Fight Your Own War

Book excerpt: Power electronics is a genre of industrial or ‘noise’ music that utilises feedback and synthesizers to produce an intense, loud, challenging sound. To match this sonic excess, power electronics also relies heavily upon extreme thematic and visual content — whether in lyrics, album art, or live performance. The result is a violent, ecstatic, and potentially consciousness-altering spectacle, and a genre that often invites strong reactions from both listeners and critics. FIGHT YOUR OWN WAR is the first English-language book primarily devoted to power electronics. Written by artists, fans, and critics from around the world, its essays and reviews explore the current state of the genre, from early development through to live performance, listener experience, artist motivation, gender and subcultures such as ‘Japanoise’. In considering this ‘spectacle’ of noise, how far can we simply label power electronics as a genre of shock tactics or of transgression for transgression’s sake?