I just listened to Merzbow on last.fm. What the fuck was that. I could see incorporating those sounds into actual music, but not just chillin' by itself.

artistically, it's great. it can be minimalist and full of rich tones at the same time. it's often experimental - that is, it's not really intended to be driving music or anything. do you know music history? if not, this is basically what happens:


folk music > choral music in middle ages and renaissance > short chamber music in baroque era > beginnings of opera and longer symphonies in classical era > bigger, more dissonant sounds and ensembles in romantic era > even less regard for consonance in the 20th century and beyond, but at the same time, rock music emerges as modern folk music

folk music is music of the people, not just acoustic guitars and cowboys

So what happens is that as time goes on, people are more willing to explore dissonances in music. Dissonances being chords and intervals which are unpleasing to the ear [the augmented fourth was even banned by the church, being called diabolus in musica, the devil in music, because of its extreme dissonance]. I tend to see music in two "streams" - One being Orchestral > Jazz > Art Rock&Metal/Noise and the other being Folk>Pop Music. Of course, these aren't separate by any means, but they are distinct paths which music has taken.

When looking at the orchestral side of things, music went from being ONLY consonant to slightly dissonant, to pretty fucking dissonant during the romantic era, to so dissonant that only a very small population % will even listen to it in the jazz era, and then upped the harshness of the sound to make the dissonances even more extreme in art metal and noise.

To sum it up, noise probably sounds bad to you because of two reasons:
1. cultural expectation
2. naturally your ear interprets certain frequency ratios as non-conflicting. the basilar membrane [the membrane in your ear on which "hearing cells" live, which vibrates at different spots when different frequencies hit it, just like a guitar string] and auditory meatus [ear canal, which is usually around 3 cm in length and so has certain resonant frequencies which "agree" with it, just like your e string vibrates slightly when you play another e] work together to interpret incoming sounds, and their physical properties lend themselves to certain ratios. the pythagoreans were the first to be credited with postulating this, I believe.

that was kinda rushed, and maybe not what you were looking for >.>

It's hard to explain but I'll try.
When I first heard noise I was like, "wtf?". But then I decided I should hear something other than stupid Wolf Eyes.
Basically, for me, it's interesting. There are many different kinds of noise. I'm very picky when it comes to noise but I can appreciate almost all kinds.
I love how it's swirling and looping and it takes you into its sounds. Sometimes I'm in the mood for something harsh, loud, and abrasive-sounding. That's where noise comes in. Or for another example, I like beats but I've never really been crazy about techno. Noise that is driven by beats and has pounding bass, rhythmic, etc. is really good, relaxing music for me. It's fun to hear different noise artists collaborate with each other, as this is probably half of every noise record released. You get two different styles of music that are both way experimental and you mix 'em together to either attack each other or complement one another.
Like I was also telling Bob yesterday it's like an art form to some people. Noise is often closely related with art shows, fancy packaging, and whatever "underground culture" type of shit. It's cool to see how a person can take anything and make music out of it: i.e. dropping stuff on a microphone, playing the violin in a crazy way, fucking with tape loops and samples and whatever, etc. It's obviously not for everyone.
If you want me to explain better I could try.
Someone once told Merzbow that what he was doing was unlistenable and could not be considered music in any form and he responded that he felt the same way when he turned on the radio. Different strokes for different folks.

EDIT: Also, like Spence said, it covers a lot of ground. Ambient/drone/psych/folk/minimalism/etc. can all be considered forms of noise and they are all connected as well as mixed together in some artists' works.

oh yeah, Why do people like noise? I dunno, but I like it because the experimentation is fascination, and dissonances don't bother me - I have no problem listening to noise and stuff, it's awesome.

humans like sound itself. Listening to it is amazing it doesnt necesarily have to be arranged into the classic way aka:music. Oh man I went to this concert on campus that was a bunch of noise projects with this awesome like 8 speaker set up, the best one was this piece compiled of brethy noises and birds. It was creepy and intense and sitting in a dark room with amazing sound quality can trip you out, I couldn't feel my body it was amazing.

