Power Electronics is Dead.

[Cranial Blast]

Sometimes I don't think that it is. I think it's being re-introduced to former PE/Noise peoples/fanatics in a kind of new renaissance way. There are lots of interesting artists today, whom have kept things very interesting, in my opinion. North Central, Scatmother and Naxal Protocol to name a few and maybe they aren't reinventing the wheel, so to speak when it comes to influences and sounds, but they are keeping PE/noise equally as interesting as those whom came before them, if not even more so! Also noticing a lot more acceptance to noise coming from other marginal types of music, like black metal these days. Ride For Revenge has done an excellent job at bridging the crossover in a way that is so well done and executed that I think it peaks curiosity to those looking for something more. I think more people from all walks of strange marginal types of genres are a lot more open to PE/Noise, perhaps even more now than ever before. I've done a lot dungeon synth stuff on my label Cranial Blast, I do a lot of noise stuff too, but have noticed the people whom at first only could appreciate the dungeon synth/dark ambient stuff, but now whom maybe only formerly listened to that type of electronic music or black metal, might now be into noise, simply by having it out there to discover and by having such stuff in stock, while amongst the rest of other interesting genres and types of music as well. It might not be recognized straight away, but certainly recognized sooner or later with time and maybe even become a bit more interested into something that they might not have even known about, a little bit in the same way maybe black metal folk are today, by now being a bit more open minded these days, than maybe prior years. I think it's a lot more clustered together these days and I don't necessarily think that it's a bad thing. I think the people who discover noise and like it are the same people who otherwise probably come from a background in other extreme music, so it's nice to see people today expand their interests a bit more and I think that it's happening more so today, than maybe that any other time before.

[Phenol]

Looking at the current scene, there is no lack of good new projects putting out releases, but it seems as though it's harder for newcomers in PE than in noise to get some live experience. At least, looking at the line-ups for upcoming gigs and festivals at the moment it looks like the live scene is mostly an "old boys' club". As much as I love seeing the top bands of the genre alive and kicking on stage, it would be great to have more opportunities to see up and coming artists perform too.

I have no problem with the genrefication of PE or it being formulaic. It's the same as in any subgenre - black metal, punk, noise, whatever - all have signature sounds and styles. When in mood for a dose of PE, I WANT those pulsing synth oscilations, metal percussions and flanged vocals and I never seem to get tired of that formula.

[Bigsby]

in a noiseextra interview w/ John Balistreri, he refers to a Chicago show -what was "supposed to be the last" Slogun action- when he was hit in the head w/ a 2x4 from behind. He describes saying to Mark Solotroff -whom he credits w/ originally getting him to record & perform:"it's over. this isn't ours anymore," as it happened.

i'm not familiar w the incident or what year it was. from what he says it sounds like some cowardly pos could have fucking killed him just b/c Slogun talks about true crime. maybe someone else knows more about this?

Idk if he's right, but thought it'd be of interest here.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

My assumption is, that Slogun told in interview all he wanted to say and Solotroff issued abundance of statements related to incident. I would think they may not want further attention to fairly old incident.

[Bigsby]

Does this web board qualify as further attention? 😂 we are already attentive.

idk if not commenting on old interviews, say for example from older zines, is good practice. what's the point of documenting anything then?

[Moran]

Ride For Revenge has done an excellent job at bridging the crossover in a way that is so well done and executed that I think it peaks curiosity to those looking for something more.

Black and death metal would combine nicely with power electronics but I don't know bands that do this well other than Ride for Revenge. I wonder if there are bands that sound like Infester or Blasphemy mixed with early Sutcliffe Jugend.

[Bigsby]

When in mood for a dose of PE, I WANT those pulsing synth oscillations, metal percussions and flanged vocals and I never seem to get tired of that formula.

^this for sure. and I bet most fans here wouldn't know if they were listening  to a project grounded in trans rights activism or  militant feminism. But when they find out...

So the provocative part is not "its over;" it's "this  isn't ours anymore"

[Bigsby]

My assumption is, that Slogun told in interview all he wanted to say and Solotroff issued abundance of statements related to incident. I would think they may not want further attention to fairly old incident.

wonderful contribution. hahah gatekeeper! can we just discuss pe please? I'm sure you can figure out a way to shoehorn yourself into this.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

I don't know how difficult it would be for anyone to simply go to artists site to read about it?

My assumption is, that it wasn't discussed in aim of not stirring unneccesary shit towards arranging gigs and so on. I recall it took quite some time before Solotroff started playing local gigs again. Waiting dust to settle and drama to be over.

Solotroff has made statements in public and he keeps that stuff online, I guess its fine.

I am sure, there will be always bunch of people gloryfying yet another antifascist victory, hah, but damn...

https://bloodlust.blogspot.com/2017/03/mark-solotroff-statement.html?m=1

The guys he tried to explain, issued their reply to this where they explained this statement is not enough and man is not even addressing the actual problem there is.

Even mentioning these things, I would assume narrative can be either the mentioned antifascist victory or "nazis butthurting again", pfff.. yep. Hah...

What it really is, is pretty nasty story of decades old personal grudges and fellow noise artist ratting out other artists to people who have no idea of what noise is. I am sure most people in noise scene know people like this and are somewhat bored that same routine repeats, often by same people, over and over again. And generally, clearly just stirring shit. While there are artists and organisers who trying to build something creative. Needless to say, somone sees this again as antifascist victory.

Drama for sake of drama is not needed on the forum, as we got that stuff going on just about everywhere. Dragging artists into attention over and over again, what was ridiculous in first place.

