Dear Bandcamp,

This is the 1000th post on Noise Not Music. I’d be remiss if I didn’t attribute some of the reaching of this milestone to you. So thank you.

I posted my first review of a Bandcamp-hosted album in January 2018, but I had been an active and loyal user of the platform long before that. NNM seemed to grow hand in hand with Bandcamp, and our philosophies always seemed to align in a beautiful way. Prioritizing artists, labels, and other creators above everything else. Democratizing the stylistic continuum so that professionally produced pop records can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with sound art and noise. Creating a space where discovery and appreciation take precedence over critique. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner.

But last Wednesday, you showed your true colors. The world’s most beloved source for and supporter of independent music acquired by a company responsible for loot boxes, underage consumer exploitation, and all other manner of predatory capitalist entertainment initiatives. It would be funny if it weren’t so tragic.

The most egregious problem with your decision is not that a significant stake of Epic is owned by Tencent, a repugnant entity supportive of the CCP and directly tied to Spotify and major labels—everything Bandcamp always proudly said it wasn’t. Nor that your greed will inevitably result in thousands of musicians’ livelihoods being steadily stripped away. Nor even that you wasted an opportunity to resist the incessant march of monopolization that will eventually strangle us all.

It’s that you had the audacity to insultingly, demeaningly, pretend that this is something exciting.

Your announcement is loaded with unspoken apology, the invisible but nonetheless palpable shroud of we know you won’t be happy about this, but…, and yet the words themselves spin a narrative that this act of bald-faced pocket-lining is a good thing for the platform and those who use it. The level of disrespect this broadcasts to us is unfathomable.

Let’s get something straight: you are not “joining” Epic. A porcelain cat with bobbing arms I buy at a flea market does not “join” my shelf of knickknacks. You were purchased, subsumed. You sold out. Just being honest about it would have shown at least a shred of remaining dignity. But you have none left, that final fragment lost in a swamp of corporate euphemism.

I write this because I, we, loved you, once. I write this to remind you of just how comprehensively you have violated your core values, how completely you have broken the promises you made to us. I write this to say a betrayed, defeated farewell. I write this to you. Whoever you are. Whatever you are.

Sincerely,

Jack Davidson

---

To my readers,

This is the 1000th post on Noise Not Music. I have tears in my eyes when I tell each and every one of you, THANK YOU. For everything.

I feel compelled to explain why, unlike many others, I immediately cut ties with Bandcamp and am now taking time to completely reimagine NNM. It’s not because I believe that continuing to support artists and labels is a bad or unethical thing to do—it isn’t. It’s not because I’m trying to make a point, broadcast a performative blast of defiant silence—at its core, that would be the same as giving up.

It’s because I’m just tired.

Tired of “music” being about so much more than just music. Tired of beacons of independence being snuffed out. Tired of cryptocurrency and NFTs worming their way into every nook and cranny. Tired of having to keep track of which noise labels associate with racists, misogynists, pedophiles; which platform is owned by which conglomerate; which people care about the art and which people only care about what they make off of it. Tired of seeing artists I respect play sold-out shows to packed crowds of unmasked fans as hundreds of people in this country alone are killed every day by a virus we’re pretending has just disappeared. Tired of this thing I love so much threatening to become, in so many different ways, a thing I hate.

So yeah, I’m taking a break for a bit. I’ll keep posting to the Instagram account and will probably put up some new mixes here as well. And I’ll still be listening, of course, so if you want recommendations, or want to recommend me something (please!!), or just want to chat, reach out wherever.

With regard to Bandcamp, I would suggest those searching for an alternative look into Resonate Co-Op. Far from perfect, but promising.

Again, I am so thankful for you all. And I’m not going anywhere. I once said NNM will end when I die. That is still very much the plan.

Love,

Jack

Founded in 2001 by Avarus members Roope Eronen, Arttu Partinen, and Kevin Regan, the Helsinki-based Lal Lal Lal has been a mainstay of consistent quality and innovative sounds for nearly two decades, putting out material by both obscure acts as well as more recognizable names such as The Skaters, F.Ampism, and Aaron Dilloway. In July the label have joined Yellow Swans and many others in uploading official digital versions of their numerous releases, almost all of which can be streamed for free, so their page is an absolute treasure trove of wondrous curiosities for the uninitiated (or even the mostly-initiated). As usual with these label features, below I highlight some of my favorite entries in their catalog as starting points. Not included is Red Brut’s recently-reviewed Cloaked Travels, which Lal Lal Lal co-released with Ikuisuus.

