black dice

alright, i'm curious to see what people have to say about this band, if anything. i appreciate the fact that they are "breaking boundaries" by making songs without structure or traditional instruments. but its just noise. it has its moments of interest here and there, but for the most part its just a jungle of sounds that i just can't get into. and they are a snore live, they opened for godspeed you black emperor a couple years ago and blew ass. any thoughts on their avante gardeness?

i saw them open for godspeed in baltimore this past march. they had some really good songs...also one in which they just sat on this ear-piercing noise for about ten minutes. that part of the set wasn't so great

The only thing i have heard by them is thier collab/jam LP with Wolf Eyes, amazing stuff, definetly want to check out some of thier recordings

I like their new album quite a bit actually.

can you tell me why? if you can't thats fine. i was hoping this would turn into some sort of discussion i guess.

with lemon on this one. the new album is quite good, and reaching in to a new area of inspiration.

i think one of the best ways to listen to noise is to attempt to find the patterns in the chaos, 'cuz i think that noiz in general, and black dice in particular is about relations, and how one sound (or many) can interacts with another. however, if the basic sound of it does not intrigue you, it might not be worth it to listen deeply. was there something in particular that annoyed you about the album? if so, it's not totally worthless.

i've given it a decent shot, mostly because i really think they are doing something interesting, i just seems like they are too much concept and not enough substance. its like listening to a science equation. there is an idea there that is carried out it's just not something that i can latch onto. its weird, they are the first band i've come across that i like, but can't stand to listen to. i also think they have really cool artwork for their albums and such.

It helps to have known where they started off. If you come across a copy of Beaches & Canyons or the various other things before that, buy it and listen. The nororiety was originally based on audiences perceiving them as violent and confrontational while playing noisy and loud stuff, in sort of a Savage Republic way without the ritualistic elements. They always denied that, but the first few times I saw them play, the violent element was there, if not the confrontation. What they are doing now is different in many ways, but clearly evolved out of that.

I'm a little confused about your 'concept' v. substance argument. It's not as if Black Dice write liner notes about critical theory or give interviews about fucking Lacan- they play loud music that includes lots of improvisation, and they make an attempt not to sound like other people who are doing the same thing. If you're not interested, it's your loss. I humbly suggest that you just turn it up and listen some more.

okay, that's something. what i meant by "concept" i guess is that they are going for a very abstract approach without measures, or choruses, or time signatures sometimes. it seemed more like a gimmick to me than an artistic pursuit. as in a "let's make songs, but like...not songs...like it'll seem like music, but like...we're just fucking around", as if they were suckering people into thinking they are on some revolutionary shit. but i'll check out this "beaches and canyons", thanks. they just seem like punks to me, maybe i'm wrong.

you might like Lightning Bolt a little bit more...noise, but with a bit more structure(sometimes)plus they are loud as shit! And a two piece!

i have not seen nor heard them since they stopped using guitars and drums, but would like to. i heard the rumours about them being confrontational live as well, but the only confrontation really was the ungodly noise they made, forcing almost everyone outside to smoke. it says something when a member of the band you're seeing is wearing huge airline-grade hearing protectors. if you're interested in more structure, seek out thier older stuff, like the 7" on gravity records.

Well, not to point out the obvious, but lots of people have been making music without measures, choruses, or time signatures. Since I own a lot of those kinds of records, I tend to think theyy're not suckering me into anything. Since there aren't a lot of formal structural elements to hold on to, it might help to think about it terms of mood, tension & release (or lack of release), etc.- elements that aren't formally defined, but still apparent.

The first couple times I saw them, lots of people were hit with swinging mics and a few people were accidentally speared with a bass guitar. I think the confrontational bit was more about those audiences' expectations and concomitant reactions. Then again, after their first tour, I think they may have realized that the elements that provoked this kind of thing was problematic, and that their reputation as confrontational was not a fait accompli.

I've hated Black Dice for a while, but Creature Comforts kind of won me back a little bit. Granted they're clearly just experimental noise type music, but speaking as a fan of no-wave, sometimes music like that is a nice change of pace.

I think a large part of the appeal of most experimental music is that it doesn't follow the same patterns of other music, whereas with most music you expect what's coming next, and then it provides what you want, with bands like Black Dice you never know what to expect.

i'm all for experimentation and loose structure. bands like sigur ros and godspeed you black emperor, i feel, have struck a perfect balance between openness and some sort of non-formulaic structure that really works. i'm not saying there needs to be verses, or choruses for it to work, those big sweeping buildup crescendo bands are great. i just think that black dice are too far out there for me, their music never really reaches that point of completion that i feel is neccessary for a quality album or song. i still feel suckered.