#fujuiwang

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I have always found harsh noise interesting. It's not very interesting in a musical sense most of the time. In fact, if we're not talking about the unique ways that its practitioners fashion their particular brand of cacophony, it's not interesting musically at all. What I find most interesting is the attraction of harsh noise which is, almost by definition, repellent. When I lived in Russia for a time, we used to go to the banya every once in a while. I loved it. It was a little hut on the shores of a freezing cold lake. Going to the banya is a time-honored Russian practice and it is mostly done in the same way everywhere. You go into the hut, which is steaming hot, due to hot coals and water being poured on them. You sit in the hut for awhile and work up a nice sweat. Then, you lie down on a bench and someone bashes you across the chest and back with a bundle of birch branches. Then, you sit on the bench and sweat some more. Finally, when you have sweated enough, when you're about to pass out from heat stroke, you run out of the hut and jump into the cold-ass lake. Then you climb out of the lake, go back to the hut, and repeat the process. And then you feel like a a billion rubles. What does this have to do with harsh noise? Nothing. I just like to talk about the banya. Just kidding. What's great about harsh noise is how much it makes even ordinary music sound after you subject yourself to the harshness of the noisiness. In this, it's like the banya. Try this out: go download (or, better yet, buy on cassette!) this Torturing Nurse/FuJui Wang Split Tape. Put it on your stereo at high volume. Trust me, you'll want to turn it off immediately. Your family/roommates will implore and threaten you to turn it off. Every fiber of your being will reach toward the "STOP" button. Do not give in to the impulse. Listen to it; let its hatefulness wash over you for at least one side of the tape. When it's done, when the agony has subsided, go put on literally any type of normal music. You could even put on the type of music you would never listen to in a million years because you hate it so much. You know what it sounds like in this case? Angels licking your butthole. It sounds so goddamn good. Physiologically, the banya is supposed to increase blood flow inside your body. It stimulates you and makes you appreciate the cool waters of the lake. Harsh noise can have the same effect on your brain and make you appreciate music even more than you already do. Give it a try. Listen/purchase: Torturing Nurse / FuJui Wang - Split Tape by Torturing Nurse / FuJui Wang