Help me destroy our forefathers with Future Noise
May 19, 2016 1:08 PM Subscribe
I like Skrillex. I'm sorry, but I do. I especially like it when it's all wub-wubs and computer noises and sirens and screaming or Jamaicans saying random things. On a higher level than that, I love the idea that this is the terrifying lurching and aggressive future-music that our grandparents didn't even have the foresight to fear when Rock and Roll was coming on the scene.
So who else would I like? Electronic music isn't a requirement, just noise and distortion arranged into sixk dropz.
So who else would I like? Electronic music isn't a requirement, just noise and distortion arranged into sixk dropz.
They don't sound like Skrillex at all but when you say Terrifying Future Noise I think Death Grips (nsfw??)
posted by theodolite at 1:17 PM on May 19, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by theodolite at 1:17 PM on May 19, 2016 [7 favorites]
and on a more melodic/electronic/abstract level I really like Dan Friel
posted by theodolite at 1:23 PM on May 19, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by theodolite at 1:23 PM on May 19, 2016 [2 favorites]
He's getting a little long in the tooth in today's competitive electronic music marketplace, but if you want aggressive noisy computer music you might enjoy Kid606. I'd suggest starting with Don't Sweat the Technics.
posted by contraption at 1:43 PM on May 19, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by contraption at 1:43 PM on May 19, 2016 [3 favorites]
For really aggressive future noise music, you can't beat a bit of Electro-industrial - a bit like wandering into a steam train orgy in both good ways and bad ones.
I love Fuck Buttons for being able to be amazingly emotional with what is basically modulated white noise and shouting.
You ought be able to find some Aphex to your taste, or maybe try Autechre.
For sheer utter bleepy bonkersness, try DJ Scotch Egg. Or other distorted chiptune type stuff if you can find it. If you like the drops and beats and evil lightsaber noises in a pre-dubstep sort of way, try some techstep.
If the noisy bit of noise is what you like, and you hate life and wish to torture yourself into losing all hope in the universe, warm up with some Whitehouse and then move on to Merzbow.
posted by doop at 2:17 PM on May 19, 2016 [14 favorites]
I love Fuck Buttons for being able to be amazingly emotional with what is basically modulated white noise and shouting.
You ought be able to find some Aphex to your taste, or maybe try Autechre.
For sheer utter bleepy bonkersness, try DJ Scotch Egg. Or other distorted chiptune type stuff if you can find it. If you like the drops and beats and evil lightsaber noises in a pre-dubstep sort of way, try some techstep.
If the noisy bit of noise is what you like, and you hate life and wish to torture yourself into losing all hope in the universe, warm up with some Whitehouse and then move on to Merzbow.
posted by doop at 2:17 PM on May 19, 2016 [14 favorites]
Early Gang of Four has this lovely jarring randomness that comes from Andy Gill's insane guitar playing which varies from random out of time noise to right on the money power chords. E.G. on At Home He's A Tourist.
posted by w0mbat at 2:23 PM on May 19, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by w0mbat at 2:23 PM on May 19, 2016 [2 favorites]
Relevant - Autechre just released a new four-hour album today! If some brutal futurenoize algorithmic alien fuckshit is what you're looking for.
posted by naju at 2:24 PM on May 19, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by naju at 2:24 PM on May 19, 2016 [9 favorites]
I get you - my first thought when people started fist bumping to Skrillex was 'I take it that this is where people go for their hard styles these days' – it makes sense, sure, and like contraption, I came here to suggest some breakcore, e.g. Duran Duran Duran's Ralez and a lot of the other stuff that came out on Cock Rock Disco (RIP). There was youthful & exuberant punning fun built in to CRD's output and the artists around them - other parts of the breakcore scene were a bit more serious and knew a lot about gabba / speedcore and the lineage of aggressive dance music way better, but it's all worth exploring.