That would be cool. Francisco Lopez insists everyone at his shows wear blindfolds. I've also heard a record from a side-project of Sword Heaven, Noumena, that was all night/forests sounds like owls and crickets.

As vio knows, I'm not really into noise, but I respect it. I like the experimental qualities, but without being in actual music, I just don't like listening to it.

It's made as art, whereas other music styles are made for both art and entertainment. Noise doesn't make social commentaries like many types of music do, it just points out things in day to day life, and in this way is much like paintings and classical literature and poetry.

Noise simply points out things in life which go un-noticed by most of the population, only instead of visually as with the other forms of art I mentioned above. And, of course, musical instruments are often used also...it isn't all birds chirping and cars passing by on the street, but they're use is less for entertainment and more to accentuate.

That being said, I myself don't like noise. When I put on an album, I put it on to be entertained, and am therefore not the target audience of noise musicians. I see the point to it, and like SA Bob said, I respect it, it just isn't my "thing," so to speak.

You're talking about pretty abstract stuff it seems. Why do you think people are not entertained by noise records?

Noise never really clicked for me, but netiher did 99.9% of black/death metal so it was no surprise. I guess I get it but it does nothing for me.

Black noise. Generally not that good from what I've heard. I need better artists in this area if anyone knows of any.

I'm not saying people aren't entertained, just that it isn't the main goal of it.

Noise is also a genre that is enjoyed depending on the listener's other music habits. I know that if I hadn't heard Wolf Eyes' Burned Mind, I probably would've never 'made the jump' so to speak. But then, I was always into weird shit and I have no clue what you normally listen to, so yeah. :|

Your musical compatibility rating with Meh is:
Low

You share a few artists in common, including Joy Division, The Smiths, Interpol, The Beatles, and Sonic Youth.

My last.fm full artist list isn't a good place to look at what I'm into since I've had the account for some three years. Look at my recent listings/weekly listings.

I'm sure the Taste-O-Meter is fairly accurate in this case because I have heard one band from your weekly and I hate them (The Residents).

The Residents have been around for over thirty years and have many sounds. Void.

Have any good starting points for the Residents?
I'm interested in the whole of their output, not just one stylistic era.

Early Residents (197x-1980)
Best album to start with: Meet the Residents

I'm not too familiar with most of their '80s "story" material like March of the Mole and whatnot... so I can't help you there... but I can recommend two '80s releases; 'The Commercial Album' (40 one-minute songs composed to be commercial jingles; odd concept, I know) and 'Whatever Happened to Vileness Fats?' (a collection of '70s stuff that was never released at the time, augmented by computers and put out in the '80s.

And... I can't really help you after that time either... But even then, most of the '70s Residents releases are markedly different, and you still have three other decades to look through for different sounds. >_>

My cousin is all into performing this noise stuff. I'm not really into, but she must be doing something right because Thurston Moore got a hold of her and they jammed on stage together. I think he even mentioned her in Rolling Stone.

WTF. What's her name? >_>

Yes, I would like to hear some of her stuff.
Thurston Moore is nuts, the fucking guy buys everything that's noise related. I imagine he can with the cash he must have.

You know Ive listened to my fair share of Merzbow and the others and the conclusion I have come to is that noise is created by "artists" who cant cut it playing industrial or ambient music, or self absorbed morons who think they breaking down walls with the way we view music and sound with their "avante sound collage artwork" whatever aggrandized label they are calling it.

http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/miles...teofspring.html

early noise performance^

You know I won't give you the time of day on here but come on: noise artists can't play some boring ass industrial or ambient music? I mean more than noise there's a fine line between pointless and interesting with ambient tunes and most noise artists I've heard of that incorporate ambient stuff into their stuff pull it off.

EDIT: Although I can't argue with the self-absorbed morons part because of the way it's gaining popularity and it's a pretty good medium for pretentious douchebags.