Women Take Back The Noise

Women Take Back the Noise is a massive three CD compilation featuring 53 tracks from 47 female musicians, sound artists and noisemakers. Curated by Ninah Pixie, this project was three years in the making. Noise has traditionally been viewed as a rather male-dominated genre – although in this regard one could say that it merely mirrors the music business, or indeed society as a whole – and this compilation attempts to give voice to those women making making music/art in this area. Most of the names here are unfamiliar, although there are a few better-known artists such as TG’s Cosey Fanni Tutti and Blevin Blectum included, alongside newer up-and-coming acts such as Experiment Haywire.

The discs have been carefully sequenced and compiled to provide a cohesive listening experience, and are themed into three volumes: Orgonauta, Scheherazade and Vociferous. The first disc is fairly dreamy and ambient, and the music gets increasingly noisy and intense as you work your way through to disc three. The closest thing I’ve heard to this previously would be Virgin’s Ambient 4: Isolationism compilation from the ’90s.

Highlights include ‘Wired’ By Cosey Fanni Tutti, which features thick droning feedback guitar over lugubrious beats; the eerie, 3D occult noise loops of ‘Current’s by Choronzon; and the turgid, menacing atmosphere of ‘Lucid Interval’ by Wisteriax.

Special mention must also be made of the packaging. Instead of a standard booklet, the liner notes are presented on a couple of dozen postcards, with photos and weblinks for every artist. The three CDs, postcards and stickers come in a hand-assembled plastic sleeve with special circuit-bent noisemaker included – now if that isn’t inviting you to take the noise into your own hands, I don’t know what is…

• 2006 - Women Take Back The Noise - 256 Kbps

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