You might enjoy the stuff that Venetian Snares has been releasing and continues to release – like Winnipeg is a frozen shithole. For (ahem) "Jamaicans saying random things", there's stuff like Shitmat's 'Babylon' versions, but Soundmurder & Sk1's 'Rewind' LP is outstanding - here's 'Call The Police' (yeah, that's the bass from the Sleng Teng riddim – it's ripe for at least 30 more years of expropriation). Don't pass up on The Bug's 'Pressure' LP, or any of his releases really - here's 'Kill Them'. There's a big crossover where dancehall artists' work was sampled and reworked in ragga-jungle and breakcore; Kid606 started a sublabel / sister label to his Tigerbeat6 label called Shockout to release original collaborations in this vein. It's been a big sound in France and Europe generally (because of the youth fanaticism for reggae) – Rotator's Peace Off label has a slew of hard gabba / breakcore releases, and there are a number of sublabels, including RUFF, which put out dubstep-influenced sounds, e.g. MÜ 'Dubby'.
Speaking of dubstep – if it's particularly the bassweight + 140bpm halfstep thing that you like, I suppose the people who preceded Skrillex and opened up that wubwub thing to the high octane levels it reaches now might have been Coki's 'Spongebob' (among a big batch of other releases from around the same period of dubstep, c.2007). If it's the sort of industrial pressure that's carried by distortion, slabs of sound, them Vex'd seminal LP 'Degenerate' (2005) is certainly worth checking out - here's 'Angels'.
posted by Joeruckus at 2:26 PM on May 19, 2016 [7 favorites]
You might enjoy the stuff that Venetian Snares has been releasing and continues to release – like Winnipeg is a frozen shithole. For (ahem) "Jamaicans saying random things", there's stuff like Shitmat's 'Babylon' versions, but Soundmurder & Sk1's 'Rewind' LP is outstanding - here's 'Call The Police' (yeah, that's the bass from the Sleng Teng riddim – it's ripe for at least 30 more years of expropriation). Don't pass up on The Bug's 'Pressure' LP, or any of his releases really - here's 'Kill Them'. There's a big crossover where dancehall artists' work was sampled and reworked in ragga-jungle and breakcore; Kid606 started a sublabel / sister label to his Tigerbeat6 label called Shockout to release original collaborations in this vein. It's been a big sound in France and Europe generally (because of the youth fanaticism for reggae) – Rotator's Peace Off label has a slew of hard gabba / breakcore releases, and there are a number of sublabels, including RUFF, which put out dubstep-influenced sounds, e.g. MÜ 'Dubby'.
Speaking of dubstep – if it's particularly the bassweight + 140bpm halfstep thing that you like, I suppose the people who preceded Skrillex and opened up that wubwub thing to the high octane levels it reaches now might have been Coki's 'Spongebob' (among a big batch of other releases from around the same period of dubstep, c.2007). If it's the sort of industrial pressure that's carried by distortion, slabs of sound, them Vex'd seminal LP 'Degenerate' (2005) is certainly worth checking out - here's 'Angels'.
posted by Joeruckus at 2:26 PM on May 19, 2016 [7 favorites]
An old favorite of mine is Hrvatski, the electronic/schizo moniker Keith Fullerton Whitman.
posted by rabbitsnake at 2:35 PM on May 19, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by rabbitsnake at 2:35 PM on May 19, 2016 [1 favorite]
Death Grips, Wolf Eyes, Hair Police, Dead C, Triosk/Jan Jelinik, Danse Asshole, Pluderphonics, Kid 606, Astro, anything on American Tapes…
And just to push back agains the idea that our parents didn't have any idea: Not only was there a post on the Nurse With Wound list yesterday, which has a bevy of bands like Cluster and Silver Apples, but folks like Karlheinz Stockhausen and Delia Debyshire were making concert music with dystopic electronic instrumentation in the '50s and '60s. You may also be interested in Musique Concrete, with composers like Edward Varese, which is about using found sounds and started pretty much with the beginning of affordable audio tape. If you end up liking people like Merzbow, there's a hundred years of freaky, anachronistic shit leading up to him.
