White Noise Blog

Glasgow improvisers Orchestra: First concert of 2006

2006-08-15T09:10:00.000+01:00

Saturday the 2nd of September 20:00 CCA 350 Sauchiehall St Glasgow £3

First of an autumn/winter season of concerts by the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra.
Put like that the band begins to seem like an institution. Is it? Is that a bad thing? Is it for anything? Momentous yet quiescent when provoked Free improvisation by people who are curious.

Syd Barrett dies

2006-07-11T16:05:00.000+01:00

Seminal guitarist and psychedelic icon, Syd Barrett has died.

CHARALAMBIDES UK TOUR DATES

2006-07-02T15:24:00.000+01:00

07.06.06 with Pumajaw at the Cube Microplex, Bristol
07.08.06 with Pumajaw and Steffen Basho-Junghans at the Luminaire, London
07.09.06 with Haeti and Longing at CB2, Cambridge
07.10.06 with James Blackshaw and Gareth Hardwick at Bunkers Hill, Nottingham
07.11.06 with Agitated Radio Pilot at Richardsons, Ireland
07.12.06 with Agitated Radio Pilot and Veronica Moran at The Bog Lane Theater, Ballymahon, Co Longford, Ireland
07.13.06 with Agitated Radio Pilot and Papercut at the Boom Boom Room, Dublin, Ireland
07.14.06 with Ashtray Navigation at the Cricketers Arms, Sheffield
07.15.06 with Parts and Labor, I Had an Inkling, Sword Drawings, and Kong at the Klondyke Club, Manchester
07.16.06 with Steffen Basho-Junghans at Morden Tower, Newcastle
07.19.06 with Taurpis Tula at Nice 'n' Sleazy, Glasgow, Scotland

SPECTRE ZAIMPH/ MUSCLETUSK/ NACKT INSECTEN/ USURPER.

2006-04-30T14:58:00.000+01:00

This just in from Giant Tank:

Giant Tank presents:

SPECTRE ZAIMPH/ MUSCLETUSK/ NACKT INSECTEN/ USURPER.

SPECTRE ZAIMPH= Magik Markers' Pete Nolan and Double Leopards' Marcia
Bassett unite for a cauldron of American primitivist drone and acidic
analogue drool.

MUSLETUSK= Three-man heaviosity unit slop up ladels of clattering out-rock
and free-noise.

NACKT INSECTEN= Slowly shifting sonic fug of throb and insect chatter by
one third of Temple Of Static Christ.

USURPER= Miniscule free-noise hissy-fits and broken instrument scrape/
squeal.

Wed 3rd May 2006.
Henry's Cellar Bar, 8 Morrison Street, Edinburgh.
doors= 7:30pm (first act on at 7:45pm.). cost= £5.

Review: Subcurrent 06, final night, Saturday 15th April 06

2006-04-30T14:56:00.000+01:00

Hooded, in face blanking shades, Hive Mind , produces one of the real highlights of the festival. Standing behind his moog and bass station rig, he gives a beautifully controlled performance of drone power. Opening filters slowly his sound develops minute by minute until the room throbs to his thick, detailed sound . He is quick to trap any escaping note clusters and force them back down in to mix, bury them amongst the analogue warmth and pedal wrecked haze. I hear the ghosts of warehouse parties, techno residue, cancelled dawns. The sounds dreamed by Ron Hardy, nodding in the dj booth at the Music Box.

Looks Sorta Dangerous. Aaron Dilloway, out on a solo creep from scene kings Wolf Eyes, is inserting contact mics into his mouth. Totally wired. A sludge of hip hop beats detours in to disorientation and an empty lift shaft plunge. Fierce, spit out, lines of force build till the pressure gets too much and ocean size sound is let loose. AD is on the edge, spasmodic, kicking out, hands conjuring figures, drawing in the energy. Like a man caught between performance and the dream of performance. The set is concise and in the closing moments a stream of pure, hi end, hi frequency noise scours the crowd, cleaning out the collective cortex .

The Mouthus sound is cavernous, stadium sized reverb, engulfs the audience. The duo on, pared down drum kit and guitar, howl through their set, locked in the pursuit of more space, continually moving outward. Vocals emerge and collapse in the storm, monochord riffs coagulate with stuttering percussion. Despite being the most conventional rock band of the festival the group are still way over on the far side of the genre, telegraphing reports of free space that remains unclaimed and ill defined.

