Noise and Absurdity/Seriousness

[Andrew McIntosh]

Picking up on something Mikko said about the state of UK Noise at one time, it made me think that there's long been something of a distinction in Noise between, for want of better words, absurdity and seriousness.

I mean that on the one hand there's the grim, serious, "transgressive" themed stuff and, on the other, a lighter and perhaps humorous approach to doing Noise, live and recorded. In any way, from themes to how sounds are generated to the sounds themselves to the image the artists portray, and so on. I'm sure you can think of any number of examples from each.

I think it can be traced back to the early Industrial projects. Throbbing Gristle for example walked a bit of a line between grim subject matter and a humorous, or at least sardonic, presentation. I think there's a bit of the old English grim wit involved there, which can be translated or mistranslated either way.

Anyway, I'm not trying to set up an either/or argument for these distinctions, or even suggesting that these distinctions are necessary. Just wondering if other people might have thought the same, and what they think about it, if anything. Personally I'm okay with a bit more absurdity and piss-taking in Noise, but not to the rejection of anything more outright dark. I am a bit cynical of people who present themselves as ultra-serious in Noise, but I'm cynical of that in general anyway.

[Balor/SS1535]

I think it can be traced back to the early Industrial projects. Throbbing Gristle for example walked a bit of a line between grim subject matter and a humorous, or at least sardonic, presentation. I think there's a bit of the old English grim wit involved there, which can be translated or mistranslated either way.

I agree.  Personally, I think that "taking a bit of both" approach can also be seen, at various moments, in Whitehouse.

[skyloop]

I tend to like a blend where the person knows how absurd it is and is enjoying themselves. I don't tend to like that noise that approaches it in a purely comedic way, I gravitate towards the darker side of things. I don't like when an artist is way too serious but those people can on the flip side create some of the most brutal noise despite being so dark n boring. I like a lot of crowd interaction and weird theatrics that border on absurdist comedy but retain a darker vibe to them. Noise to me has always been more of an expression of either internal darkness or on another hand an experience of natural forces. The four words that come to mind are resistance, rebellion, destruction, and power. When I do it, it's more of expression of resistance and rebellion but I like to have fun to and totally embrace the liberation of just creating this ruthless, all consuming, colorful noise-scape. 

[Commander15]

Interesting and highly relevant topic! I feel that the best noise acts and artists are walking that same thin line between the seriousness and humor or plain weirdness that TG did back in the days.

And i think that this phenomenon can be observed in current Finnish noise scene, where many artists might fall into "weird noise" category. I mean things like Testicle Hazard and the dual nature and tension of their humourous titles and album covers versus the actual sonic matter, same goes with Umpio etc.  I feel that most of time the weirdness and absurdity are in some way the manifestations of artists own personality.

[MHK]

I think it can be very easy to mistake absurdity and humor for a kind of slacker piss take "d00d it's just noise" attitude. I know I did when I first got into noise back in the day. I was very strictly into the more serious side of things, whether political, transgressive or artistic. Dramatic, not comic.

I have since learned to also appreciate the absurd and the comic, and can find those qualities in the serious noise as well. I still have no time for slackers or piss-takers. [edit: this goes to my general outlook of life as well, obviously I see things differently now that I'm 45 than when I was 20]

[skyloop]

Interesting and highly relevant topic! I feel that the best noise acts and artists are walking that same thin line between the seriousness and humor or plain weirdness that TG did back in the days.

And i think that this phenomenon can be observed in current Finnish noise scene, where many artists might fall into "weird noise" category. I mean things like Testicle Hazard and the dual nature and tension of their humourous titles and album covers versus the actual sonic matter, same goes with Umpio etc.  I feel that most of time the weirdness and absurdity are in some way the manifestations of artists own personality.

Testicle Hazard is one of the best examples of what I like to see, that's the perfect blend of absurdity with relentless brutality. It's easier to take it however your mind is perceiving it because of that outward expression of absurdity with the name and album covers. Kiki & Krastor is one of my favorite noise albums because it's easier with the way it's presented when I see the cover and name to have more free association going than say if it was some shirtless angry man in a ski mask yelling nonsense at a crowd. When I listen to noise I tend to actually think of mundane places and situations. That tends to be how I enjoy extreme music in general, it's more of a psychedelic experience than a down to earth one no matter the subject matter. It forces me out of the realm of the concrete.