Art of Noise

Infobox musical artist
Name = Art of Noise


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Background = group_or_band
Alias =
Origin = London, England
Genre = Synthpop, Avant-garde, Ambient, New Wave
Years_active = 1983 - 1990, 1998 - 2000
Label = ZTT
China
Associated_acts =
URL = http://www.myspace.com/artofnoiseoffical
Current_members =
Past_members = Anne Dudley
J.J. Jeczalik
Gary Langan
Trevor Horn
Paul Morley
Lol Crème

Art of Noise were an avant-garde synthpop group formed in 1983 by producer Trevor Horn, music journalist Paul Morley, and session musicians/studio hands Anne Dudley, J.J. Jeczalik, and Gary Langan. The group's mostly instrumental compositions were novel melodic sound collages based on digital sampler technology, which was new at the time. Inspired by turn-of-the-century revolutions in music, the Art of Noise were initially packaged as a faceless anti- or non-group, blurring the distinction between the art and its creators. The band is noted for innovative use of electronics and computers in pop music and particularly for innovative use of sampling.

The name of the group alludes to the essay The Art of Noises by noted futurist Luigi Russolo. From the earliest releases on ZTT, the band referred to themselves as both Art of Noise and The Art of Noise. Official and unofficial releases and press material use both versions.

History

Beginnings

In 1983, Trevor Horn, who had achieved a New Wave hit in 1979 with "Video Killed the Radio Star" (recorded with Geoff Downes under the name Buggles), was working in the studio with Yes on what would become the album "90125" and with Frankie Goes to Hollywood on what would become the album "Welcome to the Pleasuredome". In his employ were keyboardist/arranger Anne Dudley, keyboardist/programmer J.J. Jeczalik, and mixing engineer Gary Langan. The team had first assembled in 1981 to produce ABC's "The Lexicon of Love" album, which led to an instant increase in profile for all concerned. Though other possibilities are quite feasible, the most universal element in the group's naming seems to be the ubiquitous, bargain-bin "Art of..." classical releases put out by second-rate record companies.

The technological impetus for the Art of Noise was the advent of the Fairlight CMI sampler, an electronic musical instrument invented in Australia that Horn was reportedly among the first to purchase. With the Fairlight, short digital sound recordings called samples could be "played" through a pianolike keyboard, while a computer processor altered such characteristics as pitch and timbre. While some musicians were using samples as adornment in their works, Horn and his companions saw the potential to craft entire compositions with the sampler, tossing the traditional rock aesthetic out the window, or at least turning it on its ear. It should be noted that others were working contemporaneously towards this goal (see Jean Michel Jarre and Yello). Producer and musician Tony Mansfield had made extensive use of the Fairlight for Naked Eyes' eponymous debut album (the first pop album to feature such a hefty dose of the CMI). Horn had previously put the sampling keyboard to great use on "The Lexicon of Love", mostly in order to tweak live-based elements of performance but also to embellish the compositions with sound effects (such as a cash register's bell on "Date Stamp").

Samples—some borrowed from other pieces of music, such as the baritone "dum" from "Leave It" by Yes, but most coming from original sources—were bathed in reverb to mask the early sampler's low fidelity (or to give a "concert hall" acoustic effect). One might imagine the voice of Elvis Presley's first syllable from the chorus of "I Can't Help Falling in Love with You" popping up on the first album. In the studio, these sounds were then assembled into various instrumental arrangements and sound collages. At first, this was done with very little input from musicians "playing" instruments as they would in a typical band, but later works introduced traditional instruments as well.

In February 1983—with Paul Morley providing much of the band's art direction—Horn, Dudley, Jeczalik, and Langan formed the initial incarnation of The Art of Noise. The group's debut EP, "Into Battle with The Art of Noise", appeared in September 1983 on Horn's fledgling ZTT label. It immediately scored a hit in the urban and alternative dance charts in the USA with the highly percussive, cut-up instrumental track "Beat Box," a favorite among poppers.

The base hook of this song was also famously featured, with the addition of a synthesizer melody over the top of it, as the theme tune to popular ITV game show The Krypton Factor.

