Subcurrent

TonyConrad007
Originally uploaded by WhiteNoise02.

First batch of pics from last week's Subcurrent now up on the photoblog. More to come.

Guapo

guapo003
Originally uploaded by WhiteNoise02.

Pics of Prog power trio Guapo now up at White Noise Photoblog.

Ivor, my inspiration

The Guardian recently published this piece by Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos on Scottish legend, Ivor Cutler.

Tales of Townshend and Wilson

Yesterday I came across this set of stupendous mash ups from The Who Boys titled Tales of Townshend and Wilson. Taking The Who and The Beach Boys as their starting point, The Who Boys create a bizarre alternate universe where Pete Townshend's savage riffs and Keith Moon's boiling drums punctuate the desert island reverie of Brian Wilson's psychedelic dreams. Samples are deftly mixed against breakbeats, dub and hyperspeed drill'n'bass with a smattering of the boy's own rap on top.
At its best it's breathtakingly exciting though The Who probably fare better out of the process: I Can See For Miles is bisected by the riff from Won't Get Fooled Again and psychedelicised sitars: sections of Live at Leeds are folded back on themselves, in John Oswald Plunderphonic style, against waves of Townshend's feedback and guitar destruction: I Can See For Miles resurfaces welded to Wouldn't It Be Nice: Surfin USA is jammed into the gaps in Substitute at breakneck pace with distorted Daltry vocals: The Seeker loops slowly under choirs of Beach Boys harmonies.

Like the best mash ups, Tales of Townshend and Wilson makes you look at the originals in new ways.The Who Boys have remoulded something very familiar into new and alien shapes. In the words of one repeating Townshend sample, "I dig it".

Frank Zappa's treasure house

Believe it or not, there's a ton of unreleased stuff in the Zappa family vaults. Gail Zappa plans to release 100 albums worth. Strangely The Guardian chose Germaine Greer to tell us about it...

Wire MP3 downloads

I've only just noticed that The Wire magazine has built up quite a useful library of downloads on their website in the last few months. Particularly good are the tracks accompanying some of the regular Primer series. If yr appetite was whetted by descriptions of slo-mo grindcore metal or out to lunch Finnish underground you'll want to be getting over there sharpish. There are also some excerpts from the recent series of concerts by London Sinfonietta at the Royal Festival Hall.

White Noise photo blog now online

MagicBand02
Originally uploaded by WhiteNoise02.

The White Noise photoblog is now running at Flickr. As a starter I've loaded up some photos of events I've attended over the last couple of years. More to follow.

MP3 Tourguide for Glasgow

Scottish brewers Tennent's have just launched a downloadable MP3 guide to Glasgow aimed at promoting the city via its vibrant music scene. The file (an 80mb download!) is compatible with any Mp3 player and is obviously most suitable for use in iPods, PDA's and mobile phones. The tour walks the visitor through Glasgow taking in 13 sites including Galleries, venues, clubs and record shops.

Thurston Moore on mix culture

Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore has edited a new book on mix culture called Mix Tape : The Art of Cassette Culture.
It documents music fans mania for creating their own mixes way back in the analogue days of magnetic tape before anybody had even considered computers might be able to do it. Wired has published this extract.

"But even if MP3 music sounds lame, as long as it's recognizable in form, free, and shareable, it's here to stay. It will get better as more sophisticated methods of replication emerge. For now, its clunk is glamorized by celebrity iTunes playlists. ITunes has become the Hallmark card of mix tapes - all you gotta do is sign your name to personalize it."

Welcome to White Noise

Welcome to the White Noise blog. This site accompanies the White Noise website which aims to document the experimental music scene in Scotland. The main site hosts news, listings and reviews, this blog will act as overflow, spinoff, dumping ground and chatroom for any related information. It's an informal space so comments, feedback and any kind of input is welcome.