If there ever was time I hoped that a wired up bootlegger or two was in the audience it was for the peerless set by Joe Mcphee and Chris Corsano. In years to come those fortunate few present will recall an hour of music when it all came together. CC is a marvel to behold. Incredible dexterity, intensity and expression, the most musical drummer I’ve ever heard. JM is a true artist, he knows how to wait and when to strike. Whether it’s breathing soul notes from the pocket trumpet or babbling maelstroms on the sax he is on point every time. When they complete the first section of the set, the crowd roar and stamp, people run to the stage arms waving, shrieking and affirming the connection that’s occurring. They continue with several shorter pieces each met rapturously. One certain passage has JM playing a simple, beautiful, modern melody that begs to be heard again. Please, somebody, release the tapes!

Perhaps appropriately we get to smell Smega before we see them. Their advance warning, a green herbal fug that winds into the auditorium, is strong enough for a contact high. They are a reassuring sight then they appear. Silver threaded hair with hoar frost on their brows, t shirts with “smile” and “keep music evil”. Their demeanour suggests that 30 years at the edge of sound keeps you young in the soul. They begin with a medicine show romp through Mule Skinner Blues, highlighting the great guitar sound and no frills drum attack. Other members play a diy theremin, a reed like mouth flute , a seemingly random turntable and delay selection and , oh yeh the drummer doubles on trombone. Guest star Aaron Dilloway does his oral electricity thing fitting right in to the psych/drone/garage blend. For me they are at their bests when hitting the three chord punk rush, the guitar just sounds so great, the percussion heart stoppingly real. The downer tone flows that punctuate the set are a real treat too and the extended disintegrating blues, featuring Joe Mcphee, is a beauty. They end the festival by leading a sing-along happy birthday to curator David Keenan who punches the air in righteous delight.

SImon Ross

Review: Subcurrent second night, Friday 14th April 06

2006-04-26T08:30:00.000+01:00

Standing obliquely to the audience, with a wooden electronic box placed on a lectern, Jessica Rylan cuts a neat figure in fitted denim and neckerchief. She speaksings in to the sonic deconstructor kit to create wild ,bubbling ,insistent sounds. Her long fingers reconfigure the parameters of the fx unit, from shrill and cracked to dense and pulsing.

She is possessed of great self-confidence. Between songs, she tells us a recent trip to Belgium left her with the disconcerting feeling she had become a US patriot, and then counts of the next selection in Flemish. Midway, she sings it straight, and her voice is real and true, an old folk lyric invested with the kind of sincerity that would have had Alan Lomax hitting the record switch. She has a curious trick of making her outsider performance seem accessible and friendly. The human voice, even after the spectacular elisions and transmutations wrought by Rylan, remains human.

Prurient takes the stage. Dark clad, stocky and leather gloved. Velvet distortion oscillates. His back is turned and he signals the lights to be lowered. Like a revelator from the psychic dungeon he hurls forth bolts of aggression, excavating the sick oil slick caverns of the shadow self. His mic lead is coiled like razor wire, he spits on the stage, throws his head back and rails to a cracked open sky. From nowhere a beautifully damaged melody loops and leaps from the amps. Wave on wave of distended electronic entrails envelop the audience. He sings from an apocalyptic heart, Kurtz recast in the Theatre of Cruelty.

A lot of credit has to go to the sound design for the festival opting for two small speakers plus a couple stage amps as opposed to the usual wall of sound stack. Though still ferocious there is huge amount of detail in the output, the full frequency spectrum is released allowing the inherent musicality of an artist like Prurient, among others, to be revealed.

Burning Star Core masticates his way into the zone. Bespectacled and smartly dressed, he is seated next to a table, overflowing with alchemical audio apparatus. The chewing gum intro is followed by a deep space navigation of real beauty and invention. Wide open, multi-layered drones chart orbital geometries and galaxy implosions. If there are aliens out there listening in to earth I sure hope there tuned to C Spencer Yeh’s frequency, he makes our planet sound like a good solar system citizen. The audience applaud as his signal moves out of reach but he bids us quiet as he produces a violin and effortlessly balances it between shoulder and chin. He then begins an extended improvisation of great dexterity and skill. Cultivating the spores John Cale set loose 4 decades ago BSC walks the line between conservatoire and Lower East Side loft effortlessly. He closes out with a split personality, comedy mouth piece that sends the people home smiling.

