Recently I've become interesting in collecting, listening and reviewing more music releases in which the artist / band uses a certain narrative line or concept behind the sound creation or auditory effect itself. I've been looking around the forum for a topic related to these kinds of storytelling and conceptual elements in Noise but haven't found any specific topic on it so I thought this could be a nice place where people can share great artists / releases and labels who create interesting Noise, experimental music and the more extreme forms of sound art with a narrative or special sound concpet. So far I know that Aube, The Rita and Contagious Orgasm do use certain imagery or unusual sound sources as base of a full album / tape or weave in sound collage elements but I'd like to discover more material like those so everyone is welcome to share their discoveries or (recent) favourites in here.
If I understand what is being asked for correctly, then I would say that Mania would be a perfect example (especially on my personal favorite release:Insidious and Alone. Everything revolves and sounds like an anti-government hermit hiding out in the woods with guns.
Skin Crime since The House on the Cliff has followed a strong gothic horror narrative.
Just listen to Jason Crumer
(https://img.discogs.com/wIiAsB5xbSNBBvwDDid8qAsdwuE=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-302367-1236645349.jpeg.jpg)
Wouldn't classify strictly as "noise", but can't go without mentioning this. Vocals are upfront but the sounds backing them match the rage or tension between each track.
Thanks for the suggestions so far, they're all interesting artists and indeed matching what I'm looking for. Been exploring their discographies and adding some releases on my wishlists to check out, trying to make a bit of a project out of this in a certain form at some point. Yes Jason Crumer's great, I've only listened to the Ottoman Black tape so far but that varied kind of build up throughout a release is an element I really like. The picture related to the last one looks familiar but what's the name actually? Wondering about that.
Jaakko Vanhala makes technical or progressive harsh noise.
Structured, composed, with a lot of great skills and nice dynamics and build up.
I would say it's my favourite conceptual noise artist
Quote from: polarvisions on May 07, 2020, 10:39:42 AM
Thanks for the suggestions so far, they're all interesting artists and indeed matching what I'm looking for. Been exploring their discographies and adding some releases on my wishlists to check out, trying to make a bit of a project out of this in a certain form at some point. Yes Jason Crumer's great, I've only listened to the Ottoman Black tape so far but that varied kind of build up throughout a release is an element I really like. The picture related to the last one looks familiar but what's the name actually? Wondering about that.
Deathpile - GR
The Haters
Quote from: W.K. on May 07, 2020, 11:15:14 PM
I a lot of the interesting noise releases have a strong narrative or fundamental thematic, no?
Too many, I reckon. It's almost the done thing to have a "theme" of some kind for some release. Some kind of gimmick to attract attention. From Merzbow's bazillions of vegan-themed releases to endless wall noise nylon-tights "obsession" bullshit. Ever since I've been listening to Noise it seems that conveying some kind of idea has been de rigour. Even if it's just in the packaging of products alone. The first contacts I made in the Noise scene were adamant that Noise had to have some "concept", or at least preferred it to. I'm a bit surprised that this is a topic, actually. A few older Noise types would have their own manifestos, which were quite entertaining actually.
Fear not, I'm not arguing against it. I've indulged in it myself, occasionally. Noise pervs generally love this kind of thing. For what it's worth, I just prefer to turn off my consciousness when listening to Noise, but if the wider consensus is there has to be some kind of "idea" for it to have validity, so be it. It's pretty easy listening to a lot of Noise and just ignoring all the conceptual decoration that's applied to it.
Noise for it's own sake is always enough.
Anyway, contributing to the topic at hand - Prurient, as mentioned already, usually has some kind of theme going through its releases. I've read in an interview in "Night Science" that Fernow has even suggested listening to certain releases in certain environmental circumstances, as that's the kind of atmosphere those releases are meant to convey. Apparently.
Also, Eric Lunde's releases are highly conceptual, or seem to, like "Music is Meat", which has little spoken word bits that are like mini manifestoes. So you've got conceptual and narrative in a literal sense right there.
Vivenza, of course, who's whole raison d'être is nothing less than continuing the Futurist project. Well worth listening to, the very definition of Industrial Noise.
