Monday, October 09, 2006

noise-germ...
.
.
.
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...:::...more and more i think about this dialogue between feeling and understanding in sound. i've been reading sporadically from audio culture: readings in modern music. one particular essay by henry cowell jumps out titled, the joy of noise. he writes:

"Music and noise, according to a time honored axiom, are opposites. If a reviewer writes, 'It is not music, but nosie," he feels that all necessary comment has been made...

Since the 'disease' of noise permeates all music, the only hopeful course is to consider that the noise-germ, like the bacteria of cheese, is a good microbe, which may provide previously hidden delights to the listener, instead of producing musical oblivion...

Although existing in all music, the noise-element has been to music as sex to humanity, essential to its existence, but impolite to mention, something to be cloaked by ignorance and silence. Hence the use of noise in music has been largely unconscious and undiscussed. Perhaps this is why it has not been developed, like the more talked-of elements, such as harmony and melody..."

i love this idea of a 'noise-germ'. a rampant meme. running wild as our culturally-tuned ears work to sift meaning from sounds. and as noises are not always translatable (not always sourced) understanding morphs into feeling. and there is a wonderful freedom in falling into an obtuse-zone. so much of electronic music references this abstracted state with those wordless sounds. with noise. john cage writes:

"Wherever we are, what we hear is mostly noise. When we ignore it, it disturbs us. When we listen to it, we find it fascinating. The sound of a truck at fifty miles per hour. Static between the stations. Rain. We want to capture and control these sounds, to use them not as sound effects but as musical instruments..."

this music, however, seeks simulation perhaps only as a starting point, as a reference to begin from. when done well, it becomes a simulacrum...no longer needing a model or a source to reference but can stand on its own as an evolved copy.


download: 061009-modyfier

azzido da bass – lonely by your side (booka shade deep remix) : oct 2006 on luscious sounds
daniela stickroth – ghost in the attic (dan berkson & james what remix) : sep 2006 on meerestief
detroit grand pubahs – ride 66 (billy nasty & gregor tresher remix) : oct 2006 on det.ele.funk
dominik eulberg – bluetin sind dem grossen schillerfalter fremd (renato figoli remix) : oct 2006 on traum
j hunsberger – move on : sep 2006 on mutek records
mistake – indian continuum : sep 2006 on einmaleins musik
mochipet – disko donkey (broker dealer mix) : oct 2006 on daly city records
polder – numbgum : oct 2006 on remote area records
portable – dense city : sep 2006 on background records
samim & argenix – nonono : sep 2006 on tuning spork family affair
soultek – come on and dance : oct 2006 on third ear



9 Comments:

Blogger CJN said...

sherburne's essay in audio culture is great, as well...

cjn

8:38 PM  
Blogger MY BEST FRIEND said...

Great post! I should probably rent that book. Nice tracks as always ;)

Regards - MBF

4:34 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

hi modifyer, got linked in recently (googled "jahcoozi – ali mcbill sasse & ata's robert johnson 6am x-ray italo rework and only 3 results came up, great track i purchased through djdownload.com) i wonder if u can recommend some tunes like jahcoozi's sasse's great one
//very nice blog btw;)

5:56 AM  
Blogger modyfier said...

COLIN -

yeah. i've been lugging that book around in my bag for ages. it's suprisingly heavy for such a little package. theory / commentary can be physically dense sometimes i guess.

MBF -

i see over at OMG! that you are making up for some of your laziness the last week. wow! prolific indeed. glad you are liking the audiomontage remix of deepchild...and you beat me to the new jps...but that's not saying much. will have a listen to your mix. thanks!

MIKKSERIA -

first, in san francisco, jahcoozi is playing this coming friday the 13th at the newly added 'a' at 1015 - 'the fountain'. you can get tickets here: http://www.an-ten-nae.net/jahcoozi.html . other such tunes: i would recommend pretty much anything by sasse. one of my favorites is: 'loosing touch' - remixes by alexkid and marco passarani...another is 'up to you' - various remixes have been done by anja schneider, drum cult, filippo naughty, etc. but for other artists, i would recommend discogs or beatport or bleep, etc. and see who they are working with, who is doing remixes, etc. and go from there. it is an endless deferral. mostly it takes lots of listening.

9:54 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

thanx alot!.. 1 of 100 tracks that come out these days take me to a sort of an infant place, cant point a finger what it does with the hidden newrons in my brain, jahcoozi slash sasse really touched something.
the last time it happened was with, "dino - call me (andrea doria remix)" it came out a year ago.. something caught me there, and its scorched tight for years to come as a classic one.
i listen to lot of music styles, my 'basics' came with 70's and 80's electronics, such as "data - firma", "flue - vista", "edward ka spel - laugh china doll", "patrick fitzgerald - gifts and telegrams", "moral - and life is", "beranek - sound of danger" (and this recommended l.p's list can go on and on:)),
i'de really appreciate if you would post some "classic to be" as u see the vision of it
(sorry for my english, probebly it has some grammer probs:)
anyway thanx alot for the recommendations, and keep up the holly modifying work..

3:58 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

download limit reached ... after 2 days, oh well, will try to be quicker next time

7:02 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

wow... download limit reached. You're quite the popular one Rayna!

8:43 AM  
Blogger modyfier said...

shucks. sorry folks. still walking that tight-rope between free mp3's as promotionals for the vinyl and allowable number of downloads. keep listening. more to come.

9:47 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nooooooooo

12:04 PM  

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