After the aftermath of World War II there was a whole generation of young European composers who had lived through a great deal of noise with the bombings of major cities. With the advent of technology, it was possible to recreate these otherworldly sounds through electronic studios. This process was called musique concrete. Xenakis is perhaps the most difficult of all the post-war composers; when I listen to his music by no means do I understand all the mathematical and architectural procedures that he underwent to crate it. I listen to it purely on its own terms as a non-musician. This track includes lots of crackles and white noise and is quite intriguing.
2. VII - Olivier Messiaen
I downloaded this quite a while ago and it doesn't say here what album it is from. It is similar to his piece Turangalilla. It is a very entertaining piece; the music bounces back and forth, undergoing many tangents. It is all ingeniously orchestrated and arranged. It starts off fairly light-hearted and pleasant, it restrains itself with frenetically accelerated xylophones until it erupts and there are large clusters of sound and cacophony that belie everything it preceded.
3. String Trio 02 - Krysztof Penderecki
The cello starts off playing this fast line, the violin joins in and plays it simultaneously until the viola comes. The track proceeds onto diving into a melange of aggressive lines. The lines seem to be contradictory yet strangely complementary. About half-way through they play together this forceful vehement attack on their instruments, very reminiscent of the fifth movement of Bartok's fourth quartet. This piece strongly mirrors and draws from Bartok.
4. Symphony No. 46 ('The Green Mountains') - Alan Hovahaness
In strong contrast to the previous three pieces, this is very harmonious and melodic. Hovhaness is a little-known and seldom cited 20th century composer who is one of the most prolific of all time: his opuses number over 400, and not many of them are played that often. I read a book once that described his music as 'muzak,' and I beg to differ. It does sound quite cliched and dated, but it makes up for a very enjoyable listen. This movement sounds like a substantial score that Moriconne could have written.
5. Hot Tubs Full of Brand New Fuel - The Locust
The Locust play a visceral attack on their instruments, creating music that is stimulating, chaotic and exhilarating. One of the players said something along the lines of "I want to change the way people see music, or maybe just destroy it in general." I find a lot of noise music mindless and boring, but The Locust are very accomplished players who interject noisecore with obtuse rhythms that make you want to move.
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