“The variety of noises is infinite. If today, when we have perhaps a thousand different machines, we can distinguish a thousand different noises, tomorrow, as new machines multiply, we will be able to distinguish ten, twenty, or thirty thousand different noises, not merely in a simply imitative way, but to combine them according to our imagination"
Luigi Russolo was a man ahead of his times. Russolo's essay L'Arte dei rumori (The Art of Noises) published in 1913, explores the origins and evolution of man made sounds. Russolo notes that while early music tried to create sweet and pure sounds, it progressively grew more and more complex. Luigi envisioned a world dominated by industry and he saw no reason why this industrial dissonance couldn't be forged into aesthetically pleasing music. It goes without saying that Signore Russolo never gave a listen to Contact High with the Godz, otherwise he may have had a change of heart.
Paul Hegarty, music writer for The Guardian poses the question: “So what do we seek if we are drawn to noise music? How and why would anyone want to be assaulted by it?” The overwhelming human desire to stave off boredom combined with our need to differentiate ourselves from the mob would be my best guess. Which leads us back to Russolo, who in the age of gramophones proclaimed “music has reached a point that no longer has the power to excite or inspire. Even when it is new, it still sounds old and familiar, leaving the audience waiting for the extraordinary sensation that never comes”
With that in mind, Russolo devised noise-making machines that he called “intonarumori” from which he drew a clamor of sounds that was music to his ears only. Others may have liken it to the hideous bellows emitting from Perillos of Athens barbaric Brazen Bull. There's no accounting for other people's taste and in all likelihood, Luigi probably had no fucks left to give. A performance of his Gran Concerto Futuristico (1917) had met with strong disapproval and violence from the audience, as Russolo himself had predicted.
"Ancient life was all silence"
Once upon a time... the only sounds heard on earth were natural occurring. Thunderstorms, the howl of the wind, wild animals etc. That came to an end the day a hypothetical Cro-Magnon, whom I'll call Gronk, picked up a stick and struck a hollow log. This impromptu improvisation was followed by a chorus of “ugh, ugh, ugh... me like, me like” with the exception of that one introspective fellow who shook his head and muttered to himself “Gronk flat”Growlers, Cracklers and Bursters in the spirit of Luigi Russolo. Who never met a sound that he didn't like. Paul Hegarty forewarns us that “Noise music is music of anticipation, not least because today's noise will be the music of tomorrow.“ I guess now would be the time to go out and corner the amplified suitcase market. ~ Dirt City Chronicles ~
Wroth-O-Voll Leeches of Lore
Part 4 ICUMDRUMS
Down South ICUMDRUMS (live at Sisters)
ICUMDRUMS _H_ohm
Meet the Beatless The Kleptones (UK) SSSK
Liberator The Coma Recovery
Anguria Bigawatt
Interlude Milch de la Maquina
White Debbie Leeches of Lore
Kief Mountain Sabertooth Cavity
Slave Sandia Man
The Olm Steve Hammond
Voice 7 Lady Uranium
Jeep Marmalade Leeches of Lore
Time After Time Youngsville
Touch the Sword Tenderizor