posted by klangklangston at 2:37 PM on May 19, 2016 [13 favorites]
And just to push back agains the idea that our parents didn't have any idea: Not only was there a post on the Nurse With Wound list yesterday, which has a bevy of bands like Cluster and Silver Apples, but folks like Karlheinz Stockhausen and Delia Debyshire were making concert music with dystopic electronic instrumentation in the '50s and '60s. You may also be interested in Musique Concrete, with composers like Edward Varese, which is about using found sounds and started pretty much with the beginning of affordable audio tape. If you end up liking people like Merzbow, there's a hundred years of freaky, anachronistic shit leading up to him.
posted by klangklangston at 2:37 PM on May 19, 2016 [13 favorites]
M Machine made a pair of EPs (Metropolis Pt.I & Pt.II) a couple of years back that I still love. Based around the Metropolis film. Fave track is probably Black but they're all great.
posted by Sevenisamagicnumber at 3:33 PM on May 19, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Sevenisamagicnumber at 3:33 PM on May 19, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm not into Skrillex, but I know what you're saying. In addition to seconding Death Grips and OneOhTrix Point Never, I'll add aggressive, crunchy Lotic and the super grimey Rabit.
posted by lunalaguna at 3:44 PM on May 19, 2016
posted by lunalaguna at 3:44 PM on May 19, 2016
Oh man if you like terrifying lurching and sirens and weird vaguely sinister apocalyptic future music you are going to love RL Grime. I heard Core last year on our local bar jukebox and immediately downloaded the entire album, VOID, which is just as good (and is available on Spotify).
posted by stellaluna at 4:35 PM on May 19, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by stellaluna at 4:35 PM on May 19, 2016 [1 favorite]
I have to laugh at how much your question reminds me of an interview the native dupstep/electronic band A Tribe Called Red did on an episode of the RPM.fm podcast:
RPM.fm: So what do you think if you traveled back in time to, like, the middle of the 19th century, and played this music for an Elder at that time -- what do you think, what would happen?
ACTR: I reference dubstep as the music of the future because if you played it for somebody even, like, in the 1950s -- it just sounds like noise. it's just like, big, bass, weird noise. I try and see how people would react to this club music that we're making now, like, even, you know, in the 50s -- I don't even know if they'd even understand what was happening in the mid-19th century.
RPM.fm: But I'm wondering if in the 19th century when they're creating these songs, if that's what they thought too, that they were making this future music. It's like, "no one's gonna get this" and they would bang it out on a drum.
[The band and interviewer laugh.]
RPM.fm Like pre-contact rock stars -- "No one understands me, yo."
Anyhoo you would dig their stuff, I think. Wub-wubby digital stuff mixed with (mostly Canadian plains-region) First Nations pow-wow groups singing over top. The track Suplex goes to some interesting distorted places.
posted by The demon that lives in the air at 4:40 PM on May 19, 2016 [4 favorites]
RPM.fm: So what do you think if you traveled back in time to, like, the middle of the 19th century, and played this music for an Elder at that time -- what do you think, what would happen?
ACTR: I reference dubstep as the music of the future because if you played it for somebody even, like, in the 1950s -- it just sounds like noise. it's just like, big, bass, weird noise. I try and see how people would react to this club music that we're making now, like, even, you know, in the 50s -- I don't even know if they'd even understand what was happening in the mid-19th century.
RPM.fm: But I'm wondering if in the 19th century when they're creating these songs, if that's what they thought too, that they were making this future music. It's like, "no one's gonna get this" and they would bang it out on a drum.
[The band and interviewer laugh.]
RPM.fm Like pre-contact rock stars -- "No one understands me, yo."
Anyhoo you would dig their stuff, I think. Wub-wubby digital stuff mixed with (mostly Canadian plains-region) First Nations pow-wow groups singing over top. The track Suplex goes to some interesting distorted places.
posted by The demon that lives in the air at 4:40 PM on May 19, 2016 [4 favorites]
Breakcore was the previous occupier of the "electronic music to alienate the olds" position. Definitely check out Venetian Snares (ironically, one of the mellower Snares tracks was the first thing I ever saw the term "dubstep" applied to).
