Scott reviews the music doc, People Who Do Noise.
In all my studies of music and the music-related, I
often ask the question, “Where did that sound really come from?”
It is exciting to be at the foundation of any
artistic movement, not only from a selfish perspective, but most importantly to
experience the metamorphosis of said particular movement. You get to live it, breathe it, and feel it
in its infancy. People Who Do Noise illustrates this
idea.
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| Dude. Dig this lighting scenario. |
While Noise as 'music' (or more accurately a true
art form to me) is not really a new genre; it is an expression that is still
richly developing and without a true definition. It is quite possible it may never really
carve out a definition of itself through the artists who produce it, and that
is what makes it so exciting to me.
There is no set sound, there are no set rules, there is no set
attitude. It is just people (all from
Portland, OR, in this film) from different age brackets and different walks of
life experimenting with acoustical randomness.
People Who Do Noise talks to all of these
people, who describe their methods and their inspirations. The expressive elements presented by these
artists push the limits of chaotic, distorted experimental fury to the
meditative, droning, otherworldly serenity of a pulse. It is unsettling to see these sounds
presented together in one film, but that is what makes People Who Do Noise so
interesting, -- the range.
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| I am a DJ....sent from hell. |
People Who Do Noise makes you really ask the
questions, “What is music?” and “Does sound really have to make sense according
to our perception of it?” I was left
wondering if everything we have heard and learned about so far could very well
be wrong. Maybe what we call 'music' now
is the 'real noise' according to the popular perception of what 'noise' is.
People Who Do Noise is a challenge to
watch. It is a finely crafted
documentary-style interview film, but that is not what makes it
challenging. What makes it a challenge
are the ideas that are presented. If you
take any form of music seriously and truly explore it, People Who Do Noise will
be a wealth of information for you to digest, but you need to pay really close
attention, because these ideas are subtle, yet very powerful.