:Anne: When the group first started, we thought it would be a good idea to have an image that wasn't based around a fashion look. We thought it would encourage people to look at the music instead of the members of the band. It didn't last for long, though.:Gary: It really doesn't seem a lot different, actually; the responsibility a lot more different; it's probably more fun, more risk to it.:Anne: There's a very big risk in America because they think we're black; we were voted the second best new black act. We are wondering how we can quite cope with this.:Gary: There was at one point there came along an instrument that nobody had really used and we were lucky that we had one we could use. There are certain things you can do with it that you're not able to do with anything else. So it was a question of experimenting with that, and things really took off from there.:Anne: This is the famous Fairlight music computer, which you may have heard of.:Gary: Which plays an important part. I really think that the music is more important than the personality. The fashion around a personality seems to change a lot quicker than that around music. [Interview with Selina Scott and Nick Ross, BBC Breakfast Time, on the release of "Legs" singleListen|filename=Art of Noise Interview on Breakfast Time.ogg
title=Art of Noise Interview on Breakfast Time excerpt|description=An excerpt from "Art of Noise Interview on Breakfast Time"]

Changes

radio station playlists.

It was also around 1985 that Dudley, Jeczalik, and Langan made an acrimonious split from Morley and Horn as well as from the ZTT label. The circumstances of the reorganization were never well-publicized, but several sources indicate that there were disputes over creative control:

*An October 1984 feature in "Smash Hits" magazine indicated that Morley and Horn planned for the group to produce a number of projects that were much different from what was produced after the split. Planned was a cover of "Video Killed the Radio Star," originally by The Buggles (Horn and Geoff Downes); "Raiding the 20th Century", an album using sounds from throughout the 20th century as source material; the score for "The Living End", a film written by Morley and directed by Godley & Creme; and the soundtrack for a ballet. [http://www.zttaat.com/article.php?title=107]

*On May 25, 1985, the trio reportedly walked out on Morley and Horn just before a ZTT showcase performance, "The Value of Entertainment", that was to run for two weeks at the Ambassadors Theatre in London. The sudden departure left Morley to improvise a performance consisting of his reading an essay over Art of Noise recordings and three people dancing to "Beat Box" and "Close (To the Edit)." [http://www.gleeson0.demon.co.uk/artnoise.htm] Part of the spoken-word portion of the performance was subsequently released on the ZTT compilation album "Sampled".

*In an interview for "Melody Maker" in October 1985, Jeczalik indicated that he and Morley didn't get along and that he felt Morley's writing was pretentious. Jeczalik responded to a question about the level of Morley and Horn's involvement in "Who's Afraid" by saying, “It’s difficult to tell. We say approximately 1.73 percent, but it could even be as high as two percent. You see, all that has happened is that Gary and I started something, it was taken away, and we have taken steps to get it back.” In the same interview, Dudley indicated she felt parts of "Who's Afraid" were of dubious quality. [http://www.zttaat.com/article.php?title=287]

*In a July 2002 article penned for "The Guardian", Morley wrote, "I loved the name Art of Noise so much that I forced my way into the group. If over the years people asked me what I did in the group, I replied that I named them, and it was such a great name, that was enough to justify my role. I was the Ringo Starr of Art of Noise. I made the tea. Oh, and I wrote the lyrics to one of the loveliest pieces of pop music ever, Moments in Love. When Trevor and I left, they became a novelty group who had hits with Tom Jones." His disdain for the artistic direction of the group when he wasn't in control of it was even more evident in other articles he penned, including the liner notes of the 1986 compilation album "Daft" (under the name Otto Flake) and a September 2002 article for "The Observer". [http://www.zttaat.com/article.php?title=23] .

.

Around 1986, Jeczalik and Dudley started appearing in photographs without masks, alienating some fans that had come to appreciate Morley's "art for art's sake" aesthetic. The upcoming soundtrack pieces continued The Art of Noise's evolution into a pop band and away from Morley's faceless "nongroup."

Listen|filename=From Hammersmith to Tokyo and Back (Live).ogg
title=From Hammersmith to Tokyo and Back (Live) excerpt|description=An excerpt from "From Hammersmith to Tokyo and Back (Live)".

"Fact|date=October 2007. In 1987, The Art of Noise scored two movies, "Hiding Out" and "Dragnet", and one particular movement was used in both films. Their brass-based connecting passage between sections from the original Dragnet television show's theme song was used as incidental music during a dramatic scene—an armed chase through the rafters of a gymnasium—near the end of "Hiding Out".