There's also the whole power noise genre, which came out of the industrial scene about 20 years ago. Recent favorites: ESA (1, 2, 3), Iszoloscope (1, 2), Imminent Starvation (1, 2), Winterkälte (monsters of the genre; their label Hands Productions is pretty luddite by modern standards so there's no Bandcamp, but here's a pretty representative recent track). Generally it's more conventional rhythmically but very heavy on the distortion and alienation.
Oh and in the hip-hop camp, there's Dälek.
posted by neckro23 at 7:16 PM on May 19, 2016 [1 favorite]
There's also the whole power noise genre, which came out of the industrial scene about 20 years ago. Recent favorites: ESA (1, 2, 3), Iszoloscope (1, 2), Imminent Starvation (1, 2), Winterkälte (monsters of the genre; their label Hands Productions is pretty luddite by modern standards so there's no Bandcamp, but here's a pretty representative recent track). Generally it's more conventional rhythmically but very heavy on the distortion and alienation.
Oh and in the hip-hop camp, there's Dälek.
posted by neckro23 at 7:16 PM on May 19, 2016 [1 favorite]
Sannhet
GOAT Japan
I got more, lemme think on this
posted by lakersfan1222 at 7:48 PM on May 19, 2016
GOAT Japan
I got more, lemme think on this
posted by lakersfan1222 at 7:48 PM on May 19, 2016
Sunn O)))
posted by LaunchBox at 8:42 PM on May 19, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by LaunchBox at 8:42 PM on May 19, 2016 [1 favorite]
Irene moon
posted by LaunchBox at 8:44 PM on May 19, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by LaunchBox at 8:44 PM on May 19, 2016 [2 favorites]
My man Kid606!
posted by Joseph Gurl at 9:35 PM on May 19, 2016
posted by Joseph Gurl at 9:35 PM on May 19, 2016
Incapacitants!
Kevin Drumm!
Marcus Schmickler!
Medium Rude!
posted by Joseph Gurl at 9:36 PM on May 19, 2016 [1 favorite]
Kevin Drumm!
Marcus Schmickler!
Medium Rude!
posted by Joseph Gurl at 9:36 PM on May 19, 2016 [1 favorite]
Sissy Spacek!
posted by Joseph Gurl at 9:37 PM on May 19, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Joseph Gurl at 9:37 PM on May 19, 2016 [1 favorite]
I was just listening to Aphex Twin's Drukqs album today and still can't believe that some of those tracks simply even ...exist. I dare you to drive around town blasting this. Hell, I double dare you to listen to just the last 2 minutes in headphones.
posted by STFUDonnie at 9:59 PM on May 19, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by STFUDonnie at 9:59 PM on May 19, 2016 [1 favorite]
I double dare you to listen to just the last 2 minutes in headphones.
ooo nice
posted by flabdablet at 1:44 AM on May 20, 2016
ooo nice
posted by flabdablet at 1:44 AM on May 20, 2016
Oh man there's loads of amazing stuff that is much better than Skrillex
And yes a lot of this existed when rock and roll was emerging.
Here is a spotify playlist I made which you might enjoy. A lot of it is very slow but it's all weird.
Echoing the selections above and to add:
Arca (video a bit nsfw)
Shapednoise
Mumdance
Siobhan
Black Dice
Puce Mary
Untold
Klara Lewis
Jefre Cantu-Ledesma
Steve Reich
Einstürzende Neubauten
Paula Temple
Adam X
William Basinski
Babyfather (don't turn this up too loud, see also Dean Blunt, Hype Williams, Inga Copeland, Lolina)
John Cage
Burial
James Blake remix of a Mala tune
emptyset
Zamilska
Actress
Maybe less noisey (at least on these tracks) but still weird:
Lee Gamble
Laurel Halo
Genres to explore:
dark ambient, contemporary classical, hardcore (of the techno/breaks variety), industrial, techno (there being an impossible number of sub-genres), good dubstep
posted by Erberus at 3:26 AM on May 20, 2016 [9 favorites]
And yes a lot of this existed when rock and roll was emerging.