---

Francesco Calandrino – varie/azioni (2016, CS)

This tangled, textural oddity is a completely new discovery for me. Throughout the four tracks Calandrino utilizes a unique combination of tape techniques and playback devices to manipulate instrumental source material. In a twist somewhat reminiscent of the work of Giovanni Lami, much of the sound Calandrino actually produces comes from the process of handling and playing the tape, leading to immersive stretches of dead air, hiss, churning gears, ghostly musical semblances, and mechanical clunks.

Avarus – Jättiläisrotta (2004, CD co-released w/ Secret Eye)

This was an important album for me, even though I discovered it well after its release, because it was what led me to discover the incredible enchanted wonderland of avant-garde folk music and related genres, both in Finland and around the world. Avarus’s scruffy, low fidelity drone hodgepodge is one of the most archetypal examples of the earthy DIY sound I so adore, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a key factor in establishing that adoration in the first place.

The Parels – The Parels (2016, CS)

This album has so much going for it despite only being thirty minutes: meditative tribal percussion, scorching drones, electronic freakouts, moments of pure bliss. The first of (sadly) only two releases from the duo of Jim Goodall and Eddie Ruscha, The Parels’ self-titled tape is a moody yet vibrant descent into a humid, feverish soundscape, its atmosphere equal parts manic and panicked. A perfect choice for the cover artwork as well.

Buffle – Constrictor (2006, CS)

Adorable outsider pop jams from the quartet of Denis Duez, Benjamin Francart, Xavier Garcia Bardon, and Emmanuel Gonay. The clunky jams are composed of cheesy drum loops and plastic toy instrument extravaganza, equal parts comedic and complex. An irresistible bite-sized serving of colorful, hypnotic, wonderfully amateurish instrumental stumbles that progressively get more intricate.

Mikko Lagerbohm – Digulations (2012, CS)

Digulations could be just an assemblage of forgotten, decayed microcassette recordings, but for things like this the amount of artistic involvement really isn’t of concern. Whether any or all sounds are intentional is impossible to discern. In a manner similar to artists like Michael Prior or Duncan Harrison, the primitive fidelity of the recordings frees their contents from context, allowing them to exist as textural objects as disconnected from reality as something synthesized or heavily processed.

Also make sure to check out Maniacs Dream, Fricara Pacchu, and other great acts I haven’t mentioned here.

To all of my beloved readers in and outside of the United States: the people of the broken country I grudgingly call home are under attack. Even aside from the ongoing racially-motivated violence against people of color enabled and perpetrated by countless corrupt police departments, the protests against this injustice have encountered a grotesque response of unnecessary force, abuse, and denial of basic human rights. Children as young as nine years old have been tear-gassed while peacefully demonstrating with their parents. People in several states have been severely injured by rubber bullets and other riot suppression weaponry. A police SUV drove through a crowd of protesters in New York City. Civilians and journalists are being arrested and charged without being read their rights. A cop was filmed flashing the hand gesture of white supremacist gang The Aryan Circle while his fellow officer smiled and laughed. These are just examples; to view a sickeningly long list of other police brutality incidents that have occurred in the last few days alone, click here.

If you’re anything like me, it’s difficult to go about your normal routine with these atrocities happening around you. In lieu of a review today, all I ask is that you join the fight against the boot of fascism that is not-so-slowly descending on all of our heads. If you are in a place where protests are taking place, please join in. If you are unable to protest, consider donating to helpful charities and fundraisers like the Minneapolis Freedom Fund, the George Floyd Memorial Fund, or local funds that go toward bail or legal representation for arrested protesters (in Cincinnati, Beloved Community Church has set up one such fund). This is a crucial time and I hope that all of you can help.