Simon Ross

Review: Subcurrent 06, first night Thursday 13th April 06

2006-04-22T09:27:00.000+01:00

Astral Social Club crack open Subcurrent 06. Neil Campbel,.Richard Youngs and Tirath Singh Nirmala comprise the tristar line up. Kind of like Paul Klee, Willem de Kooning, and Gerhard Richter stepping up to the canvas simultaneously. Buzzes and blasts from home made electronics, kids keyboards and penny whistles cut us loose and delayed vocals zoom in and out of the swells… a lull midway and a wholly unlikely piped instrument appears that looks sort of like Tatlins Tower... then the clatter, wail, and blast continues ..beats manifest , some of this wouldn’t sound out of place booming from the bass bins of a customised car culture freak… a violin squeals and moans and the stratocaster noise sheets swirl into hypno-zone drones. There is a thrill in watching the performers too, Youngs jolts and twists the sound from his machines, body rocking to the shocks , TSN a balanced meditative presence centre stage and Campbell, all grins and frenetic energy, constantly realigning his tabletop trickshop. They sign off and NC lets us know the performance will be on sale later. An instant energy memory to take home.

Inca Ore, tall, dark in a short cotton dress, use song as incantation, as protective magic. Building up the tracks harmonies are created and collapsed. Tones float and revolve and return. Between songs she wears a sweet ecstatic expression as if she sees and feels a little more after each performance. Midway through the set she drops in a straight, non fx number and her voice, untreated, has hints of the blues and a fragile warmth. She walks the spacious stage as she sings. It is as if she is lost in a forest, surrounded by the spirits and voices. Rather than looking to escape, she is seeking communion with the sprites and shades. At the close, she apologises for not finding a scream tonight, however, the audience has been charmed and do not complain.

Wearing a Grand Canyon T shirt, Axolotl take us down to the riverbed where folk hits psych. The set opens with the spluttering crunch of misfiring technology but the artist skilfully uses the found sound as a base for his zither dream beams, he then turns to percussive playing and primitive gamelan melodies and rhthmyms bounce around the wooden walled room. The set closes with a thick, pulsing violin and pedal lurch. Though he cuts out earlier than scheduled due to equipment failures, his sound succeeds and reveals another facet of the current American folk form reinvention.

Word from on high has it that skaters soundcheck was a killer. Audience and performers cluster round the stage as the duo squat over their mics and kit. I can see a couple of drums and a ceremonial necklace laid out beside the super tall guy stage right. Within minutes a cyclone is whirling in the CCA. I swear you can see a dirt brown dust tower emanating from between the musicians, swaying to the corners and the heights of the hall. The sound fills every angle of the space, it is a wholly elevating experience. I guess everybody hears something different when the sound is this dense, this combustible, but for me there was something religious about the moaning vocal. Like a séance in a Midwest unchurch or a funeral dirge for someone dying a second time. This is revival music.
They end and it’s hard to say how long it’s been, you could even say it was short, but walking out in to the street you feel that the energy they channelled is really all around us, you just need to be the right kind conductor.
Simon Ross

Review: Fingering the Devil; Sir Richard Bishop

2006-04-13T12:18:00.000+01:00

Just received a copy of this beautiful limited edition release on Southern Records' Latitudes series. Bishop toured the UK last year and recorded this session on his day off. Fingering The Devil is a snapshot of the tremendous improvisations I raved about in my review at the time. In spite of less than ideal circumstances (travel hell, impending flu) Bishop's playing is every bit as stellar in the studio as it was in person. The pieces here run the gamut of Bishop's vast array of styles, from flamenco to raga with echoes of the blues, jazz and American primitive fingerpicking. It's a clean recording, with none of the pedals and effects he was using live and it comes over as more considered and measured than the barnstorming live gigs. That said, it's a fine set and an essential document of the continuing growth of a unique player.

RUNZELSTIRN & GURGELSTOCK/ C SPENCER YEH & DYLAN NYOUKIS/ HOCKYFRILLA/

2006-04-13T11:12:00.000+01:00

Giant Tank & Harbinger Sound Presents:

RUNZELSTIRN & GURGELSTOCK= spluttering Swiss free-noise nausea by Gruppe Schimpfluch founders Rudolph Eb.er and Joke Lanz AKA Sudden Infant. completely unpredictable live actions.