Here is a spotify playlist I made which you might enjoy. A lot of it is very slow but it's all weird.
Echoing the selections above and to add:
Arca (video a bit nsfw)
Shapednoise
Mumdance
Siobhan
Black Dice
Puce Mary
Untold
Klara Lewis
Jefre Cantu-Ledesma
Steve Reich
Einstürzende Neubauten
Paula Temple
Adam X
William Basinski
Babyfather (don't turn this up too loud, see also Dean Blunt, Hype Williams, Inga Copeland, Lolina)
John Cage
Burial
James Blake remix of a Mala tune
emptyset
Zamilska
Actress
Maybe less noisey (at least on these tracks) but still weird:
Lee Gamble
Laurel Halo
Genres to explore:
dark ambient, contemporary classical, hardcore (of the techno/breaks variety), industrial, techno (there being an impossible number of sub-genres), good dubstep
posted by Erberus at 3:26 AM on May 20, 2016 [9 favorites]
I wanted to ditto Autechre if you're looking for future noise that you can still jam to. The mid-to-late nineties trilogy of Tri Repetae, Chiastic Slide and finally, my all-time favorite electronic album, LP5 are a kind of transition period between their early, weirdo-house music, and the skittering, pulsating, quirky rhythm driven "difficult" music they made later on. These three albums are both melodic and rhythmic enough to keep my head bobbing but weird enough to drive everyone else in the vicinity insane with future-madness, and complex enough to reward multiple listens.
posted by dis_integration at 8:31 AM on May 20, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by dis_integration at 8:31 AM on May 20, 2016 [1 favorite]
Put a Donk on it. Seriously.
Seconding A Tribe Called Red.
posted by sneebler at 9:43 AM on May 20, 2016
Seconding A Tribe Called Red.
posted by sneebler at 9:43 AM on May 20, 2016
Your grandparents probably hated Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music when it came out. It's pure, nonrhythmic, amelodic, wonderful noise. Skrillex is a cute little pop princess by comparison.
Follow the rabbit hole down the wiki entry's references.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 10:15 AM on May 20, 2016 [1 favorite]
Follow the rabbit hole down the wiki entry's references.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 10:15 AM on May 20, 2016 [1 favorite]
Boris, particularly their collaborations with Merzbow. E.g. "Vomitself"
posted by sinfony at 4:39 PM on May 20, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by sinfony at 4:39 PM on May 20, 2016 [1 favorite]
Boa Constructor is chiptune goa. It may be a little lower-fi than you're looking for, but, well, Game Boys definitely weren't supposed to make those noises (and I can personally attest they all come out of Game Boys). His LOOP DREAMS album is a good starting point.
posted by brett at 6:44 PM on May 20, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by brett at 6:44 PM on May 20, 2016 [1 favorite]
Similar-ish to Skrillex in several directions (slower and dubbier/faster and angrier/more melodic/dancier), with poor attempts made at naming the genre. Most of this is from around 2009-2012. Rusko and Nero have already been mentioned.
