RRR Sub-labels and series
One of the most popular of the RRR sub-labels is the Recycled Music series, which consists of used cassette tapes of pop and rock music that have been taped over with new music by a noise band. [3] RRRecycled tapes are labeled with a simple strip of adhesive tape along the spine of the insert with the artist's name hand-written upon it. Each recycled release tape is unique, and in some cases, the original audio is still partly audible. They have historically sold for $4 each, in order to encourage curious listeners to take a chance on a band they may not have heard of.
Other sub-labels have included Lowell records, which only published local rock, punk, and metal bands from Lowell, Massachusetts; Statutory Tapes, which reissued music originally published by Kinky Music Institute, G.R.O.S.S, ZSF Tapes, and Beast 666 Tapes; Pure, a series of low-cost CDs by new and established harsh noise bands, again to encourage listeners to take a chance on what might be a new name; RRReport, a magazine and CD set that existed for two issues; Stomach Ache, a collaborative label by Lessard and other unknown participants that published cheap vinyl singles of dubious provenance. Stomach Ache Records listed only a Mexican mailing address, and credited to the singles to a fictional person named Charlie Ward, so that any responsibility could be deflected. RRR has also collaborated with other labels to produce multi-LP box sets of noise based on specific regions of America. To date these have included New England, California, Texas, Michigan, and Portland.
The cassette culture refers to the practices associated with amateur production and distribution of music and sound art on compact cassette that emerged in the mid-1970s. The cassette was used by fine artists and poets for the independent distribution of new work. This article focuses on the independent music scene associated with the cassette that burgeoned internationally in the second half of the 1970s.
Wolf Eyes is an American experimental music group from Detroit, Michigan, formed in 1996 by Nate Young. Currently a duo, Wolf Eyes are a prominent act within contemporary noise music. They have collaborated with a variety of artists from different countries and art forms.
Emil Beaulieau, or more fully, “Emil Beaulieau: America’s Greatest Living Noise Artist” is the stage name of Ron Lessard, a prominent noise musician who primarily records for his own label: RRRecords. He has collaborated and performed with many well-known noise artists, including Merzbow, Pain Jerk, Richard Ramirez from Black Leather Jesus and Sonic Disorder. Beaulieau frequently performs with a custom-made four-armed turntable named the Minutoli after its creator, a friend of the artist. Dressed in his trademark pink dress shirt, tie, and grey cardigan, Emil Beaulieau acts out comical performances.
An anti-record is a musical vinyl record which has been treated so that it becomes a noise record. While this term was first used by Laylah Records on conventional vinyl releases by Current 93, Nurse with Wound, and others, Ron Lessard of RRRecords applied the term to a series of physically altered records released by RRR in 1988. Anti-records can also be records featuring strange configurations or pressing, such as extra or unusually sized holes, locked grooves, and parallel grooves. One notable noise anti-record was Pagan Muzak, created by noise artist Boyd Rice, which contained locked grooves as well as multiple center holes. RRRecords also published a record containing 500 locked grooves by various artists.
Maurizio Bianchi is an Italian pioneer of industrial music, originating from Milan.
Xome is a harsh noise project from Sacramento, composed solely of Bob Scott. Though formed in 1989, Xome did not perform live until 1994 in Tokyo.
The Nihilist Spasm Band (NSB) is a Canadian noise band formed in 1965 in London, Ontario. The band was founded by Hugh McIntyre, John Clement, John Boyle, Bill Exley, Murray Favro, Archie Leitch, Art Pratten, and Greg Curnoe. Leitch has since retired, Curnoe was killed in a bicycle accident in 1992, and McIntyre died of heart failure in 2004. The band members are mostly local artists. They were one of the artists named on the Nurse with Wound list
Merzbox is a box set compilation by the Japanese noise musician Merzbow. It consists of 50 CDs spanning Merzbow's career from 1979 to 1997. 30 discs are taken from long out of print releases, while 20 are composed mainly of unreleased material. The box also contains two CD-ROMs, six CD-sized round cards, six round stickers, a poster, a black long-sleeve T-shirt, a medallion, and the Merzbook, all packaged together in a "fetish" black rubber box. It is limited to 1000 numbered copies. A Merzbox Sampler was released in 1997.
