The New Blockaders

TNB at All Tomorrow's Parties (c) Mei Lewis

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The New Blockaders may sound like a hip indie Rock band, and they may want you to believe such a thing to lure unsuspecting listeners. As merchants of 'anti-music,' they embraced Luigi Russolo's 1913 Art of Noise manifesto without words and intent compromised in execution. More tone sculptors and spiritual conduits of their time, the pioneering group have been knocking down sonic walls since 1982. They served as a major influence on legendary Noise pioneers as Merzbow and Marcronympha, while kicking imaginative doors open for those in any musical genre wastelands. Instead of making noisy music, TNB made real, unrelenting noise. Superficial similarities exist to forebearers such as AMM's free form music aesthetic, Throbbing Gristle's Second Annual Report and Lou Reed's one off decadent, noise loop experimentation Metal Machine Music. TNB differs in that they were never burdened with writing excessive, sleazy Rock Pop put on, prone to current Pop culture sampling obsessions or attempts at confining unruly, nihilistic sounds. They created a true musical sound cluster of destruction to an extent that their so-called ‘anti-music’ transcends nihilism into positivism/optimism suggesting new music. Destroying all notions of Western and Eastern musical scales, TNB created a new musical scale based solely on human imagination and sound texture. Their recently released Das Zerstoren, Zum Gebaren CD (documenting their last ever live performance at the ATP Nightmare Before Xmas festival in 2006) stands out as the thickest musical composition I've ever heard. TNB always suggested more than a band or music project. They were bent almost just as much on philosophy and literary ambitions releasing original manifestos and texts. Oddly, they seemed obsessed with the past, considering their hyper-futuristic proclamations and actual music. They constantly referenced the likes of Debussy and Nietzsche. Cover art depicts old photographs, such as an early 1900s dandy slightly subverted through collage. TNB never set out to be part of a self glorifying youth movement, where pompous, romanticized bullshit dies hard in an endless, capitalistic magic show. Instead, they depicted the emotional tonalities of an ambivalent, ambiguous new century with no form and direction. Their musical legacy offers respite from the fraudulent herd of co-opted streamlined sounds, which masquerade as experimental. TNB were a group of uncompromising individuals who demanded and created their own reality. Stereo Subversion

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