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Art of Noise

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Art of Noise was a British avant-garde and electronic group, formed in early 1983 by the sound engineer Gary Langan, the programmer J. J. Jeczalik, the keyboard player and arranger Anne Dudley, the producer Trevor Horn and the music journalist Paul Morley. It began during the recording of the Yes album 90125, when Jeczalik and Langan put a discarded drum riff by Alan White into the Fairlight sampler, the first time a whole drum pattern was sampled. The name comes from the essay The Art of Noises by the Futurist Luigi Russolo.

Music and breakthrough

In September 1983 the EP Into Battle with the Art of Noise appeared on Horn's label ZTT, with Beat Box as a hit in the dance clubs. In 1984 the first album followed, (Who's Afraid of) The Art of Noise? The group presented itself as faceless, with masks and few performances, so that the music was at the centre. After that came In Visible Silence in 1986, In No Sense? Nonsense! in 1987 and Below the Waste in 1989. International hits were Kiss with Tom Jones and the instrumental Peter Gunn, which won a Grammy in 1986. The music mostly consisted of instrumental collages of samples, made with digital technology that was new at the time.

Influence

The group is known for its innovative use of electronics and computers in pop music. It showed that a sampler could be an instrument with which you build music from everyday sounds.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Beat Box and notice the chopped, stuttering sounds and the tight drum patterns. Try to hear which sounds come from a sampler.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

See also

Categories: Artists