Star

Started by Balor/SS1535, December 21, 2025, 07:08:00 AM

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Balor/SS1535

I really appreciate the thoughts shared in the "Best Of 2025" thread about the Star/Kadef split, so I thought it would be interesting to broaden out the discussion with its own thread.

Like I mentioned there, I have only listened to Elephant in the Snow at this point, but I very much enjoyed it for being so bizarre in so many ways.  It has everything from harsh noise to weird sample collages (often quite rhythmic!), and the story/fable/scenario (?) that is paired with it as the basis of the theme is opaque yet evocative.  The final track on the album is simply monumental.

I'm particularly curious about the frequent description of the project as "personal," "intimate," and "introvert" noise.  Any expansions on this would be interesting to hear, as well as if there are any interviews with the project to be found.

Aside from that, what are the other stand-outs in the small discography?  There are wonderful titles for albums and tracks throughout the discography, not to mention the range of cover art!

prolapsedlielack

Star is...an enigma. I wish the pictures I got of him at Hospital were clearer. His gear consisted of beaten up radios and tape players and a microphone(?) he would hold up to his mouth and mime vocals or breathe into. Greh form Noisextra put it best during their mix episode for the fest: "My only notes for this song are 'What the fuck is wrong with Star?'"

prelapsus

I find Elephant in the Snow genuinely punishing to listen to. I've sat through it a few times and come to the conclusion I just don't enjoy it much. It's the repetitive sample collages that drive me insane. It's definitely an interesting project though.

Minus1

I'm a Star ignoramus, but this thread got me investigating the 2CD Elephant In The Snow. Very interesting...

Thanks.
Give Me CDs Or Give Me Death.

Minus1

Quote from: prelapsus on December 21, 2025, 04:11:41 PMI find Elephant in the Snow genuinely punishing to listen to. I've sat through it a few times and come to the conclusion I just don't enjoy it much. It's the repetitive sample collages that drive me insane. It's definitely an interesting project though.

You hate Sardine? 😂

To each their own, of course. (I'm the only person I know who loves the Vomir-Legion Of Andromeda split.)

Give Me CDs Or Give Me Death.

Balor/SS1535

Quote from: prolapsedlielack on December 21, 2025, 07:59:25 AMStar is...an enigma. I wish the pictures I got of him at Hospital were clearer. His gear consisted of beaten up radios and tape players and a microphone(?) he would hold up to his mouth and mime vocals or breathe into. Greh form Noisextra put it best during their mix episode for the fest: "My only notes for this song are 'What the fuck is wrong with Star?'"

That was the other point I was going to make---I think his set was the only one I didn't see online after Hospital Fest.  Any pictures (even if grainy...) would be appreciated!

There is also this one from Discogs:

John Cagefight

I'd start by saying everything I can say about the Star project is perceived and could be way off base - I don't know the artist and have zero insight beyond what can be gleamed from taking in his recorded output. But I do have some observations I think might be interesting to share.

Star's work is separate from the bulk of noise artists output in how it exists within the genre. Many or even most noise artists position themselves in the canon via composition, or tactile features like how loud it feels - or perhaps even by negation of the genre. Regardless of how this is achieved - I feel like most artists are trying to make the best (or worst) possible noise they can manage. That seems totally separate from what Star is working to achieve.

Star instead seems to be just happening to exist within the noise music spectrum, and that point is a bulletpoint which is much further down the list of importance to his contemporaries. Star is myth-making and world building, and the fact that this world or worlds exist within the context of noise seems at least in part incidental. Star could just as eaily be animation or installation and would feel just as Star. This point allows the work to feel distinctly authored - or existing on the artist's end of the artist / craftsman spectrum.

Instead, noise as incidental medium becomes a forum for a living, breathing thinking process - not only storytelling or docuemntary or harshestness of the DOD smashers. I can picture the process of an artist sitting and recording a VHS to tape, hitting rewind on the player, hitting record again, hitting rewind, cavemanning their way through a loop - asking themself "why am I even doing this?" as they work their way through something much more existential. Leaving a feedback dialogue too high in a mix, and saying "why would anyone want this?" Noise as process.

So maybe in some way Star isn't using noise to make his myths and build his worlds at all - but is using a critique of noise music to express his truth. Star is not attempting to transcend what noise is - but is expanding how big of a container it is and what that container can carry.

k.p.g

The more you learn about Star, the more you will regret doing so.
Dead Door Unit
French Market Press
etc.

Minus1

Quote from: k.p.g on December 22, 2025, 03:00:19 PMThe more you learn about Star, the more you will regret doing so.

Ok I'll bite:

What? 😂

Give Me CDs Or Give Me Death.

Baglady

He's a fun, friendly and approachable chap. What's the mystery here?

Belongs to this strain of noise which seems to have been recorded with no audience in mind. Intuitively steered torrents of sound. There's plenty of that, and always has been. He has an excellent sound of his own though. Every release is great in its own way.

urall

I've seen a full set before on Youtube, but it seems to be offline now. On the WCN discord someone posted a 10sec live clip, which seemed interesting.