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ANDREW View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: WHITE NOISE
    Posted: March 18 2006 at 10:52


White Noise - "An Electric Storm" (Island 1969)

White Noise was the project of American composer David Vorhaus, who moved to England in the late 60's. The debut "An Electric Storm" is often praised as a pioneering work as it was one of the first examples of electronics and tape effects being incorporated into rock music. But personally I found it to be slightly overrated. The first side consists of five tracks which all fell squarely into the category of lightweight 60's psych, despite the experimental arrangements and effects. My favourite song here is probably "Your Hidden Dreams" that has a fine orchestral feel and vocals by Annie Bird. "My Game of Loving" is also quite nice, and features some of the most sexual explicit sound effects caught on vinyl. They're even authentic, so there are no fake orgasms here! But stuff like "Firebird" could have come from any uninteresting and wimpy 60's psychedelic group, and sounds dated even for 1969. And "Here Comes the Fleas" sounds just like Frank Zappa at his most idiotic and annoying. The second side is more interesting, and dominated by the 11-minute "The Visitation". This dark and eerie epic has a nice main melody, and tells the story of a young couple who experiences a motorcycle accident and visits the beyond. Lots of interesting effects here, and the electronic sounds that is supposed to sound like cars driving by sound just as good as those on Kraftwerk's "Autobahn" five years later. The closer "Black Mass: An Electric Storm in Hell" is seven frightening minutes of wild drumming, electronic effects and distorted screams. I would bet that Goblin undoubtedly had listened to and was inspired by this track when they composed their gloomy soundtracks for Dario Argento's horror movies. But I still can't help to think that the legend is bigger than the actual musical content of this record.


White Noise - "White Noise 2" (Virgin 1975)

It took no less than 6 years before a follow-up to "An Electric Storm" was released. "White Noise 2" was a pure solo work from Vorhaus, and was musically very different from the debut. No psychedelic songs or vocals here, but an instrumental "concerto for synthesizer" in three lengthy movements. I'm usually a big fan of electronic progressive music from the 70's, but "White Noise 2" is unfortunately not one of the reasons for that. The music is sure complex and experimental, but lacks atmosphere and memorable themes and generally fails to engage me very much. Some parts of the album reminds slightly of something from Vangelis' "Beaubourg", but not as good. The worst parts tend to remind me of Dave Greenslade's "The Pentateuch of the Cosmogony". The first movement goes on for nearly 12 minutes without much interesting happening. It's basically just lots of various synth-sounds and half-baked themes mashed together in a complete mess that goes nowhere. The second movement is the longest, and spread on both sides of the record. The first part of it is probably the only time where the album is close to evoke any interest, with some decent and spacey atmospheres, although it gets completely lost in experimental noodling on side 2. The third movement is a bit more upbeat than the two first ones, and includes drums and even some detectable melodies. So overall, I cant' really say I'm a big admirer of David Vorhaus and White Noise, although some of his work (especially "An Electric Storm") seems to be well regarded among many other progressive rock fans.

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PROGMAN View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 23 2006 at 14:11
Yeah they could be added under Electronic Prog.

I have some useful info on this artist!! including Re-Entry, Inferno and White Noise 5.
CYMRU AM BYTH
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Snow Dog View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 23 2006 at 14:15
Cheers!
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Certif1ed View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 26 2006 at 09:04
I've mentioned them before: White Noise were amazing and definitely should be here.
The important thing is not to stop questioning.
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ANDREW View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 27 2006 at 15:31
Thanks Certif1ed.
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PROGMAN View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 27 2006 at 18:38
I got a bio info and some album information ready if these guys are considered for a likely inclusion.
CYMRU AM BYTH
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Easy Livin View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 28 2006 at 03:22
Not to be confused with the Mostly Autumn offshoot of the same name, which does Rainbow and Deep Purple covers.
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ANDREW View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 02 2006 at 15:10
Originally posted by Certif1ed Certif1ed wrote:

I've mentioned them before: White Noise were amazing and definitely should be here.
 
So???
 
 
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mystic fred View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 03 2006 at 11:42
will investigate!Smile
update - already on "artists to add" list! Big smile


Edited by mystic fred - November 05 2006 at 08:16
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