Don DeLillo, White Noise
*****************************************
NEW SUBMISSION POLICY BELOW; PLEASE READ
*****************************************
Welcome to Noise Not Music. Here you’ll find reviews of recent albums, various features and lists, and occasional mixes. I do not agree with the statement I’ve chosen as the title for this site; everything I write about here—a great deal of which could be called “noise”—is music. Catchy name though, eh?
I tend to focus on material that resides in the experimental or avant-garde realm of music, but nothing is off limits. If you have an album you’d like me to review, please email me or comment on a post. When I say nothing is off limits, I really mean it. However, I only review albums I like, and the “reviews” themselves (“blurbs” might be a more accurate label, but god, what an awful word) are more intended to encourage discovery rather than to express my personal opinion. Also, I will be much more likely to review an album if it is not sent as a promo blast/press kit. I almost always restrict coverage to things that have come out in the past two weeks or so.
Currently the site is written by just me, Jack, but I’m open to expanding in the future. If you’d like to write a guest review or essay (or anything, honestly; I’m not picky), just let me know.
See what I’m listening to/liking here:
Instagram
Last.fm
Rate Your Music
Contact/submit via noisenotmusic1@gmail.com
Email for physical address. Based in New York, USA
**I will no longer review or link to any material hosted solely on Bandcamp. Only submissions of any other kind—self-hosted, physical (email for address), file transfer, FMA, Soulseek, etc.—will be accepted. I know this is not the most convenient policy for many, but blame Bandcamp, not me. If you have rehosted previously reviewed material elsewhere and want me to switch links, please reach out.**
**Material hosted on Nina Protocol or any other platform associated with cryptocurrency, NFTs, or artificial scarcity of any kind is also very much unwelcome here.**
Mid-Year Favorites: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2̶0̶2̶2̶
Favorite Albums of the Year: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
⮡ Short Releases: 2020, 2021
⮡ Compilations, Archival, etc: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
⮡ Cassettes: 2021
⮡ Eponymous Debuts: 2020
⮡ Songs: 2020
⮡ Labels: 2018, 2019, 2021
⮡ Most Valuable Players: 2018, 2019
On Codex Amphibia, Thomas Tilly lets the field recordings take the reins. Collected in Guiana in late 2016 as part of a field research project with the French National Center for Scientific Research, the mostly unprocessed selections paint vivid pictures of a lush natural environment. Leaves rustle, water bubbles, and the ribbits of the titular amphibians are just a few of the sonic elements that comprise the organically dense collages, and the masterful production ensures that everything is heard clearly. The digital version comes with a few photos that I assume were taken during the recording process, and it’s a testament to the album’s clarity that they’re almost exactly like what I was picturing in my mind while I was listening. It’s one of the most intensely immersive albums I’ve ever heard, with Tilly’s subtle additions in the form of sine waves and quiet drones keep anything from seeming too stagnant. Codex Amphibia is a truly awe-inspiring work, one that I’m sure will reveal more layers as time goes on.
Noise Not Music 