Sacher Pelz/MB's releases are usually "about" something, although MB has put out far too much stuff. But then, so has Merzbow, The Haters, The Rita, etc etc. An abundance of releases is a concept all it's own.
The Vomit Arsonist invariably releases releases that are narrative, to a degree, usually about depression, which is always a deep well of inspiration for those who can handle it.
Seriously - with Noise, the whole thing can be seen as a concept.
The Haters would be the ultimate narrative in my mind, just look at their tape with a hole puncher as the album art.
i would say the haters are highly conceptual indeed, but rather the opposite of narrative.
i find most straight up noise to claim thematic content is really just too open to interpretation... like would you really identify the rita with sharks or feet if it wasn't thrown at you with obsessive visuals or text?
otherwise i guess...
aube, john hundak, jeph jerman, runzelstirn & gurgelstock, dave phillips, daniel menche, the haters, skin crime, prurient, skin graft, john mannion, deterge... INTERRACIAL SEX
power electronics on the other hand easily nails down a concept and directly addresses it.... CON-DOM comes to mind first. taint. nicole 12. alfarmania. grey wolves. whitehouse. deathpile. irm. xenophobic ejaculation.
Quote from: WCrap on May 08, 2020, 12:51:35 PM
i would say the haters are highly conceptual indeed, but rather the opposite of narrative.
there is the narrative of Farmer X and the Piggy Girls, as well other storylines of entropy with a revolving cast. Some things are straight up narrated.
Quote from: collapsedhole on May 08, 2020, 02:14:00 PM
power electronics on the other hand easily nails down a concept and directly addresses it.... CON-DOM comes to mind first. taint. nicole 12. alfarmania. grey wolves. whitehouse. deathpile. irm. xenophobic ejaculation.
Honestly, I do not think that I have even encountered any power electronics that did not have a strong concept or theme.
Quote from: Stipsi on May 07, 2020, 12:22:04 PM
Jaakko Vanhala makes technical or progressive harsh noise.
Structured, composed, with a lot of great skills and nice dynamics and build up.
I would say it's my favourite conceptual noise artist
Indeed, I do feel dynamics and build up are great to have particularly in Noise that uses some kind of concept or narrative and at times a narrative could also appear without artists necessarily building tracks like that, based on what you get from listening to it.
Quote from: NaturalOrthodoxy on May 07, 2020, 01:55:36 PM
Quote from: polarvisions on May 07, 2020, 10:39:42 AM
Thanks for the suggestions so far, they're all interesting artists and indeed matching what I'm looking for. Been exploring their discographies and adding some releases on my wishlists to check out, trying to make a bit of a project out of this in a certain form at some point. Yes Jason Crumer's great, I've only listened to the Ottoman Black tape so far but that varied kind of build up throughout a release is an element I really like. The picture related to the last one looks familiar but what's the name actually? Wondering about that.
Deathpile - GR
Ah right, that release, I came across it before but haven't checked it out before, will do that for sure though.
Quote from: W.K. on May 07, 2020, 11:15:14 PM
I a lot of the interesting noise releases have a strong narrative or fundamental thematic, no? At least it's one of my reasons to come back to it so often.
Theologians take on theological topics like suffering and pain (before god), Nyodene Ds Edenfall about the fall of civilization and the scars left behind, the horror soundscapes from Gnaw Their Tongues, the depravity, abuse and perversions of the under-aged by Taint and so on...
But if I have to single out one act, I think Prurient is a master at this. Cocaine Death, Pleasure Ground, The Black Post Society, Frozen Niagara Falls......The story and poetics of his works are often as much essential as his noise itself, and often work really well together as a coherent theme. You can also see this with his ambient Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement and techno Vatican Shadow projects. Different genres, sounds, rhythms and textures, but still very heavily based around specific themes and concepts.
A recent favorite is Caligula from Lingua Ignota, a very intimate personal work, yet very focused and heavily themed through both sound and artwork.
I agree and those are indeed some great artists who create Noise and Power Electronics with strong themes and concepts behind them.
I'll get back to the other suggestions soon, there's a lot of great stuff to check out, so I'm gathering as much as I can on my list to check out and share my thoughts afterwards. Much appreciated.