Hits and misses

In 1988, a one-off collaboration with singer Tom Jones (a cover of Prince's "Kiss"—a staple in Jones' stage shows) renewed the public's interest in the Art of Noise and provided the group's biggest hit in the mainstream. The track appeared on several albums by Jones, and China Records included the song on the greatest hits compilation "The Best of the Art of Noise", the first edition of which also contained tracks licensed from ZTT.

The follow-up album, "Below the Waste", failed to achieve much success upon its release in 1989. While it did spawn the memorable single "Yebo!" (featuring the unique vocals of Zulu performers Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens) and what appears to be a Mancini tribute in the form of Robinson Crusoe, some critics felt the album was a hollow imitation of its predecessors, lacking the aesthetic and creative fullness of previous releases.

Compilations and solo

In 1990, Dudley and Jeczalik declared that the Art of Noise was done; they had officially disbanded.

The rest of the decade saw China Records releasing various Art of Noise compilations: "The Ambient Collection", "The FON Mixes", "The Drum and Bass Collection", "Art Works", and reissues of "Best of" without the ZTT-era tracks. Some of these featured new remixes by other artists. The China label eventually folded.

Although Dudley and Jeczalik had already dissolved the group, in 1990 they assisted in the promotion of the lightly remixed compilation "The Ambient Collection" that the China label released to cash in on the burgeoning ambient house scene, and Jeczalik approved the remixes that appeared on "The FON Mixes" the following year.

Dudley became well-known for composing numerous film and television scores in the 1990s. The most famous of these is probably "The Full Monty", which won an Academy Award for Original Music Score.

In 1995–1997, Jeczalik and "In No Sense? Nonsense!" coengineer Bob Kraushaar produced a number of instrumentals oriented toward dance clubs under the name Art of Silence, issuing an album titled "artofsilence.co.uk". Jeczalik also embarked on a new career in trading in futures contracts.

Other appearances

Four-fifths of The Art of Noise worked on the Yes album "90125", with Trevor Horn producing, Gary Langan engineering, and Anne Dudley and J.J. Jeczalik providing arrangements and keyboard programming. Many of the samples used on that album also appear on "Into Battle". The same four also appeared on Malcolm McLaren's 1982 album "Duck Rock" and the 1982 album "The Lexicon of Love" by ABC, on which Dudley also cowrote a track and began her scoring career.

The Art of Noise is also credited for the music to the ITV series "The Krypton Factor".

Anne Dudley and Killing Joke's Jaz Coleman collaborated on the 1990 album "Songs from the Victorious City", inspired by a trip the two made to Egypt.

The Art of Noise also gets a full writing credit for The Prodigy's "Firestarter", which samples the female "hey, hey" voice from "Close to the Edit". The Prodigy also contributed the remix "Instruments of Darkness (All of Us are One People)" to the 1991 compilation "The FON Mixes".

Anne Dudley produced two tracks for the 1993 Deborah Harry album "Debravation": "Strike Me Pink" and "Mood Ring," as well as cowriting and playing keyboard on "Strike Me Pink." She has scored orchestrations for dozens of pop releases over the years, and both scored and produced the album "Voice" for her neighbor Alison Moyet. Cathy Dennis added lyrics to one of Dudley's compositions and recorded it as "Too Many Walls", which became a U.S. Top 10 hit in 1991. Also, Dudley won the Academy Award for best original score (musical or comedy) for "The Full Monty".

The group's version of "Peter Gunn" was used as the theme music for the 2008 BBC TV series "Bill Oddie's Wild Side".

Reformation

According to an interview with J.J. Jeczalik reported in the ZTT fanzine [http://www.ianpeel.com/features "Outside World"] in 1991, Jeczalik, Anne Dudley, and Gary Langan were inspired by the commercial success of "The FON Mixes" and had discussed reuniting the group as a trio again. In preparation to record a new album, J.J. and Gary traveled to Cuba to gather new source material. However, no new recordings were produced with the new lineup, and the Art of Noise remained defunct.

In 1998, Trevor Horn, Paul Morley, and Anne Dudley began talking about the original intent of the project, its relevance in 20th-century music, and the impending turn of a new century. The group temporarily reformed, adding guitarist Lol Creme but leaving J.J. Jeczalik conspicuously absent.

