks about themes related to noise.

I think I'm leaning towards process both from a listener and musician viewpoint.

Yeah, using a DAW is great and though it has made things easier I find that I miss the thought process of recording onto 4 tracks or bouncing tracks down .

[Crimesofthecrown777]

Current biggest trend I see with organizing noise/PE fests in America is to not have the address listed anywhere. I remember there was that festival in Tennessee that was invite only, and there's another NYC show/fest happening (not summer scum) and its the same deal.

Frankly its a very, very silly trend but then again my mind has grown out of only performing for performers and only 10 people at a show.

[holy ghost]

"ask a punk" ^^

Man I'm old now I don't know any cool kids!!

[Phenol Injection]

Current biggest trend I see with organizing noise/PE fests in America is to not have the address listed anywhere. I remember there was that festival in Tennessee that was invite only, and there's another NYC show/fest happening (not summer scum) and its the same deal.

Frankly its a very, very silly trend but then again my mind has grown out of only performing for performers and only 10 people at a show.

I have thought about doing things this way, actually. Not because of any elitist idea, quite the opposite, really. The reality is that I have put shows up with fairly wellknown artists (= expensive) and only 10-15 paying guests (sometimes less) to cover the expenses. Result: financial loss, artists who are used to perform for larger crowds trying their best, but probably feeling like it wasn't their greatest night, and some dissappointed venueowners. The idea with invite only is that when it's on private basis and at a scale where there's no real money involved, you might get back to some community feel and not be bothered with all that tiresome crap with PR, greedy venues etc.

[luciferjonez]

Current biggest trend I see with organizing noise/PE fests in America is to not have the address listed anywhere. I remember there was that festival in Tennessee that was invite only, and there's another NYC show/fest happening (not summer scum) and its the same deal.

Frankly its a very, very silly trend but then again my mind has grown out of only performing for performers and only 10 people at a show.

I have thought about doing things this way, actually. Not because of any elitist idea, quite the opposite, really. The reality is that I have put shows up with fairly well known artists (= expensive) and only 10-15 paying guests (sometimes less) to cover the expenses. Result: financial loss, artists who are used to perform for larger crowds trying their best, but probably feeling like it wasn't their greatest night, and some disappointed venue owners. The idea with invite only is that when it's on private basis and at a scale where there's no real money involved, you might get back to some community feel and not be bothered with all that tiresome crap with PR, greedy venues etc.

That's the problem with a niche genre, it doesn't have the mass appeal and strays that are brought along with friends will usually hold their ears or wait outside smoking and hanging until its over. The plus with noise is that most acts are a one man show so out numbering your audience doesn't happen.

You have to wonder if it's poor word of mouth or maybe the noise alone isn't worth it for an outsider to be exposed? Maybe it's the promotion? At least for the US. Japan still seems to have a decent crowd and I've seen noisy event turnouts in South America to be impressive. Its seems that noise and art exhibits work well together. Almost as if it elevates noise to a performance art level.

[Crimesofthecrown777]

"ask a punk" ^^

Man I'm old now I don't know any cool kids!!

Ask a punk LOL. Catch me never asking a punk for shit, let alone a PE/Industrial fest that they deff wouldn't be at.

But also I guess whats different is I'm about the live arena first and foremost. Its the ultimate showcasing of ones talent. Any asshole can write a perfect album, few show up and do it in front of everyone. Room on stage for one beast and one beast alone. So to keep a limit on things seems like a cop out for those performing. That way only your friends show up and tell you what a good job you did anyway regardless of whether it was good or not. Coward shit.

Also, its funny you mention this "cool kid" shit. You know whats not cool? Being Lebanese and making art about it. Talking to me like I've ever been cool...motherfucker Im the infamous Koufar I'm beyond anything your little Canadian brain can fathom.

[Vast Field Magnetism]

"ask a punk" ^^

Man I'm old now I don't know any cool kids!!

Ask a punk LOL. Catch me never asking a punk for shit, let alone a PE/Industrial fest that they deff wouldn't be at.

But also I guess whats different is I'm about the live arena first and foremost. Its the ultimate showcasing of ones talent. Any asshole can write a perfect album, few show up and do it in front of everyone. Room on stage for one beast and one beast alone. So to keep a limit on things seems like a cop out for those performing. That way only your friends show up and tell you what a good job you did anyway regardless of whether it was good or not. Coward shit.

Also, its funny you mention this "cool kid" shit. You know whats not cool? Being Lebanese and making art about it. Talking to me like I've ever been cool...motherfucker Im the infamous Koufar I'm beyond anything your little Canadian brain can fathom.

Y'know, I was totally on your page until you decided to start shit talking somebody over a totally minimal disagreement.

You know what can go? This tough guy/self-hype/egotrip dogshit that has leaked in from hardcore. It's goofy 100% of the time and you're only playing yourself.

[holy ghost]

Y'know, I was totally on your page until you decided to start shit talking somebody over a totally minimal disagreement.

Also I was agreeing with him!! Maybe I wasn’t succinct enough….

[luciferjonez]

Y'know, I was totally on your page until you decided to start shit talking somebody over a totally minimal disagreement.

Also I was agreeing with him!! Maybe I wasn’t succinct enough….

As someone who is also "old" and doesn't know any "cool kids" I would love to find more noise shows in my area. I didn't take what you said as a jab either. Damn message boards have a way of screwing up intent.

[SS1535]

"ask a punk" ^^

Man I'm old now I don't know any cool kids!!

Any asshole can write a perfect album

What?

[bobMarinelli]

lol, my thoughts exactly!

[SS1535]

lol, my thoughts exactly!

I just realized who posted that. It all makes sense now. haha

[Bigsby]

More like crimes of the clowns.

[SS1535]

More like crimes of the clowns.

?