The Missing and Exploited Children compilation comes to mind. Features MP, Climax Denial, Wonderland Club, Deterge, Mania, Striations, Interracial Sex, and Interior One.
https://youtu.be/H5jiGtyYePY
Quote from: Crippler on May 12, 2020, 09:42:03 PM
The Missing and Exploited Children compilation comes to mind. Features MP, Climax Denial, Wonderland Club, Deterge, Mania, Striations, Interracial Sex, and Interior One.
https://youtu.be/H5jiGtyYePY
That's quite a line up. I will have to check this out.
Quote from: Balor/SS1535 on May 08, 2020, 06:51:53 PM
Quote from: collapsedhole on May 08, 2020, 02:14:00 PM
power electronics on the other hand easily nails down a concept and directly addresses it.... CON-DOM comes to mind first. taint. nicole 12. alfarmania. grey wolves. whitehouse. deathpile. irm. xenophobic ejaculation.
Honestly, I do not think that I have even encountered any power electronics that did not have a strong concept or theme.
That's because those concepts are usually the excuse to put out the sub-par music that goes along with them. One could also argue that by using strong, or exploitative themes that are supposed to be over the top in order to stay underground, it helps selling stuff better (look at death metal, hah...)
For one Bizarre Uproar (which I can respect as an artist for his dedication to it although I don't really care about his music in general) or one Con-Dom, there are too many bland ripoffs.
I'd say that most of the newcomers (well, ok, actually the older guys as well) got into it out of an interest for the weird and freaky and violent and shocking, etc, more than the music in the first place (we're posting on a forum called "Special InterestS" with sections dedicated to stuff that's not music as well after all) and that's what attracts us to it first in general. Because before the Internet you'd see a record cover before you heard it. That's where the concept and theme first show. Nobody puts out tapes like the Recycled series for instance. Unless the artist is well-known or there's a strong word of mouth thing going on (easier with the Internet), a blank cover means your release is dead before it even comes out.
I could even argue that there's been a constant increase in capitalisation over the weird and violent and taboo by society in the last 40 years or so. Look at how shows like CSI or Mindhunter exploit this and how successful they are, the ever increasing presence of programs affiliated with gay culture on Netflix, etc...
So I find that concepts are interesting to witness in the noise scene when they're dealt with like say Am Not does. Serial killers though? Will anyone beat "Very Friendly" or Sutcliffe Jugend or bring a new light on them within the noise scene in 2020? I don't know.
Also I realise I might not bring clear answers here. But yeah, no strong themes means no or less consideration within the noise scene nowadays.
I like to bury certain things for the sake of symbolism, but I'm not sure if that's what you're asking.
If I were to ask the question, I'd ask for artists who actually are true to the concept, rather than the aforementioned "pantyhose obsession BS".
So many side projects.
Sort of hard to parse. Is noise a soundtrack to something or a nullification of it?
Anyhow, Zipper Spy comes to mind. Did everything she did have some zipper sourced in it somehow? I haven't heard it all, but I begin to question the loyalty to the zipper...
And setting PE aside, let's not forget WOMEN OF THE SS... That is a conceptual loyalty which requires a bit more work than normal.
Also, if DIAGRAM A does indeed use all of that crazy shit that he affixes to himself, that is deserving of a concept/narrative, right?
These sorts of continual references to source materials/concepts are easy to come by.
What is more difficult to come by, is a record that claims to be about something and does more than what is portrayed on the cover/track titles to convey the point, especially if it is without vocals.
Quote from: NO PART OF IT on May 13, 2020, 02:23:29 PM
I like to bury certain things for the sake of symbolism, but I'm not sure if that's what you're asking.
If I were to ask the question, I'd ask for artists who actually are true to the concept, rather than the aforementioned "pantyhose obsession BS".
So many side projects.
Sort of hard to parse. Is noise a soundtrack to something or a nullification of it?
Anyhow, Zipper Spy comes to mind. Did everything she did have some zipper sourced in it somehow? I haven't heard it all, but I begin to question the loyalty to the zipper...
And setting PE aside, let's not forget WOMEN OF THE SS... That is a conceptual loyalty which requires a bit more work than normal.