Full disclosure: I don’t play video games much at all anymore. Aside from the occasional Mario Kart/Party night with friends they just don’t really hold my interest anymore. What does (amply) pique that interest, however, is a new phenomenon in experimental music-making, possibly brought on by the global quarantine. I first saw it with Graham Dunning’s upcoming cassette release on Every Contact Leaves a Trace, Panopticon, a “site-specific” research recording created by replacing all the in-game sounds of Half-Life with extracts from “90s rave tracks and sample CDs.” Then, I was wowed by a livestreamed performance by fledgling quartet Lil’ Jürg Frey (Dicky Bahto, Erika Bell, Morgan Gerstmar, Stephanie Smith) in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, where the participant’s avatars played in-game sound objects in various prepared rooms.

Based on how successful and fascinating these turned out to be, I expected to be able to find more examples of experimental music made using the engines or environments of video games. But search any permutation of that on Google and you’ll find nothing. Thus, this leads me to my request: anyone who knows of any more examples of this sort of thing—whether it’s actual gameplay-generated sounds, the manipulated result of improperly loaded cartridges, anything—please send it to me. If like me this is all new to you, try making something in this unique way and send that too. Who knows, maybe we can make a cool compilation out of it or something.

Amidst many other exciting archival Bandcamp additions, presumably a result of quarantine boredom (make sure to check out newly available past releases from Bob Desaulniers / Translucent Envelope, Francisco Meirino, Lighten Up Sounds, and others), Jack Callahan’s small batch tape label Bánh Mì Verlag has made its entire back catalog available for digital streaming and purchase. If you’re like me and haven’t been able to hear many of these releases before, this is a goldmine for fans of liminal, subversive music. Here, in no particular order, are some of my favorites so far:

Shots – Up Front (2016)

Even if you haven’t been following this site for very long, you’re probably aware how fond I am of Shots, the enigmatic trio of Matthew Friberg, John Friberg, and Daniel Dimaggio. Up Front is their first standalone document after their initial appearance on Kye’s Nice Weather for War compilation, and already begins to form the purposeful, deliberate creative arc that Shots have followed over the course of their existence. The considered clatter and obvious improvisation remain from “D.C.,” but also involved is an increased sense of location and uncertainty, that elusive void that only expands with ensuing releases.

die Reihe – Toward Agave Expressionism (2019)

An irreverent, parodic, post-internet shtick and an astute ear for the captivatingly unusual are two of the defining features of Bánh Mì Verlag, so it’s unsurprising that these phrases also aptly describe Callahan’s own project die Reihe. Created with fellow artist Alec Sturgis, Toward Agave Expressionism is a programmatic reverse-dissection of an esoteric vision statement that can be found both on the cover of the tape and in undisturbed text-to-speech delivery on the final track. “When do we know that we have rebelled or failed to rebel? And against what?”

Ellen Phan – Ideomotor Response (2018)

Echoing messier releases by another label (with a somewhat similar aesthetic) on which I also did one of these features, fals.ch, Ellen Phan’s only solo cassette is a masterful piece of extreme computer music. Unidentifiable sources are stretched, chopped, and shredded beyond repair into whirling tendrils of raw data. Punchy and percussive at times, delicate and detailed at others, and never afraid to blast the ears with hackle-raising digital destruction. Also, perhaps the most fitting cover design of the bunch.

Skylark Quartet – Skylife (2015)

I’ve previously written about the Skylark Quartet (for last year’s Live in Tokyo CD on Marginal Frequency), but at that time much of my consideration was directed toward the “observers” of the Quartet. On this earlier release the recorded perspective is not nearly as subjective, and the listener is able to retain a reasonably sturdy position over these 11 deconstructed renditions of “Skylark.” The near-constant presence of outdoor noises is an interesting element; the separation between location and music is more defined here.

Lucie Vítková – Music Domestic (2017)

This curious tape embraces a very singular approach to domestic/household improvisation through an “extra step” between observance or performance and presentation: dissection and synthesis. Each track lists the sound objects that were used in its creation, a provision that only makes it easier for their structure to seem reassembled or artificial. Compositions like the queasy “(big fan, preparations, harmonica, voice; coming home, washing dishes)” hover on an impossibly thin tightrope above the border between comfort and malaise.

Since 1982, sound artist and curator Hal McGee has been faithfully dedicated to documenting, collecting, anthologizing, and participating in the worldwide practice of tape music. In addition to releasing countless recordings on his label HalTapes, he also put together a series of ten hour-long compilations featuring contributions from musicians all over the world, with the only stipulation being that the tracks would be recorded and distributed on microcassette. Though many would view this format as functionally obsolete, the small frequency range and mono-only channel of the microcassette enables adventurous artists to produce works that are uncannily intimate. As of now I’ve listened to the first three of these compilations, all of which are available for streaming and $1 or more download on the HalTapes Bandcamp page. For each entry in the series I’ll highlight two tracks/artists that had the most significant impression on me and provide a featured album for curious ears to seek out.

