Pete Swanson joins us to melt icebergs and flood alleyways with “Cities in Fog” by Jeff Greinke. Swanson recommended this strange ’80s muted atmospheric haze for us to cover and we couldn’t have been happier to swim in this watery abyss. Pete brings his deep knowledge of obscure experimental scenes and sounds as we discuss where this album comes from and where it takes us. Let the dark tides roll in.
In our first journey to the Netherlands, we encounter the fantastic DMDN “Agonistes 1&2” cassette on G.R.O.S.S. and fall headfirst into its grinding swirl. Sjak Van Bussell, the man that is DMDN, gave us some incredible information behind this tape. He also filled us in on other aspects of his work, including his band THU20, his label Midas Music, and his time touring with Merzbow and the Haters in 1989. Celebrate noise.
Through the advent of teleportation technology, Chris Sienko returns to Noisextra and we all go the farthest back in time yet with Robert Ashley’s “The Wolfman.” Sienko lays down some serious information. “The Wolfman” is an absolute precursor to noise as we know it, and we dig our claws into this destructive piece of sound as well as Ashley’s work in the 1980s. Noise history lesson is in session.
It is time for another entry in the Pure series as we dig into one of the more obscure titles under the Pure banner in the form of Rend “Proberta Gerber.” We were able to get in touch with Sean, the man behind Rend, and he provided us with some great information not only on this CD, but also on his work with the Plague in Perspective label. No time like now to dig deep and get washed away by Rend.
Jonathan Canady of Deathpile, Dead World, Blunt Force Trauma and so much more joins us to discuss a milestone in the world of noise and industrial—“Information Overload Unit” by SPK. Jonathan came prepared to go deep on all aspects of this album. In addition, we talk about Jonathan’s time working for Relapse as well as his early days of sound making. The overload has begun.
We are joined again by Chris Sienko to discuss his time in the trenches as one of the people behind As Loud As Possible magazine. Chris details how the issue came together, why there were no more issues, and stories of articles and interviews he was a part of, both published and unpublished. A fascinating look at what it takes to put together a magazine of this size and scope.
Noise ambient plague sounds take hold as we discuss Gruntsplatter’s “Pest Maiden” from 1999 on Troniks. “Pest Maiden” exists in 3 forms, a two song 7”, a limited cassette, and a CD which features the complete picture. We go deep into the CD and it’s many references to the plague. Rounding out this episode, not only did we talk with Scott Candey, the man behind Gruntsplatter, but we also interviewed Jonathan Canady (Deathpile, Blunt Force Trauma) and Phil Blankenship (Troniks, The Cherry Point) to discuss working with Scott and their relationship to his work.
We head back to the 1980s and get completely knocked out by Contagious Orgasm’s “Confession of Mannequin” on SSSM. An incredibly unique band in the noise/industrial/experimental underground, Contagious Orgasm’s second release is gives us a lot of sounds and images that will continue throughout their decades of work. Not only is the tape a stunner, the packaging is a true ’80s cassette culture artifact. Join us and walk through the surreal world of sound created by Contagious Orgasm.
We go into the world of microbiology and old school noise with Bacillus’s “Epidemic” cassette from 1995 on his own Clotted Meat Portioning label. Viruses, pandemics, diseases and short bursts of pure noise all rear their head in our discussion. We also spoke with Peter Keller of Bacillus through the safety of technology. True ’90s American noise.
For the second entry in our Trashware series Jay Howard of Circuit Wound joins us to discuss noise gear. Jay came from a death metal background and began his noise creation already armed with essential weapons without even realizing it. We get into studio set ups, preferred pedals, sound sources and more. Get out your pen and paper and take notes on this noise gear class.