C SPENCER YEH & DYLAN NYOUKIS= Burning Star Core violin scrapist and Chocolate Monk warlord/ doofus unite for a tag-team of free-gob and slobber. "Garbagemen style."

HOCKYFRILLA= demonic ladymong hoedown noise music by ex-Decaer Pinga and CK Dexter Haven hellfarm rodeo queens.

BIRDS OF DELAY vs. USURPER= Leeds/ London noise pin-up young things tear Edinburgh disabled instrument grumps a new arsehole. or vice-versa.

Sunday 23rd April 2006.
Henry's Cellar Bar, 8 Morrison Street, Edinburgh.
doors= 7:30pm (first act on at 7:45pm.). cost= 6/5 (tbc).
tickets available fae Avalanche Records or by contacting Giant Tank directly

Kite Flying Club

2006-04-13T08:15:00.000+01:00

Glasgow's Kite Flying Club presents a concert at the Street Level Photoworks gallery on 20th April.

Performers include free improvisers from France and Glasgow: Bug duo: Nicolas Desmarchelier (guitar) and Olivier Toulemonde (electro-acoustic set) with Aileen Campbell (voice) and Neil Davidson (guitar).

kk. Null & Z'ev

2006-04-12T09:50:00.000+01:00

Japanese guitar noise terrorist KK Null is joined by industrial percussionist Z'ev for a gig at Glasgow's Bastille Taverne on Saturday 15th April. Check outilovemiso for details.

AfriRampo

2006-04-12T09:39:00.000+01:00

AfriRampo003.JPG
Originally uploaded by WhiteNoise02.

Mind bending Japanese bands touring the UK are no longer unusual but what is remarkable is the constant variety, energy and unfettered creativity on display. Afri Rampo are a case in point. They play whatever they feel like; power pop; heavy rock; hardcore; punk; they chant sing-song Japanese rhymes; they give out fruit! And it's all done with infectious enthusiasm and not a hint of self-consciousness. At times they sound completely naive and almost primitive, a deliberate parody and then they let loose with a laser-beam focused, head-shaking, fret melting wig out. Like so many other amazing Japanese acts, Afri Rampo deliver humour, theatre and stunning musicianship all at once. Nice PJ's too.

White Noise site problems

2006-04-12T08:57:00.000+01:00

Had some problems recently with FTP to the main White Noise site, consequently no updates for a while. I'll continue to post stuff here until I've sorted it out.

Ostertag Overload!

2006-01-16T14:15:00.001Z

Fans of Bob Ostertag's warped tape manipulations should get over to the Internet archive sharpish. Bob has made available a brace of his albums for free download. They range from the outlandish, queer disco outing, Fear No Love, to all four volumes of his stupendous recursive, improvised, cut'n'splice Say No More project to his solo sampler disc Like a Melody No Bitterness.

Ostertag's demented tape-swill blither is inspirational, radical and humourous and, if that wasn't enough, features an all star list of collaborators including Fred Frith, Mike Patton, Joey Baron, Otomo Yoshihide and Justin Bond. What are you waiting for?

mono european tour

2005-10-31T23:09:00.000Z

Creators of epic, emotive guitar soundscapes, mono, are on tour in Europe in December. DAtes are as follows:

11/26 - @ Jug Of Ale - Birmingham,
11/27 - @ Cavern Club - Exeter,
11/28 - @ Arts Center - Norwich,
11/29 - @ Corporation - Sheffield,
11/30 - @ Joseph's Well - Leeds,
12/01 - @ Abc 2 - Glasgow,
12/02 - @ Brickyard - Carlisle,
12/03 - @ Thekla - Bristol,
12/04 - @ Underworld - London,

Brothers from another planet

2005-10-27T17:39:00.000+01:00

The BBC will be broadcasting items on two of the more 'out' practitioners of modern music this week. Tonight (Thurs 27th October), BBC2's arts programme The Culture Show will be showing an interview with Stockhausen. Tomorrow, BBC4 shows the documentary, Sun Ra: Brother from Another Planet.

