Ok! Just finished reading this. I am a fan of Noise music to a certain degree… maybe not as much as some, but I do like songs/pieces that have noise elements… nice crunch, white noise sounds, all that kind of stuff. I will say though, I don’t collect a whole lot of Noise music, and I do find I can only listen to it in small stints depending on how much noise there actually is in it. Like, if I purchase an noise album, I’ll listen to the album all the way through… sometimes if I enjoy it, I’ll put it on repeat for a couple of spin throughs, but after that I’ve got to set it down, and come back to it at a later date.
What I find with noise music is, at a certain point, I will get tired of listening to it, cause a lot of it is really a lot of the same… and having that in your ears constantly, out of all honesty, it gets tiring and ear fatigue definitely sets in. Which, I purchased this book on a recommendation from the YouTuber ThisMachineKillsMusic. This book is definitely excellent and goes into the history of where Power Electronics and Noise Music got it’s start… I would say I’m not exactly deep into Noise music as a genre, but what I hadn’t realized there was a lot of graphic imagery, transgressive ideas, and taboo breaking in Noise as a genre. The impression I got from reading this book is (as well as “Micro-Bionic” by Thomas Bey William Bailey), Noise is kind of the extension of industrial music, but taking it to extremes… all the ideas that industrial music had, but taking it further.
Now I don’t want to comment here too much, about my thoughts on Noise music, as this is about the book, rather than my opinions on Noise music and culture… but from reading this book, I had no idea the level of nihilism in Noise music. That is one thing that definitely stands out for me in reading this book, nihilism, and bands really pushing that idea, that there is no point to life, and nothing really matters, there is no reason for existence, in the minds of the bands. However, despite the extreme views and graphic imagery as described in this book, there is definitely moments of inspiration for me in my own music endeavor that I’ve gleaned from this book.
I think another thing that stood out for me, was the D.I.Y. culture, and the zine culture… once again Noise taking it’s cues from Industrial Music… but taking it to extremes, there is a huge do-it-yourself culture involved, which includes producing your own limited physical releases (cassette tape was big one), as well as writing and creating zines and such. These days obviously cassette, cassette trading, and zines aren’t as prevalent as they used to be in Noise culture, or even Industrial culture for that matter, as things have moved into the digital realms, but reading about these creative endeavours I do find inspiring in my own endeavours.
There’s also some description of gear setups and some of how some Noise musicians did it in the book, however definitely not what specific pieces, just some descriptions to give you a basic idea of what a typical noise performance would be created.
Here’s what the blurb on the back of the book says:
Power electronics is a genre of industrial or ‘noise’ music that utilises feedback and synthesizers to produce an intense, loud, challenging sound. To match this sonic excess, power electronics also relies heavily upon extreme thematic and visual content — whether in lyrics, album art, or live performance. The result is a violent, ecstatic, and potentially consciousness-altering spectacle, and a genre that often invites strong reactions from both listeners and critics.
Fight Your Own War is the first English-language book primarily devoted to power electronics. Written by artists, fans, and critics from around the world, its essays and reviews explore the current state of the genre, from early development through to live performance, listener experience, artist motivation, gender and subcultures such as ‘Japanoise’.
In considering this ‘spectacle’ of noise, how far can we simply label power electronics as a genre of shock tactics or of transgression for transgression’s sake?
I will be writing a blog about Noise music and culture, and my thoughts on it… but I will tell you, if you are looking for more industrial music reading, and you have a curiosity of Noise music and culture and where it kind of started, I would highly recommend this book. My interest in it was in the extension of industrial music, what ideas where taken from industrial music, and applied to Noise music. I found bits of inspiration in it, and I am certain, if you are an industrial music fan, music producer, or artist, you will find inspiration in here as well!
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