Feed Me - Trapdoor (complextro)
Bar9 - Strung Out (dubstep)
Benga - I Will Never Change (dubstep)
Skream - Exothermic Reaction (dubstep)
Rusko - Woo Boost (dubstep)
Ellie Goulding - Lights (Bassnectar Remix) (dubstep)
12th Planet - Shady (dubstep)
Nero - Innocence (dubstep)
Minnesota - One Love (dubstep)
Crystal Castles - Alice Practice (glitch house)
Sidewalks and Skeletons - Unearth (witch house)
Zed's Dead - Rude Boy (dubstep)
CRIM3S - Lost (Sidewalks and Skeletons Remix) (witch house)
BLVCK CEILING - Girl Money (witch house)
Flux Pavilion - Bass Cannon (dubstep)
Excision - X Rated (brostep)
Datsik - Firepower (brostep)
Knife Party - Internet Friends (dubstep)
Helicopter Showdown - The Wrestler (dubstep)
Flight Facilities - Crave You (Adventure Club Remix) (complextro)
Camo & Krooked - The Lesson (dubstep)
Netsky - Memory Lane (dnb)
Document One - Clap (dubstep)
Dodge & Fuski - Python (dubstep)
Dubba Jonny - Home (dubstep)
Example - Stay Awake (Alvin Risk Remix) (dubstep)
Katy Perry - E.T. (Klaypex Remix) (complextro)
Kap Slap - E.T. Feels Starry Eyed (Kary Perry vs Ellie Goulding) (complextro)
Klaypex ft. Sara Key - Chinter's Will (complextro)
Bassnectar - Timestretch (dubstep)
Seven Lions - Days to Come (dubstep)
Mt. Eden - Sierra Leone (dubstep)
Krewella - Killin' It (complextro)
posted by Corinth at 8:08 PM on May 20, 2016 [3 favorites]
Feed Me - Trapdoor (complextro)
Bar9 - Strung Out (dubstep)
Benga - I Will Never Change (dubstep)
Skream - Exothermic Reaction (dubstep)
Rusko - Woo Boost (dubstep)
Ellie Goulding - Lights (Bassnectar Remix) (dubstep)
12th Planet - Shady (dubstep)
Nero - Innocence (dubstep)
Minnesota - One Love (dubstep)
Crystal Castles - Alice Practice (glitch house)
Sidewalks and Skeletons - Unearth (witch house)
Zed's Dead - Rude Boy (dubstep)
CRIM3S - Lost (Sidewalks and Skeletons Remix) (witch house)
BLVCK CEILING - Girl Money (witch house)
Flux Pavilion - Bass Cannon (dubstep)
Excision - X Rated (brostep)
Datsik - Firepower (brostep)
Knife Party - Internet Friends (dubstep)
Helicopter Showdown - The Wrestler (dubstep)
Flight Facilities - Crave You (Adventure Club Remix) (complextro)
Camo & Krooked - The Lesson (dubstep)
Netsky - Memory Lane (dnb)
Document One - Clap (dubstep)
Dodge & Fuski - Python (dubstep)
Dubba Jonny - Home (dubstep)
Example - Stay Awake (Alvin Risk Remix) (dubstep)
Katy Perry - E.T. (Klaypex Remix) (complextro)
Kap Slap - E.T. Feels Starry Eyed (Kary Perry vs Ellie Goulding) (complextro)
Klaypex ft. Sara Key - Chinter's Will (complextro)
Bassnectar - Timestretch (dubstep)
Seven Lions - Days to Come (dubstep)
Mt. Eden - Sierra Leone (dubstep)
Krewella - Killin' It (complextro)
posted by Corinth at 8:08 PM on May 20, 2016 [3 favorites]
Hyperdub and Blackest Ever Black are both labels putting out stuff that often falls on the more experimental/noise inflected end of music coming out of the dubstep/grime lineage.
On the former, Fatima al Qadiri's recent album Brute (Pitchfork review) was recorded as a response to militarized policing in the wake of Ferguson, and comes complete with samples of sonic weapons in the form of LAPD using a Long Range Acoustic Device.
On the latter, Raime have a new album, Tooth, dropping next month. Their first album, Quarter Turns Over A Living Line oozed an atmosphere of slow moving menace and cold alienation. I would recommend taking a listen.
posted by tallus at 3:49 PM on May 21, 2016
On the former, Fatima al Qadiri's recent album Brute (Pitchfork review) was recorded as a response to militarized policing in the wake of Ferguson, and comes complete with samples of sonic weapons in the form of LAPD using a Long Range Acoustic Device.
On the latter, Raime have a new album, Tooth, dropping next month. Their first album, Quarter Turns Over A Living Line oozed an atmosphere of slow moving menace and cold alienation. I would recommend taking a listen.
posted by tallus at 3:49 PM on May 21, 2016
This thread is closed to new comments.
Maybe you guys aren't ready for that yet. But your kids are gonna love it.
posted by Beardman at 1:13 PM on May 19, 2016 [10 favorites]