Also, if DIAGRAM A does indeed use all of that crazy shit that he affixes to himself, that is deserving of a concept/narrative, right?
These sorts of continual references to source materials/concepts are easy to come by.
What is more difficult to come by, is a record that claims to be about something and does more than what is portrayed on the cover/track titles to convey the point, especially if it is without vocals.
After finding out through this thread that it's unclear whether the concept of an artist like The Rita can really be heard within his releases, I do feel it is indeed maybe not the best example of the type of Noise (and related) I'm looking for in terms of concept execution. I originally mentioned The Rita as I'd found out about the intentions and visual aesthetics before and wanted to include some example artists that might be matching with my question. Regardless it'd be nice to check out anyways, just for what it is and it's nice that it triggered a bit of a discussion in here too. What I'm looking for is indeed specifically projects and releases that are true to the concept / narrative they use and which are audible within the Noise itself. I do also encourage to share other releases and names of artists that aren't explicitly conceptual or narrative but might've given people some associations or imagery while listening to it through personal interpretation. For now I'm just continuing to build a list of releases to listen to, using all suggestions as a guide to see where it'll take me, I'm happy with the helpful responses in here.
Quote from: Euro Trash Bazooka on May 13, 2020, 10:42:15 AM
concepts are usually the excuse to put out sub-par music
Recontextualized a bit, but this is how I see it most of the time.
I feel like a lot of Helmut Schäfer's work would qualify. I am fond of this release: https://www.discogs.com/Helmut-Sch%C3%A4fer-Noise-As-A-Language/release/2188578
I don't know where one would begin, nor end.
Roger Doyle - Babel Volume 1 (1996) - Babel is a giant musical structure being composed in many section and in many styles, with each piece of music being thought of as a room or place within an enormous tower city. Recorded in Dublin at The Square Studio, The Wellington Booth, 78B, Rabbit and Costelloe's; in Canada at the Banff Centre For The Arts, Simon Fraser University; in The Netherlands at the Institute of Sonology.
I'm losing my mind trying to remember who did a CD in the 90s based on a box, a container, or the dimensions of a box. I thought it was kirchenkampf, but I'm not seeing it on Discogs. I believe the minimalist booklet was a sky blue/gray and on matte paper. Anyone remember that? Name and title?
Quote from: collapsedhole on May 08, 2020, 02:14:00 PM
i find most straight up noise to claim thematic content is really just too open to interpretation... like would you really identify the rita with sharks or feet if it wasn't thrown at you with obsessive visuals or text?
otherwise i guess...
aube, john hundak, jeph jerman, runzelstirn & gurgelstock, dave phillips, daniel menche, the haters, skin crime, prurient, skin graft, john mannion, deterge... INTERRACIAL SEX
power electronics on the other hand easily nails down a concept and directly addresses it.... CON-DOM comes to mind first. taint. nicole 12. alfarmania. grey wolves. whitehouse. deathpile. irm. xenophobic ejaculation.
I've been having a look at a few artists from these recommendations most recently, I'd say that I noticed a bit of a divide but also sometimes mixture between the conceptual style of the more Sound Art like Noise works by Aube and John Hudak and the more narrative side in Harsh Noise and Power Electronics. John Hudak's discography also opened up a great collection of obscure but interesting underground (Noise) tapes from the late 80's and early 90's through Internet Archive which feature plenty of Noise collage works.
Eric Lunde's work that Andrew McIntosh mentioned looks very interesting, pretty absurdist and strange in the best ways. Made me think a bit like, I feel there is also some kinda anarchist dadaist element to some Noise artists and groups, like The Haters. That is an interesting path to follow and I do feel there's definitely more artists who follow this kind of abstracted, strange sound or performance and have unique ways of drawing you into the pieces or rather disorienting in the most radical manner.
Quote from: NO PART OF IT on May 13, 2020, 02:23:29 PM
Is noise a soundtrack to something or a nullification of it?
I know that this is an old thread at this point, but I would be really interested to hear more about this idea from you. The general sentiment is something that I have been thinking about for a while, and I would appreciate another person's perspective.