Comments on: Art of Noises

Art of Noises

fire&wings — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:32:46 -0800

Luigi Russolo was a futurist painter, experimental composer, and instrument builder. In his 1913 manifesto "The Art of Noises" he declaimed the death of traditional Western music and foresaw the dawning of a new music based on the grinding, screeching, moaning, crackling and buzzing of mechanical instruments. He and his assistant Ugo Piatti built the Intonarumori to bring these new sounds - "the palpitation of valves, the coming and going of pistons, the howl of mechanical saws, the jolting of a tram on its rails, the cracking of whips, the flapping of curtains and flags" - to life. Listen to them, then and now.

By: Ironmouth

Ironmouth — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:43:31 -0800

There was a post on this 41 days ago.

By: idiopath

idiopath — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:03:08 -0800

If you are referring to my noise post, ironmouth, I am pretty sure that there is enough material for at least 30 more specific posts about artists touched on there without being doubles.

By: filthy light thief

filthy light thief — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:13:15 -0800

Previously: An incomplete and biased overview of the history of noise (as referenced by Ironmouth) This post isn't so much about noise as music, but Luigi Russolo and the Intonarumori, which was mentioned almost in passing in idiopath's post.

By: box

box — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:14:42 -0800

There's a Material album called Intonarumori. Bill Laswell with a bunch of left-field hip-hop folks (Rammellzee, Eddie Def, Killah Priest, etc.). Worth hearing, if that description sounds appealing.

By: Lutoslawski

Lutoslawski — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:25:35 -0800

Cool. Great post.

By: Sys Rq

Sys Rq — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:08:37 -0800

The funny thing about the Futurists (though maybe not exactly ha-ha funny) is that they were all so wildly exhilarated by their newly motorized world that they just couldn't wait to sign up for that great international exhibition of brand new diesel-powered do-dads we now refer to as World War I. As a consequence, Futurism, along with its fervent proponents, was quite short-lived. The Intonarumori (new to me!) sums up the attitude quite beautifully. Great post!

By: ovvl

ovvl — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:50:21 -0800

"For you I am a Chrysanthemum, Supernova, Urgent Star..." Einsturzende Neubauten - Blume Swell video with futurist instrument props.

By: LSK

LSK — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:08:10 -0800

Whatever happened to Metal Machine Music?

By: idiopath

idiopath — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:13:33 -0800

Metal Machine Music has been reprinted and is no harder to find than most other Lou Reed albums. Personally I prefer the sound of Russolo's instruments to that guitar feedback stuff.

By: ardgedee

ardgedee — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:04:35 -0800

What's interesting is how the intonarumori sound. In contrast with noise artists of my lifetime, the intonarumori have a physicality to the sound that comes from being generated physically rather than through electronics processing. They had a heft and body that was less convincing as, say, an angle grinder, but sounded more like a musical interpretation of an angle grinder than electronic noise would. It's nice noise, a sharp-edges-rounded version of what we're used to now. As a kid I remember seeing the photo of Russolo surrounded by his boxes with flared cones pointing at random angles, and thinking it was one of the oddest things ever. Thanks for dredging up that memory, and for the chance to finally hear them in action.