1-1: Su Sous Toulouse En Rouge – “Brugmansia Tea” (featured album: il n’y a pas de hors​-​texte)

Su Sous Toulous En Rouge are a mysterious duo (at least, I think) whose works blurs the line between active performance, field recording, and post-recording tape manipulation. Their contribution to the first Dictaphonia compilation is a colorful lo-fi journey through various snippets of toy instrument improvisation and jarring collage. Their sprawling opus il n’y a pas de hors-texte is based on the Jacques Derrida argument that nothing exists outside language, but their “fetid stew of musique concrète meditations, EMF field recordings, junk metal compositions, minimal electronics, and… other sonic oddities” seems to make a case for the opposite view.

1-2: Homogenized Terrestrials – “Air” (featured album: Distraction Holograms)

Phillip Klampe created his Homogenized Terrestrials project back in 1986 and has been releasing music ever since. His miniature “Air” is a simmering stew of crackling electric textures that seem to hover just on the edge of disastrous feedback before their seething energy is replaced by a more calming stretch of xylophone plinks. Distraction Holograms, released by Analog Minimum back in 2017, is a much cleaner and well-produced affair, sewing together deconstructed electronics and processed found sound with atmospheric drones.

2-1: Zebra Mu – “Micro Junk Cassette Slicer” (featured album: Psychic Ditch)

“Micro Junk Cassette Slicer” sounds about how you would assume based on its title; it’s a murky coagulation of bent circuits, junk metal clatter, and staticky scuzz. Last year’s Psychic Ditch was actually my original introduction to Zebra Mu, and is a wonderful little slice of contemporary harsh noise with an emphasis on cracked electronics and painful, piercing frequencies.

2-2: Pony Payroll – “Nah” (featured album: The Sun Is the Radioactive Wasp Egg)

The final track on the second Dictaphonia compilation is a bit of a departure, as Matthew Pony Payroll Bones evokes dark Appalachian caves and rural hysteria with his pastoral banjo plucks and madman ramblings. He also lent his talents to this year’s The Sun Is the Radioactive Wasp Egg, the first release by his collaborative project Pony Moon with Jenny Moon Tucker. The Cor Ardens C60 features two side-long tracks of amplifier feedback mayhem, howling vocals, radio grabs, and scrap metal abuse (plus Pony Payroll’s fiddle).

3-1: Jliat – “Beethoven’s 9th – Bonus track (Movement 5)” (featured album: Noise)

Jliat, a.k.a. James Whitehead, is “one of the most radical followers of John Cage’s anti-musical ideology” according to Discogs. His diminutive “Beethoven’s 9th – Bonus track (Movement 5)” is like a small section of tape stretched out across too wide of an area, its noisy drone fragile and tensile. The 2002 CDr Noise is perhaps a more conceptual study, with startling blasts of rumbling and piercing harsh noise sourced from location-specific field recordings.

3-2: auvikogue – “heima®t/exp – lost concert series vol. 1” (featured album: O.T.)

As auvikogue, Peter Schubert is interested in a variety of sonic possibilities, often delving into extreme minimalism and deep listening. His piece “heima®t/exp – lost concert series vol. 1” is a simple tape recording of a bubbling liquid, and the ambitious lärm​/​silence ansatz #23 makes use of empty vinyl record grooves. O.T. (The Insignificance of Monotony Part II), released on Hal McGee’s own Museum of Microcassette Art imprint, is more in line with the aesthetics of the Dictaphonia compilations and blank-tape-beauty artists such as Termite Acropolis and Darksmith.

Fals.ch was a small mp3 label formed by Florian Hecker and Oswald Berthold (who released music together as cd_slopper) that focused on extreme computer music. With no concern for conventional album length or structure, the label’s output is quite diverse, from extended single pieces to releases with over a hundred minuscule tracks. Their last release came out in 2002, but recently the entire catalog has been uploaded to Bandcamp for name-your-price download. I’ve slowly been working my way through all of it, but here, in no particular order, are some favorites.