A new single, "Dream On"—which featured remixed versions of the forthcoming album track, "Dreaming In Colour"—was released to club DJs later that year, showcasing mixes by Way Out West. A second single, "Metaforce", featuring a rap by Rakim, preceded the 1999 release of the concept album "The Seduction of Claude Debussy" on the ZTT label.

The "Seduction" album marked an evolution, rather than a return, to the band's glory days, taking the form of a cohesive concept album depicting the life and works of Claude Debussy. However, while impressive from a technical and critical standpoint, it failed to score as a pop album.

Dissolution and re-releases

After performing a handful of live shows in the UK and U.S., the band dissolved.

The ZTT label continues to reissue archive material, such as a remastered "Into Battle..." on CD (with bonus tracks, but substituting the original version of "Beat Box" with the later "Diversion One") and a compilation SACD called "Reconstructed". In early 2004, the [http://www.karvavena.com Karvavena] label released an Art of Noise tribute album, "The Abduction of The Art of Noise". This album contains covers of various tracks, including a new version of "Beat Box" performed by J.J. Jeczalik under his Art of Silence moniker.

August 21, 2006 saw ZTT release a 4-CD Art of Noise box set, entitled "And What Have You Done With My Body, God?", consisting of tracks exclusively from the 1983–85 ZTT era, from the initial tentative demos created by Gary Langan and J.J. Jeczalik in the wake of the Yes "90125" sessions, to selections from the Ambassadors Theatre performances featuring Horn and Morley, recorded at concerts profiling ZTT acts—prior to which, Langan, Jeczalik, and Dudley had abandoned the label (and, for the time being) the band. The set featured over 40 unreleased remixes, demos, and works in progress, as well as the complete vinyl version of "Into Battle..."—sourced from the original masters—for the first time on CD. It also included a 36-page book featuring new interviews with all of the original members.

Selected discography

Singles

* "Beat Box" (1983)
* "Moments In Love" (1983) and (1985)
* "Close (To the Edit)" (1984)
* "Legs" (1985)
* "Paranoimia," featuring Max Headroom (1986)
* "Peter Gunn," featuring Duane Eddy (1986) — Grammy Award winner in 1987
* "Legacy" (1986)
* "Dragnet" (1987)
* "Kiss" (1988)
* "Yebo!", featuring Mahlathini and Mahotella Queens (1989)
* "Art of Love"
* "Shades of Paranoimia"
* "Dreaming in Colour" (1998)
* "Metaforce," featuring Rakim (1999)

Albums

* "Into Battle with the Art of Noise" mini-album (1983)
* "Who's Afraid of the Art of Noise?" (1984)
* "In Visible Silence" (1986)
* "In No Sense? Nonsense!" (1987)
* "Below the Waste" (1989)
* "The Seduction of Claude Debussy" (1999)

Compilation and remix albums

* "Daft" (1984)
* "Re-works of Art of Noise" (1987)
* "The Best of the Art of Noise" (1988; reissued in 1992 with different tracks)
* "The Ambient Collection" (1990)
* "The FON Mixes" (1991)
* "The Drum and Bass Collection" (1996)
* "Belief System" / "Bashful" / "An Extra Pulse of Beauty" (1999)
* "Reduction" (2000)
* "The Abduction of the Art of Noise" (2003)
* "Reconstructed" (2004)
* "And What Have You Done With My Body, God?" 4-CD box set (2006)

DVD

* The Art of Noise: "Into Vision" (2002) — four different concerts between 1999 and 2000 in Chicago; The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California; in Shepherd's Bush, London; and in Wembley, London.

Chart positions

ingles

Band members

ee also

*Number one dance hits of 1984 (USA)
*List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart

References

External links

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*
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* [http://www.myspace.com/artofnoiseoffical Official Myspace Page]
* [http://www.ztt.com/ ZTT Records official site]
* [http://www.ztt.com/shop ZTT Records official store]
* Ian Peel: " [http://www.zttaat.com/article.php?title=172 Warriors of pop, 21 years of ZTT] " Record Collector, September 2004 (copy at "Zang Tuum Tumb and all that") Article about ZTT's history, contains info on Art of Noise
* [http://homepage.ntlworld.com/sean.cranham/aon/aonband.htm Visibly Silent — Art of Noise Fan Page]
* [http://aon.electriceye.net The Heart of Noise — A Tribute to The Art of Noise]