New Blockaders

Luigi Russolo is widely credited as being the first major noise theorist with his 1913 Art Of Noises manifesto. But contemporary Noise artists like The New Blockaders were the first to progress from the use of noise as assault on tonality to the development of a rich, complex language capable of subtleties of shade and nuance without sacrificing any of its feral power or ability to unlock repressed personae in the listener.

Rising from the ashes of various punk and experimental projects in the early '80s, TNB were, along with Throbbing Gristle, Whitehouse, and others, one of the most renowned and influential artists to produce this nauseating genres of music. Lazier souls than I would place them within the pantheon-lineage of UK Industrial, although I see them as a free-standing unit with more in common with the Futurists and (maybe)Einsturzende Neubauten (without the 'songs'). They produced a barrage of pure noise that had only a very abstract connection to music: Scraping metal, harsh electronics, ear-shredding static noise - this was the very definition of nihilism through sound.

Despite their lack of any public profile, they have had an absurdly disproportionate influence over the development of Noise music. Their influence has been most forceful in Japan, where they have long been eulogised by noisemakers like Hijo Kaidan, Hanatarash, and Merzbow, and U.S. Noise-Punks Wolf Eyes have cited them as an influence. They can truly be credited as pioneers of Noise music as we know it today.

This year saw the release of 'Viva Negativa!' a tribute to the group featuring remixes / reworkings by such artists as: Thurston Moore, Jim O'Rourke, Z'EV, The Haters, Wolf Eyes, and Merzbow.


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