noise-germ.....
.....:::...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