A landmark album of noise music: from industrial to Japanoise.
Noise music, born from the free imagination of artists who sometimes ignore conventional musical composition and sound design, employing not only pure instruments but also samples of metallic objects and sounds from the natural world—indeed, every method imaginable—is, quite literally, so unmusical that it can make listeners uncomfortable.
In this article, we will focus on landmark albums by representative bands of the genre known as industrial music—indispensable when discussing noise music—while also introducing works by Japanese artists who are highly acclaimed worldwide under the banner of Japanoise.
Take this opportunity to experience the unique sensations that can only be found within the realm of noise.
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Masterpieces of Noise Music: From Industrial to Japanoise (11–20)
Senzuri ChampionZa Gerogerigegege
An absolute classic released in 1987 by a genius of Japanoise, with a title you could never say out loud in everyday life! This is the landmark debut album by The Gerogerigegege, the solo project of Juntaro Yamanouchi, who began his activities in 1985.
Yamanouchi has continued to make sound and stage antics that live up to the unit’s outrageously impactful name, and remarkably, he has the background of sending a demo tape in high school to Masami Akita—better known as Merzbow—which led to his debut.
The world of noise music tends to have many precocious artists who start young, and Yamanouchi was clearly one of them.
The Gerogerigegege are a literally extreme presence—reportedly punching a hole in the auditorium at Waseda University during their debut live performance—so of course the sound is anything but ordinary.
Senzuri Champion is punk and hardcore to the core: a free-for-all of noise and wild shrieks! The original edition is out of print, and in 2012 a revised version was released, newly edited from entirely unreleased versions.
As an aside, their musicality is extraordinarily wide-ranging—noise is only one facet.
If this has piqued your interest, check out their other works and be prepared to be surprised each time!
Total SexWhitehouse
Calling themselves “the most extreme and cold music ever to exist,” Whitehouse etched their name into noise history with their debut album Birthdeath Experience, a raging storm of violent, cutting-edge synth-driven noise befitting that claim.
Formed in the UK in 1980 around vocalist and synthesist William Bennett, they are often cited as the originators of power electronics and are regarded as indispensable in the history of industrial and noise music.
Their second album, Total Sex—released a mere two months after their debut—features a cover emblazoned with English text quoting the Marquis de Sade’s The 120 Days of Sodom, and its sound is a relentless barrage of synth-generated noise that radically departs from conventional musical formats, with processed vocals delivering agitated tirades.
It is, unmistakably, a work that turns away general listeners.
To borrow the words of Tamotsu Mochida, author of the essential classic INDUSTRIAL MUSIC FOR INDUSTRIAL PEOPLE!!! for anyone interested in noise music, this is a “sinister, accursed masterpiece” by the very group that forged the image of “noise music = antisocial”—an experience one should have at least once.
HeadhunterFront 242
The music genre known as Electronic Body Music—also abbreviated as EBM—emerged in the late 1980s, with the term itself proposed and defined by the Belgian group Front 242.
Its musical roots trace back to the early ’80s and span a wide range, including early industrial music, post-punk, and the so-called German new wave, and it’s often broadly described as a kind of muscular, physical dance music.
Big names like Ministry and Nine Inch Nails also pushed EBM elements prominently in their early sound.
In that sense, Front 242—the pioneers who influenced many artists—released Front by Front in 1988, a landmark EBM album that is also regarded as a masterpiece of industrial music.
Featuring the club hit Headhunter, the album interweaves an onslaught of aggressive, innovative underground-informed synths with electro beats and affinities to contemporary electropop like Depeche Mode, making it an indispensable milestone in the history of electronic music of that era.
It also stands as a crucial work in the evolution of dance music derived from noise and industrial music.
SoqlueitMASONNA
Alongside Hijokaidan and Merzbow, Masonna is one of the quintessential figures of “Japanoise,” and the solo unit of Kyoto musician Maso Yamazaki, famed for his ruinously intense live performances.
His relentless commitment to pushing expression to the extreme in every aspect has earned high acclaim worldwide, but his performances were so ferocious that Yamazaki’s health suffered, leading to a period of inactivity for Masonna.
The 2012 release that was meant to commemorate his 25th anniversary, EVIL BLACK DISC, notoriously stalled due to his insistence on an uncompromisingly savage sound, and only saw the light of day in 2016—an episode as striking as the music itself.
The album introduced here, MASONNA VS.
BANANAMARA, is Masonna’s 1989 debut and a landmark work of Japanoise that Japan proudly presents to the world.
Recorded entirely in mono with no overdubs, it’s a primitive mass of sound in which indescribable noise and blood-curdling screams strike one after another; to anyone unfamiliar with this realm, it will likely register as nothing but cacophony.
At the same time, considering its influence not only among underground noise devotees but also on leading alternative rock musicians like Sonic Youth and Beck, fans of alternative music might do well to experience this noise at least once.
Spotted Pinto BeanThe Residents
The Residents are an American music group that began activity in the early 1970s and are known for keeping their real faces and names a secret.
“Spotted Pinto Bean” is a track from the album “Meet The Residents,” released in 1974.
The Boys Are Leaving TownJapandroids
Japandroids is a Canadian band formed in 2006 by Brian King and David Prowse.
“The Boys Are Leaving Town” is included on their 2009 album “Post-Nothing.”
A masterpiece list of noise music: From industrial to Japanoise (21–30)
Clothes HoistFoetus
A genius born from the underground music scene of the 1980s, JG Thirlwell is an Australia-born artist who has continued to release intense works under multiple aliases, effortlessly leaping beyond genre boundaries.
His musicality can’t be summed up in a single phrase, yet he has influenced musicians who achieved commercial success with industrial sounds—like Ministry and Nine Inch Nails—and he has handled numerous remixes of other artists’ work, making him the very definition of a musician’s musician.
Hole, released in 1984 under the name Scraping Foetus Off the Wheel, was a breakthrough album for him.
From violent industrial metal to venomous, cabaret-like sounds, to jazz and hip-hop, to a storm of chaotic sampling—the record is a junky, noisy frenzy that feels like Thirlwell crammed in everything he wanted to do.
Including the cover art, reminiscent of Russian Constructivism, the forward-looking musical sensibility and overwhelming intensity are nothing short of shocking, especially considering it came out in 1984.
Feel that indescribable, reckless power with your whole body!