"Noise, an underground music made through an amalgam of feedback,
distortion, and electronic effects, first emerged as a genre in the
1980s, circulating on cassette tapes traded between fans in Japan,
Europe, and North America. With its cultivated obscurity,
ear-shattering sound, and over-the-top performances, Noise has captured
the imagination of a small but passionate transnational audience.
For
its scattered listeners, Noise always seems to be new and to come from
somewhere else: in North America, it was called "Japanoise." But does
Noise really belong to Japan? Is it even music at all? And why has
Noise become such a compelling metaphor for the complexities of
globalization and participatory media at the turn of the millennium?
In Japanoise,
David Novak draws on more than a decade of research in Japan and the
United States to trace the "cultural feedback" that generates and
sustains Noise. He provides a rich ethnographic account of live
performances, the circulation of recordings, and the lives and creative
practices of musicians and listeners. He explores the technologies of
Noise and the productive distortions of its networks. Capturing the
textures of feedback - its sonic and cultural layers and vibrations - Novak
describes musical circulation through sound and listening, recording
and performance, international exchange, and the social interpretations
of media."