There's so much beauty to be found in experimental noise and sound art. I know it's not for everyone, but if you open your mind (and your ears, and your heart) and let go of everything you're conditioned to believe music should be and just LISTEN... noise can be a gloriously captivating thing.
From quiet hushed avant-garde neoclassical minimalism to strange yet intriguing field recordings to sheer walls of earsplitting harsh noise - sound itself as a concept is endlessly fascinating to me.
Here's a list of great album recommendations for all you noise lovers out there. You will find very little melody in these albums, and the melody you do find you may not find agreeable (lol) but this is undoubtedly incredible music that deserves a lot more love and attention than it gets.
Laura Cocks - Field Anatomies (2022)
GENRE : experimental, avant-garde, neoclassical, solo flute
RECORD LABEL : Carrier Records
Laura is an experimental solo flutist from New York and is the executive director of the TAK ensemble. This is her strange and fascinating debut solo album, focusing on the physicality and movements involved with playing the flute, as opposed to the actual notes and melodies. The performances on these songs range from strangled cries and quiet breathy whispers to fierce dissonant crescendos that sounds like someone pushing their entire physical being to the limits. The sounds that form as a result seem to dance between the notes being played, like they have a mind of their own.
These songs were written by a variety of composers to be specifically performed by Laura Cocks, who uses a variety of flutes, balloons, aluminum foil and bits of miscellaneous electronics and hardware to create this cathartic and captivating work of unique avant-garde brilliance.
Stream/Download the album here...
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The Creeping Man - Opportunistic Cannibal (2022)
GENRE : noise, dark ambient, drone, field recordings
RECORD LABEL : Veinte 33 Records
Dark, creepy and extremely unnerving... this is a horrific yet spellbinding noise album from The Creeping Man. Full of haunting sound collages and field recordings from old movies, ''educational'' documentaries and weird commercials/announcements, mixed in with ominous drones and hypnotic waves of atonal noise...this is a dark twisted noise trip for the willing sufferer. Great stuff.
Stream/Download the album here...
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Kate Carr - Resurfacing (2022)
GENRE : field recording, noise, drone, sound design
RECORD LABEL : Flaming Pines
In the middle of winter 2021, the amazingly talented sound artist Kate Carr decided to make a recording of the joiners resurfacing the road outside her London flat. As much as I want to scoff at the absurdity and ridiculousness of the whole idea... it actually makes for a really interesting and strangely hypnotic field recording. In this track you will hear the familiar roadwork sounds of heavy machinery, men yelling, hammers hammering, drills drilling and various other miscellaneous city sounds of varying frequencies and volumes. An absurdly fascinating listening experience.
Why would you listen to almost 18 minutes of roadworks? I don't know. Would I recommend it? Hell yeah! Kate Carr is also the owner of the Flaming Pines record label, which is a great label you should definitely check out if you're into all forms of weird and wonderful noises and experimental sound art.
Stream/Download the album here...
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Wound - Clinomania (2022)
GENRE : experimental, ambient, avant-garde, noise
RECORD LABEL : Wormhole World
Lose yourself in this grey blizzard of wonderful noise. Swirling distortions of abstract melancholy, torment, confusion, anger and despair. Malevolent and sinister, yet introspective and strangely serene. Wound creates these expansive soundscapes using mesmerizing synth pads, heavily-reverbed guitars, IDM-like glitchy electronics, and solemn piano - the chaos roars, the sadness whispers, and the beautiful ambience shimmers and glistens. This is an emotional and captivating atmospheric noise album.
Stream/Download the album here...
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The Pale Faced Family On The Hill & Oliver Coates - The Pale Faced Family On The Hill (2022)
GENRE : drone, dark ambient, noise, drone metal, Scotland
RECORD LABEL : Line Explorations
This is an interesting collaboration between a bunch of electronic producers and Scottish drone artist Oliver Coates. Recorded in a small church hall on the outskirts of London, this is a unique and esoteric mix of dark ambient electronica music, noisy earsplitting deep cello drones and manipulated weather recordings and vocal samples. The album is haunting, unnerving and emotional. A dark wonderful unpredictable noise feast.
Stream/Download the album here...
