ALBUM REVIEW: Insanity Mirror – Noisepoetnobody
Noise remains one of the last great unexplored territories of extreme music. Yes, it’s populated with artists and boasts a prolific number of releases, dating back as far as the seventies. Yet while other genres have softened in ways, become more accessible thanks to technology, noise has continued to rally against the masses with soundscapes that range from ear-piercing feedback to terrifying sonic destruction. For such a clinical genre, made up of electronics and computers and synthesised components, it is also emotive. It works because we hear what we want to hear within the chaos. MERZBOW has terrified audiences with crunching, industrial hellscapes, but has also managed to soothe those fears with touches of beauty. Like an experimental filmmaker, noise artists aim to tell a story but in an unconventional way. So, what does this have to do with the latest release from NOISEPOETNOBODY, the anti-commercial, home-built project of Casey Chittenden Jones? Much like the genres they inhabit, Jones creates art that is unforgiving, and Insanity Mirror is a continuation of the need to pull creativity out of destruction and desolation.
Listening to Insanity Mirror is like following an acrid breeze around the industrial estate that David Lynch’s Eraserhead inhabits. A constant whistle seems to work its way through, making the bizarre and aggressive sound effects feel like passing nightmares. There are hints of industrial machinery, doors slamming, echoes of conversations, all mixed in with loops of feedback and broken trains of thought.
Track names link back to the idea of reflection. How we see ourselves, both individually and as a collective. Jones references the very worst we have to offer as a society, taking homemade and broken instruments and turning them against a capitalist society by dredging the depths of industrialisation. Even the recording process emphasises this, as Jones manipulates his earlier work via a manually powered cassette player to disrupt and confuse. Once again linking to reflections, the resulting recordings were mirrored and overlayed on themselves.
Across thirty minutes these tracks weave through the listener’s psyche. Reviewing noise is always so difficult because each person takes away something different. It’s a personal experience, more so here given Jones’ closeness to the foundation of the project. While some noise artists are tempted to barrage the listener with every escalating bursts of violence, Jones shows a real talent for structure. Sometimes the tracks fade away to nothing but that whistle of the wind, giving the listener a break between the cacophony of loops, alarms, and machinery.
Insanity Mirror is broken music for a broken society. It encourages the listener to look at themselves, not just at the problems around them. It’s a tough, often unforgiving listen but one that is so worthwhile if you can stomach it. The noise scene has been hampered by the wave of online labels and artists believing that an effects board and rough production is all you need to release an album. NOISEPOETNOBODY offer something far more thoughtful and, as such, far more affecting.
Rating: 9/10
Insanity Mirror is out now via Scry Recordings.
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