Noise

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the limited edition “Gratuitous Red” pressing of the Born Stupid LP by Paul Leary. When vinyl records made their return as one of the foremost music media in or around 2014, a lot was discussed regarding the difference in the sound and fidelity of vinyl and pretty much everything else on the market, at the time. It was an exciting moment; vinyl sales went up 280 percent from what they’d been in...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into The Twin LP by Sound Of Ceres. It may sound odd (or even erroneous) to claim that an album as methodically-paced and dreamy in demeanor as Sound Of Ceres’ sophomore album is comes off as being both exciting and fascinating, but there’s honestly no other good way to characterize it. As a whole, listeners will find it easy to sink into and get lost within the lush and beautiful sounds which emanate...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the “Mass Apathy” 12” single by NOi!SE. It might not sound like the single most glowing endorsement of a single on the surface, but the first thing that NOi!SE’s new, milled “Mass Apathy” single illustrates is that it’s never wise to underestimate a novelty, or write one off. The bullet casing silhouettes which encircle the exterior rim of this one-sided single (the B-side features a silkscreen but no music) look neat and...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into No Joy / Sonic Boom’s self-titled 12” EP. Ever had one of those moments when you heard or read about a new musical project being entered by a couple of established musicians, got excited as your imagination began to run wild with the possibilities of what may come from the endeavor and then learned that you couldn’t have been more right when you got a taste of the music? It’s gratifying, isn’t...

A critical evaluation of Noise Uprising: The Audiopolitics of a World Musical Revolution by Michael Denning. A blurb on the back of Noise Uprising states “Any future attempt to analyze the sounds and politics of international music industry will need to reckon with this powerful book.” I think that such a claim might be a fantastic over-estimation. There is no doubt that Noise Uprising deals with some interesting and important aspects regarding the birth of recorded music, but it’s almost...

Lou Barlow Brace The Wave (Joyful Noise) I can’t deny it (nor would I want to): I am a Lou Barlow fan. To date, there hasn’t been a musical project of which he was a part that I haven’t loved; Sebadoh, Sentridoh, Dinosaur Jr., Folk Implosion and the stuff he’s just recorded under his own name have all found a home in my record collection. Granted, there was that one EP that Folk Implosion did with Deluxx which I found...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the untitled Street Dogs/Noi!SE 10” split record. There has never been a point in music history when two bands issuing a split release together hasn’t been a gamble. The nature of the format is competitive by nature; both bands are in a position where they have to try and outshine the other, and that someone is going to come in second is guaranteed; whether it’s by an inch or a mile is...