---

cd_slopper – eating aluminium (2001)

I was already into Hecker’s music when I discovered cd_slopper through their 2000 CD SaskieWoxi, but something about the pureness of the source material, how it truly sounded like they were sculpting (and slopping) bursts of unadulterated data. eating aluminium is quite short (it barely reaches four minutes) but contains some of the most mind-blowing digital creations I’ve ever heard. The duo’s other release on fals.ch, 1999’s ismurgTeNN4, is also excellent.

Voice Crack – Taken and Changed (1999)

Though the work of Andy Guhl and Norbert Möslang often sounds like it was wrested from the depths of some complex computing device, but in fact the duo uses “cracked everyday electronics,” a large array of prepared objects and appliances that they often controlled via physical gestures. Some of the albums that Voice Crack has recorded with this approach are loud and raucous, like 1990’s Earflash, but Taken and Changed is some of their most pleasantly reserved material.

i.d – d4ta corruption (2001)

This single 25-minute piece is definitely one of the harshest fals.ch releases I’ve heard yet. Sound artist Shunichiro Okada’s nightmarish glitch tornadoes are disorienting and hyperactive, but he also relies on stretches of punishing repetition to further overwhelm the listener, drills and jackhammers of grating noise. d4ta corruption is loud, exhausting, and—despite its cold and lifeless origins—quite cathartic. Holding on for dear life while everything else is torn apart by a digital vortex.

Poire_Z – c’est juste (2000)

Poire_Z was composed of percussionist Günter Müller, abstract turntable virtuoso eRikm, and both members of the previously discussed Voice Crack duo. The group explored the meditative but alien worlds their unique sound-making palette made possible, and documented some of the most amazing electronic improvisations ever on their 1999 self titled CD. c’est juste is what seems to be a single 30-min live recording, and sees the quartet at their most muffled and withdrawn.

Ken Shoticker – avatar toolkit (2002)

A very short release, but no less exhausting than any of the others about which I’ve written; Ken Shoticker injects so many bizarre samples and sound effects that it’s as if you’re listening to ten albums at once. This is the sound of the friendly and familiar being stretched, twisted, mashed, and ground into oblivion. Horrifying and anxiety inducing but I at least couldn’t tear my ears away.

This amazing event is being put on by the Fuse Factory Electronic and Digital Arts Lab. Legendary ambient composer and musician Brian Williams, a.k.a. Lustmord, will be putting on two performances at the planetarium of the Center of Science and Industry, located in downtown Columbus. Lustmord is famous for his trance-inducing ambient music and immersive accompanying visuals, and these shows are sure to be some of his most ambitious and incredible events yet. Tickets can be purchased here for the 7 p.m. show and here for the 9 p.m. show (one ticket will not grant admission to both). This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. (Clicking the image above will redirect to the event’s Facebook page, which has more information)

This Saturday, March 17, experimental musicians Nick Keeling and Kaily Moon Schenker will be performing at Herzog Music on Race Street, in downtown Cincinnati (full address in Facebook event). The duo just released a cassette called Marker on Torn Light Records (listen to a sample here), and to celebrate they will be performing as well as demonstrating and taking questions about their unique music made from cello, piano, and custom-built tape machines. If you’re anything like me and love to see the actual process behind such unique sounds and compositions, this will be fascinating and a lot of fun. I’ll definitely be there, so come hang out.

On the first Friday of each month, the Columbus based Fuse Factory Electronic and Digital Arts Lab puts together performances from a variety of experimental musicians and artists, both local and worldwide. I was so happy to discover that such a place existed so close by, and I’ve been to one show so far and am planning to attend some of the workshops they offer. On the bill for tomorrow is Ava Mendoza, a solo guitarist and singer who is also a member of Unnatural Ways; Ann B Clorox, a performance artist; Istvan Medgyesi, an experimental electronic musician; and local Columbus artist Mike Shiflet, who will perform excerpts from his new composition Tetracosa. The latter I am most excited for, because Tetracosa, Volume One was fascinating and I just preordered the next two installments, but every act sounds worth the modest admission price. Stop by and hang out! (Adjacent image is of Wasteland Jazz Unit performing at the February Frequency Friday event, courtesy of FF’s gallery.)