Free Albums Galore

2005-10-27T09:12:00.000+01:00

I'm a big fan of free net stuff, sites like UBUweb, earlabs and the internet archive are building fantastic libraries of radical, and freely downloadable, music. Free Albums Galore is another.Luke is posting daily links to complete albums around the web. There's some great stuff here, from twisted exotica mash-ups to blistering free improv and a set of Mauricio Bianchi remixes. Well worth checking out.

White Noise Update

2005-10-20T23:25:00.000+01:00

Have just managed to update White Noise for the first time in well over a month. A sudden change in circumstances left me almost no time at all for WN related activities, I even managed to miss Instal05 completely. I'm glad to report there are a load of interesting events coming up in the near future. Normal updates resume as of now.

Stockhausen @ Triptych

2005-08-30T22:35:00.000+01:00

KHStockhausen
Originally uploaded by WhiteNoise02.

I've just received this pic of Stockhausen from his performance at Triptych in Edinburgh back in March, thanks Stuart.

Luc Ferrari Dies

2005-08-23T23:42:00.000+01:00

I've just found out that the seminal French music concrete composer, Luc Ferrari, has died. Create Digital Music is collecting tributes to both him and the late Bob Moog.

Zappa Plays Zappa gigs cancelled

2005-08-22T08:56:00.000+01:00

It's being reported that the Zappa family has cancelled three gigs on the forthcoming Eurpoean leg of the Zappa Plays Zappa tour. Performances at Brighton, Glasgow and Wolverhampton are affected. I haven't been able to find out why. More details when I get them.

Bob Moog dies

2005-08-22T08:52:00.000+01:00

Bob Moog, creator of the Moog synthsiser and electronic music pioneer has died at the age of 71. He was recently diagnosed with brain cancer.

He was a charming guy and I was lucky enough to see him when give a talk at Triptych 2004. I blogged this at the time (scroll to bottom of page for entry).

White Noise Update

2005-08-15T18:44:00.000+01:00

Just updated with a bunch of interesting events for the next couple of months, the most exciting being the brace of left field artists performing at Instal 05. List available on the White Noise news page. I've also finally managed to get a review up of the Fantomas gig at the Garage back in June. Sometimes it just takes a while to get the words out... happy reading.

Sir Richard Bishop

2005-08-01T21:13:00.000+01:00

RichardBishop027
Originally uploaded by WhiteNoise02.

Pictures are up on the Flickr blog of last night's blazing gig by Sir Richard Bishop of the Sun City Girls. It was a peculiar location for exploratory acoustic guitar instrumentals, I'm not sure the hipsters at the Sub Club were expecting a beatnik guitar player in a trilby and he was only allowed to play for 30 mins!

Quibbles aside, Bishop was gobsmacking. Best of all, he announced he was coming back with teh Sun City Girls for this year's Instal festival in Glasgow and again in 2006 on a Euopean tour.

The suishounofune connection...

2005-07-26T13:54:00.000+01:00

Epic Japanese guitar sound-scapers Suishounofune have been in touch with White Noise after they discovered the review of their gig at Le Weekend 2005. I'm happy to report they have installed one of our pictures on their homepage.

White Noise News

2005-07-26T13:48:00.000+01:00

Just posted a White Noise News update featuring new events and collaborations by the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra. A couple of exciting collaborations coming up in September with the Dresden ensemble featuring percussionist Günter "Baby" Sommer. Then, in October, the Orchestra will be performing with seminal bass player/improviser Barry Guy at Falkirk's Callander House.

Le Weekend live footage

2005-06-28T12:08:00.000+01:00

The Wire magazine has uploaded a set of movies from this year's le Weekend festival in Stirling. Excerpts of Dream Aktion Unit, Kousokuya, Mirror/Dash, Dredd Foole and Suisho No Fune are available alongside some interesting footage from events around the country.

Sound sculpture has city humming (and gurgling)

2005-06-22T09:12:00.000+01:00

On yesterday's White Noise update I uploaded some info on US Artist Bill Fontana's forthcoming sound installation in Leeds. Today The Guardian has published this handy feature on it.

Fantomas007

2005-06-20T14:14:00.000+01:00

Fantomas007
Originally uploaded by WhiteNoise02.

Mike Patton's rockin teenage combo, Fantomas, rolled into Glasgow on Friday. It was a thumping gig, unfortunately my camera wasn't up to the low light so my shots turned out either dark or blurry. Having said that, some the blurs are quite good. Pics now up on Flickr.

