Nine Noisiest Acts at International Noise Conference 2012

Photo by Bleeding Palm

Just wait till you hear the racket Rat Bastard has planned for this year's I.N.C.

​Some people really get their panties in a twist over noise music.

Every year, producer-musician Rat Bastard throws his globally acclaimed International Noise Conference at Churchill's Pub. And, every year, squares of every shape, size, and variety -- from costumed punk rock LARPers to "serious musicians" with serious chips on their shoulder -- bitch and moan every chance they get. The most common charge is "this shit isn't even music."

Well, hey, Gramps, didn't they say the same thing about your precious punk? Or, really, rock 'n roll in general?

In today's wear-that-crappy-influence-on-your-sleeve, post-relevant music industry, noise -- and we're talking about the actually noisy stuff, not the pan-genre big tent that includes everything from techno to post-punk -- may be one of the last bastions of raw rock 'n' roll intensity.

So here are the nine nastiest, noisiest acts "gracing the stage" at this year's International Noise Conference.

Metasplice (Philadelphia, PA)
A collaboration between veteran INCer Dave Smolen and beat-oriented compatriot, hair_loss, Metasplice takes on the challenge of being "noisy" without necessarily getting harsh, extreme or totally brutal. Instead, the duo sounds like an iPod loaded with IDM and/or glitch, and completely submerged in hot sauce.



Microwave Windows (San Francisco, CA) Never before has a musical artist sounded so much like their namesake. Microwave Windows sounds like the exact synthesis of a humming convection oven and the boot-up music for Windows 95.



Williams, Hosker and Bristol (Jacksonville / Broward)
Free-jazz is a lot like free-balling. And if you don't know what we mean, might we suggest checking out this no-core trio (featuring master improvisers from North and South Florida alike) for a crash course in jazz that sounds like testicles.