Richard Ramirez is an American noise music artist originally from Houston, Texas, recording and performing both as a solo artist and as part of several groups, including Black Leather Jesus, Priest in Shit, An Innocent Young Throat-Cutter, House of the Black Death, Martyr of Sores, Last Rape and the "static noise" solo project Werewolf Jerusalem. He is notable for being one of the earliest American harsh noise artists.
Neil Campbell is a British musician, notable for his vast catalogue and his many collaborations. In 2005, The Wire declared that he, Richard Youngs and Matthew Bower had "provided the map co-ordinates for much of what passed for a post-punk UK underground during most of the 80s and 90s". Pitchfork media have referred to him as "one of the most important experimental musicians of the last 20 years".
Batztoutai with Memorial Gadgets is a double album by the Japanese noise musician Merzbow. It was later remixed and reissued in 1993 as Batztoutai with Material Gadgets: De-Composed Works 1985~86.
This is a comprehensive discography of the Japanese noise musician Masami Akita, best known for his project Merzbow. Since 1980 he has released hundreds of recordings, collaborated with dozens of musicians, contributed over two hundred exclusive tracks to compilations, and made numerous guest appearances on recordings by other artists.
Joyful Noise Recordings is an independent record label from Indianapolis, Indiana. The label was founded in 2003 in Bloomington, Indiana by Karl Hofstetter, who also played drums on many of the label's first releases. Joyful Noise maintains an active roster of over 30 bands playing various musical styles, though according to the label, each artist "in one way or another bridges the gap between pop and noise."
P16.D4 was a German electronic noise music collective, active primarily from 1980 to 1988. P16.D4 embraced tape cut-ups, musique concrète, endless recycling and transformation of previously published material, and many long-distance collaborations with like-minded artists such as DDAA, Vortex Campaign, Nurse With Wound, and Merzbow. Their active participation in the international industrial tape scene yielded collaborative output such as their release Distruct, where bands such as Nurse with Wound, Nocturnal Emissions, Die Tödliche Doris, and The Haters provided the source material. The longest-term collaboration was with the installation and conceptual artist Achim Wollscheid, who used P16.D4 sounds as the basis for LPs he recorded under the name SBOTHI. Ralf Wehowsky, the only constant member of the group, later released solo material under the alias RLW.
Rock Dream is a collaborative live album between Japanese band Boris and Japan noise musician Merzbow.
Chop Shop a.k.a. Scott Konzelmann, is a noise musician who has released recordings on Pure, RRRecords, Banned Production, V2_Archief and Generator Sound Art.
Merzbow is a Japanese noise project started in 1979 by Masami Akita, best known for a style of harsh, confrontational noise. Since 1980, Akita has released over 400 recordings and has collaborated with various artists.
The Schoolhouse is a mid-19th century public school building that was used as a performance space from 2001–2005. It is located at 30 West Street in the farming town of Hadley in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts. The building was originally referred to as "Hadley District School House No. 2". When the space was in use as a performance space it was colloquially referred to as "The Schoolhouse". While in operation, the space hosted a variety of experimental and avant-garde music events featuring local, national, and international artists. Over this period, The Schoolhouse became a major venue in the noise, freak folk, and New Weird America scenes of the mid-aughts.
Fast Forward was a cassette magazine documenting post-punk music in the early 1980s. It was edited in Melbourne, Australia, by Bruce Milne and Andrew Maine, with graphic design by Michael Trudgeon. The cassettes interspersed interviews with music and were packaged with printed artwork and distributed in record shops around Australia and abroad. Thirteen issues were produced between November 1980 and October 1982.