The sound of fear

2005-06-11T12:03:00.000+01:00

The Guardian has an interesting piece on the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Two discs of their sound effects for Doctor Who have just been issued.

Mike Patton to score movie

2005-06-10T14:05:00.000+01:00

Thanks to Avant Music News for pointing out this story which reveals Mike Patton will be providing the score for Melanie Lee's Pinion. It's no real surprise that Patton should be involved in a film project. Aside from the very obvious filmic influences on his work with Fantomas (playing in Glasgow June 17th) he has always shown an awareness of film music with covers of John Barry's Midnight Cowboy on Faith No More's Angel Dust album and his work with John Zorn on tracks by Morricone.

I'm already looking forward to this one.

"Patton was chosen for his ability to produce layered and eerie atmospheres, coupled with his comfort level with the film making process. Though this is Patton%u2019s first score composition, he is no stranger to movies. Patton has just completed production in Steve Balderson%u2019s film FIRECRACKER playing not one, but two lead roles."

Jaga Jazzist

2005-06-08T15:45:00.000+01:00

JagaJazzist011
Originally uploaded by WhiteNoise02.

Pics of Jaga Jazzist's blazing Scottish debut in Glasgow last night now up on the White Noise photoblog. It was a terrific gig though my pictures are a bit disappointing. As a venue Mono is quirky but leaves a few things to be desired. The lighting in particular was very poor so I had to do quite a lot of Photoshop work just to make these adequate. More opinion when I get round to writing the review.

U B U W E B (1996-2005)

2005-06-05T23:04:00.000+01:00

U B U W E B, one of the best resources on the web for experimental music, art and literature is shutting up shop. Not only did it act as a repository for experimental texts of all kinds but it was also a beacon for free distribution of content, making available material that was long out of print and otherwise impossible to get for no charge.

Apparently the project has finished though the editors don't give details about what the objectives were nor how they have been achieved. This is a serious blow to fans of the fringe aspects of modern culture, we can only hope others will follow this model and continue to provide services like this.

"Dear Friends,

The UbuWeb Project -- a decade-long experiment in radical distribution of avant-garde materials -- has finished. Founded in 1996, the project has been a success beyond anyone's wildest expectations. As of Spring, 2005, it averaged over 10,000 visitors daily and hosts nearly a terabyte of artworks in all media by over 500 artists.

The site will be donated to a university shortly, where it will be archived intact for posterity. Please note that the site will no longer be updated. A URL linking to the archive will be posted on this page.

The editors wish to thank you for supporting this experiment and, as a result, may a thousand flowers bloom in its wake.

Sincerely,
The Editors"

Le Weekend 2005

2005-05-30T12:57:00.000+01:00

LeWeekend2051
Originally uploaded by WhiteNoise02.

Pictures of last night's finale of Le Weekend 2005 in Stirling now up on Flickr.

Confession of Depression

2005-05-14T11:12:00.000+01:00

"I am turning into my mother but am too tired to care", "The world does not care about me, I am completely on my own", "I don't know you and I can't love you". So run just some of the angst ridden statements adorning products created by German designers Aylin Langreuter and Lea Schmidbauer in their Confession of Depression range. Their previous project, Access to Success, splashed blandly optimistic statements straight out of self help books all over commercial products such as ash trays, lighters and personal organisers. Now they've gone to the dark side. If you've a taste for subverting commercial branding then this is the gear for you. It's pure, distilled Fight Club.

Subcurrent

2005-04-26T10:36:00.000+01:00

TonyConrad007
Originally uploaded by WhiteNoise02.

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

Guapo

2005-04-21T11:04:00.000+01:00

guapo003
Originally uploaded by WhiteNoise02.

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

Ivor, my inspiration

2005-04-21T11:01:00.000+01:00

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

Tales of Townshend and Wilson

2005-04-15T09:29:00.000+01:00

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

2005-04-14T16:55:00.000+01:00

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

2005-04-12T17:15:00.000+01:00

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

2005-04-12T09:10:00.000+01:00

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

2005-04-06T11:10:00.000+01:00

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

2005-04-05T10:54:00.000+01:00

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

2005-04-01T18:48:00.000+01:00

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.