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andPlay & Victoria Cheah - A Butterfly On Your Shoulder Into Years And Years To Come (2022)
GENRE : avant-garde, noise, sound art, field recordings, drone
RECORD LABEL : Dinzu Artefacts
Dinzu Artefacts release some of the most interesting field recordings (and visual aesthetics) on the planet, and specialize in limited edition runs of cassette tapes for these releases.
This album is a collaboration between experimental violin/viola duo andPlay and multi-disciplinary composer Victoria Cheah - both based in New York.
Side A consists of over 17 minutes of pure tension, created by the ebbs and flows of dissonant violin and viola working in tandem, almost as if they're competing towards some unknown finishing line. The result is painful and harsh, yet strangely beautiful and compelling.
Side B is 22 minutes of brutality and catharsis. The screeching and wailing of the strings reflect the torment of the mind, the torture of the spirit and the complexity of human emotions... before a (very) slight sweetness makes its way into sound, right towards the end. The slightest glimpse of sun leaking through a hole in a dungeon wall. A really rewarding album for the close attentive listener.
Stream/Download the album here...
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Black Ops - Ephemera (2022)
GENRE : noise, dark ambient, drone, field recordings, hauntology
RECORD LABEL : Anticipating Nowhere
Deep dark haunting soundscapes... black hypnagogic winds blowing through the recesses of the human brain, finding its way into all the various nooks and crannies. This psychological white noise (or should I say black noise?) is captivating and strangely relaxing, despite having some pretty disturbing moments in there. The intriguing sounds and textures of this album were created by manipulated field recordings. Highly recommended for dark immersive listening.
Anticipating Nowhere is a brilliant little netlabel that specializing in all kinds of experimental noises and hypnotic soundscapes. You should check out their Bandcamp page and their Mixcloud if you're seeking some strange atmospheric aural treats.
Stream/Download the album here...
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Gold - Miserere Mei, Deus (2022)
GENRE : harsh noise, drone, field recordings, electronica
RECORD LABEL : self-released
This is the newest release from the highly prolific noise artist Gold, who also releases music under his alternative moniker Carrion. If you're familiar with either (or both) of these projects, you'll be acquainted with his unapologetically long dark noise pieces and his haunting visual aesthetics.
The tone of this new album is particularly bleak and heavy. It hangs over you like a black cloud that's about to burst and rain down on you with a terrible wrath. The songs are comprised of strange and eerie field recordings of (what I gather to be) seagulls, public gatherings, street noises, radio transmissions, evangelical preachers and... Japanese porn? The field recordings and unsettling atonal static is broken up by fragments of twisted church hymnals and detuned string quartets. Awesome stuff.
Stream/Download the album here...
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Carrion - Coma (2021)
GENRE : harsh noise, drone, field recordings, dark ambient, industrial
RECORD LABEL : Gates of Hypnos
And here's an album from Gold's alternative moniker Carrion. It's an hour-long descent into the pits of misery, but holy hell it's an enjoyable ride. A hypnotic and haunting whirlwind of noise, subtly accompanied by melancholic melodies that slowly but surely eventually creep their way into the relentlessly bleak soundscape.
Gates of Hypnos are a record label that specialize in music like this - hypnotic walls of dark noise/drone/ambience to lose yourself in. You should take a browse through their Bandcamp page and find yourself something dark and wonderful to listen to.
Stream/Download the album here...
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SVR - Procession (2022)
GENRE : minimalistic drone, dark ambient, electronic, abstract, sound art
RECORD LABEL : self-released
Here's an album of dark monolithic drone music from Scotland. Ominous and austere, slow and haunting, abstract and slightly unnerving... this music is all about texture and mood. The songs require patience and time to unfold and unravel, but if you allow them to... they will slowly engulf you, and you'll love it.
I also really dig the visual aesthetics of this project. The concrete minimalism goes hand in hand with the music.
Stream/Download the album here...
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Disfigured Robot Child - Psychedelic Pyxicephalus (2022)
GENRE : harsh noise, noise, power electronics,
RECORD LABEL : MuteAnt Sounds
Oh my God, my fucking ears... listening to this album feels like having a jackhammer drill slowly but surely right through my skull, and penetrate into the pure goo that my brain has become. This music is a relentlessly violent and traumatic assault on the eardrums, and on the heart... yet it's a rather wonderful sonic accomplishment. Fans of Merzbow, Prurient and Cop Funeral will likely enjoy this. Definitely the kind of music to listen to when you find yourself angry, sad and alone.
Stream/Download the album here...
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