Of course, one can say that discussion is relevant. If ambiguity was one of the absolute core things of power electronics, and if you got crowd, that demands explanation and statements and insist it must be something they can endorse. Sure, especially if such demand has effect and stuff starts to come out and expression is modified, I would not be surprised if people would say "it is over". I tend to think, how lame and predictable the reaction is, it is not the reaction of the audience, but sort of environment that is kind of even part of the artistic expression, plus, going beyond it, to the next level where suddenly people take it as real, and refuse to accept it in realm of art. For me, that is just fine. There is longer article about this in SI magazine.

[Kaaoskultti]

I wonder if it's possible for PE to be expressed in ways other than just someone shouting? One of my biggest issues with the genre these days is the vocals. Too much the same, for mine. But then, isn't that one of PE's attractions, that there's someone yelling frantically on top of it? Taking it away could take away a lot of PE's power. It's a bit of an open question, for mine.

Slogun is powerful and often more just talking than shouting. Nicole 12 is also powerful without shouted vocals. But it is not very typical power electronics. Which is kind of the whole idea of this discussion?

On a side note, I don't understand why people complain about Nicole 12's music because of its minimalistic nature, implying that it's just cheap noise that anyone would buy just because it's controversial. As if the artist was supposed to go beyond the level of musical complexity which he seems fit? What I have yet to find in modern noise/PE is a project that just... sounds like N12. Aesthetically and conceptually speaking, there are a plethora of artists who employ similar subject matters in their music, in a fashion clearly inspired by the latter. Take Wonderland Club or Sick Seed or North Central, for example. They were influence by it whilst bringing something new to the table, within their particular sounds. But then again, and correct me if I must be wrong, I am yet to find music that sounds like N12's music itself. After 2010, specifically

What I miss is that ominous, brooding atmosphere, mixed with whispered vocals overwhelmingly painting pictures of such nature, repetitive loops mixed with eerie feedback distortion, and even a general sense of melancholy present in some songs. N12 was harsh in a lot of moments, but mostly subtle and "lower" than the overall PE. Not only whispered vocals were used, but a variety of them, from distorted, eh, normal talking (in other words, not whispered or screamed), as in Observer, Vogue Bambini etc. ASRM-esque exploitations of disturbing tales, and even based on real events. Exploitations of such depth of current facts bu veiled with a sense of mystery which brings us to never knowing, for example, what a song like "Terry" is about. If someone would have recommendations on that, I'd be glad. Find it hard to keep up with old releases that I still must listen to, less in regards to new ones.

[Bigsby]

https://bloodlust.blogspot.com/2017/03/mark-solotroff-statement.html?m=1

Thank you. See how I called the assaliant a piece of shit? Don't worry, no one's stirring up antifascist rhetoric. Your sandbox is safe. To be clear, I think an "antifascist" protest of a pe project is about as smart as boycotting a theatre for showing Romper Stomper. Or even a Clockwork Orange . You missed the point , this isn't for you. Move on young idealist. You probably have zero creative imagination. But if this hypothetical theatre was to show a documentary actually advocating for  nazism or racism or child molestation, w/ no irony or nuance or humor, or art really, then they'd probably better expect violent protest.

Sucker punching Slogun is pathetic.

[Krigsverk]

On another side note; where are the current day heavy-electronics-PE bands? Name drop them please... I am getting tired of the good old guard (not really).

[Balor/SS1535]

On another side note; where are the current day heavy-electronics-PE bands? Name drop them please... I am getting tired of the good old guard (not really).

Kevlar?

[xdementia]

in a noiseextra interview w/ John Balistreri, he refers to a Chicago show -what was "supposed to be the last" Slogun action- when he was hit in the head w/ a 2x4 from behind. He describes saying to Mark Solotroff -whom he credits w/ originally getting him to record & perform:"it's over. this isn't ours anymore," as it happened.

i'm not familiar w the incident or what year it was. from what he says it sounds like some cowardly pos could have fucking killed him just b/c Slogun talks about true crime. maybe someone else knows more about this?

Idk if he's right, but thought it'd be of interest here.

I know about what happened, got a first person account of it from my friend who was there. First off, if you've ever been to a Slogun show John is a large and imposing figure who menacingly paces around the floor and often mocks the audience. Like most live PE it's a very confrontational performance and the Chicago incident wasn't the first time that a Slogun set has resulted in a physical altercation - although it may be the most extreme.

I don't remember the full lineup of the show but I think it was with at least one local band and BDN was headlining so there were more people there than just the hardcore PE fans, people who - when faced with John's performance - might not know that it's all an "act" of provocation. What I was told is that during his performance John grabbed and pushed a woman who helped run the space/put the show on and the assault was in response to that.

One more bit of context is that the venue it was at "The Rectum" was a place where the people who ran the space and many of the local scum did some pretty heavy drugs so not everyone there was in their right mind 100% of the time. I crashed at that space a few times and also put on shows for that crew so I'm familiar with the scene there and they went pretty fucking hard. Personally I wouldn't have walked in and started getting in people's faces and pushing people around there although I'm also not as physically large as John but clearly doing his usual schtick there was not the smartest of decisions.

[Infubulation]

On another side note; where are the current day heavy-electronics-PE bands? Name drop them please... I am getting tired of the good old guard (not really).

A few from Texas -

PSA

INTERIOR ONE

HYPOXYPHILIA

A Need To Be Shot

Forced Entry

Infibulation



Most folks here in ATX will attempt to "cancel" the shit out of you the second they hear flanger vox and a pulsing synth these days. Most shows that involve any sort of PE/Industrial have to be private or under the radar.