John Wiese – Circle Snare (No Fun Productions) 2009
One of my favourite noise artists going around right now has to be John Wiese. Whether he is collaborating with Yeh or Merzbow, doing his thing as Sissy Spacek or releasing stuff under his own name, Wiese doesn’t seem comfortable in doing the same thing twice. Wiese is turning into one of the most prolific and talented noise artists of right now and Circle Snare, his latest release on Carlos Giffoni’s No Fun Productions, shows just how good he can be. This record was recorded whilst on his European tour last year. He used his basic set up and reinterpreted what it produces to make a sound that I’ve only heard hints of in some of his Sissy Spacek records. Gone are the Merzbow-esque power electronics of Black Magic Pond so too the hyperactive, cut and paste of Soft Punk. Now I really liked Soft Punk but my experience with it was almost physical. Soft Punk was a record that simply overwhelmed me. I have never been able to listen to it in one sitting. When I try to, I can usually get to Track 4 before my brain feels like it is no longer capable of independent thought and if my experience is anything to go by, the US could use repeated listens at volume as an enhanced interrogation. Circle Snare is a very different beast. For one thing it is a much more minimal affair and in some ways also one of his more powerful works. The noise itself seems to be produced on two separate planes in much the same way Giffoni does and Merzbow can produce in his best works. Yet in saying this Wiese has produced something completely unique. Sometimes less is more and if you have any interest in Wiese I recommend you pick this up.
Ducks Battle Satan 
May 9, 2009 at 11:03 pm
You challenge me to impress you somehow. I do everything from noise brutality to techno to ambient. I’ve been making sounds since a child, trite but true. First guitar feedback experiments done in 1968. I”m 53 now.
You might like my Str8 Sounds, Computers With Mental Problems, Advanced Noise Technology, Proust in a Field of Plastic Flowers, Metaphysical Platypus, La La Landers Masochistic Orchestra, etc, my music projects on MySpace and Last.fm
Just started reading this, see my first comment on “Dead Leaves” by Merzbow. I am Twittering URLs of your posts. I have almost 1,000 Followers on Twitter, and many of them pay attention to my music tweets and recommendations.
“Noise is sound cured of its disease which is music.” Steven Streight and His Sounds
October 31, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Circle Snare is a hole and he devoured me.