Houston Noise Bands

Since the 1970's, Houston, TX has become one of the worlds leading centers for a particular brand of dark experimental music, ranging from psych-rock to industrial to distorted stripped down folk songs, to dance party mayhem, but all sharing a similar aesthetic sensibility rooted in dissonance and a terribly serious attitude towards sonic clarity and technical virtuosity. Together these groups fall under the heading of Houston NoiseFact|date=August 2007.

Band Listing (by decade of founding)

This list is for notable bands identified as part of the Houston Noise genre.

1960s

*Red Crayola

1970s

*Jandek

1980s

*Culturcide
*The Pain Teens
*Richard Ramirez (musician)
*Butthole Surfers

1990s

*Charalambides
*DJ Screw

2000s

*Jana Hunter
*Vaarg

ociological Considerations

One contributing factor to the formation of noise bands in the Houston area has been KTRU-FM, the 50,000-watt station founded and operated by Rice University students whose "eclectic and progressive programming" has historically included psych and noise from around the world with a special focus on the Houston scene. Still, geography comes in to play when people attempt to explain the heterogeneous mixture of psych with every musical genre under the sun that makes the Houston sound.

An article about the Linus Pauling Quartet gives one reference to this Houston sound. "I don't know if it's a Houston curse or a Houston blessing, but [like a lot of local bands] they're not enough of one thing, they're a little bit different, they're a little bit off," says Sound Exchange owner-manager Kurt Brennan, who has released some of their material in the past on his Fleece label.cite web|url=http://www.houstonpress.com/Issues/2003-12-18/music/music.html|title=Houston Press]

An April 12, 2007 article in the Houston Press praised the egalitarian spirit of Noise Music in Houston. Unlike stodgier Noise epicenters such as Tokyo and Brooklyn, it stated "Houston Noise is an equal opportunity genre. Men, women, men who want to be women, women who love men who want to be women -- everybody has a shot at being a noiser."cite web|url=http://www.houstonpress.com/2007-04-12/music/houston-noise-music/| title= Houston Noise Music - Top five reasons to love it

Notes

References

* [http://www.houstonpress.com/Issues/2003-12-18/music/music.html Houston Press Article, Linus Pauling Quartet, Dec 18, 2003]
* [http://houstonpress.com/Issues/2002-12-26/music/music2.html Houston Press Article, Swarm of Angels, Dec 26 2002]
* [http://houstonpress.com/Issues/1998-07-16/music/music2.html Houston Press, Culturcide, July 16, 1998]
* [http://www.houstonpress.com/2007-04-12/music/houston-noise-music/ Houston Press Article Houston Noise Music Top five reasons to love it, Apri l4, 2007]

External links

* [http://www.spacecityrock.com/ Space City Rock]
* [http://www.soundexchangehouston.com/fleece/ Fleece Records' (Houston experimental Record Label) Website]
* [http://www.worshipguitars.org/Interviews/rottenpiece/index.html Worship Guitars Interview with Rotten Piece]