For as long as I can remember, there have been conversations and debates around Record Store Day (RSD) and people seem to love to have strong opinions, usually opposing the matter. RSD has mainly sparked ongoing controversy, with critics arguing that it has shifted from celebrating independent record shops to being dominated by major labels, limited-edition hype, and resellers who drive up prices, making it harder for genuine music fans and small stores to benefit. Truthfully I do not really care to discuss RSD as I really do not care what people think on it either — therefore why would I assume anyone had to care what I think?
Something bizarre began brewing a few years ago when Shaun Cohen, an A&R employee for Sony Records and the Legacy imprint, began to bring the ideas of an extreme music collection honouring Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music to his higher ups. Curating a somewhat broad range of artists’ all under the Industrial & Noise umbrella, including titans of the genre’s history, Japanoise legends and some of the most important names in the game.
1975 album Metal Machine Music by Lou Reed remains one of the most polarizing and influential works in experimental music history, challenging conventional ideas of what music could be. Spanning four sides of relentless guitar feedback, distortion, and amplifier noise, it abandons melody, rhythm, and lyrics entirely in favor of dense, mechanical drones. Often interpreted as either a confrontational artistic statement or a deliberate provocation aimed at the music industry, the LP challenges listeners to rethink what qualifies as music at all. While initially derided, it has since gained a cult reputation for its uncompromising vision and its influence on later experimental, noise, and industrial artists. Its abrasive, non-melodic structure anticipated the aesthetics of noise music and helped lay conceptual groundwork for industrial music, influencing artists who embraced dissonance, repetition, and sonic extremity as expressive tools. Figures in the industrial and avant-garde scenes later cited the album as a key inspiration, not for its listenability but for its radical defiance of commercial expectations and its exploration of sound as pure texture. In retrospect, Metal Machine Music can be understood as both a critique of the music industry and a visionary work that expanded the boundaries of artistic experimentation, shaping the trajectory of underground and experimental music for decades.
Power to Consume – Volume I includes liner notes from David Holzer who has published “groundbreaking articles” and who is working on the first comprehensive book about the record as I will refer to as MMM. In the linear notes he goes about interviewing Thurston Moore, Drew McDowall and The Rita (Sam McKinley) on their experience with the Lou Reed classic, as well as highlighting each artist and their contributions. The record begins with a ‘guitar-centric’ feedback piece by Thurston, who notes that “When I learned that it would be feature recognized, serious practitioners of noise, I knew they would use MMM as inspiration and not a slavish recreation.” This remark would ring true throughout the compilation. His track is titled after the MMM original “Drone Cognizance”. Contemporary noise and experimental pioneer, Aaron Dilloway, presents manipulated tape mutiny utilizing old analog stereos, tape echos and delays that gives us the psychedelic dissonance that is championed in use of the original MMM stereo 8 Track appropriately titled “Psychic Motor Disorder”. Sacred Bones recording artist Pharmakon’s “Blunt Instruments” is a collapsing harsh noise symphony – where structure feedback collides, machines fail and high pitched screams of undiscernible rage circle a descending drone. This track is a departure from the first two, creating a more sinister and brutal tone. “Feedback” by the late Coil contributor, member of the Psychic TV collective and solo producer Drew McDowall maintains his minimal roots where his contribution “plays with feedback not as an interesting layer or embellishment but instead the thing itself”. Bloodyminded frontman, Mark Solotroff, also known for his predominantly dark ambient solo work under his own name, presents a combination of analog synth loops and one of his main tools, feedback. The Rita is a nice surprise ending, displaying the classic mid 90’s harsh noise sound that he has been known for championing over the last 30 decades. For the heads, the back of each record contains a full list of equipment used that each artist provided, noting many unusual methods and forms of recording that make up a unique pairing to each track.
The second edition, simply titled Power to Consume – Volume II does an equally wonderful job on fusing artists’ whom have contributed to the origins and roots of Industrial & Noise music, as well as artists’ who have been spending the last few decades contributing to these genres in their own right, and respectfully craving out their own sounds. The artwork is an inverted version of the first edition, and 2 LPs are housed in a single jacket. Volume II includes linear notes by the infamous Frans De Waard which are also very well written. Interviews with every artist on the compilation is a really nice surprise and interesting read, as well as bio’s on each artists’. This one sort of excites me to see some of my personal favorites Moonbeam Terror & Pod Blotz, who in my opinion have not yet achieved their due recognition alongside noise legends Masonna & Merzbow. RRRecycled Ron Lessard aka the Greatest Living Noise Artist aka Emil Beaulieau begins the sonic explorations with My Brother’s Name Is Lucien, But Everyone Calls Him Lou where he uses a contact mic attached to a tuna can, an “anti” record through a Consumer Model Turntable and through “guitar pedal”. A signature sound of distorted, cut up harsh noise using household items and frantic manipulation. It’s no doubt that Lydia Lunch is a legend, not particularly in any noise adjacent world – although here with a common spoken word, with an almost Genesis P-Orridgesque candance, where she mutters some stuff that might have to do with Lou Reed (not sure) and some mediocre background psyche noise music. They Tried to Cure Him With Electricity is my personal favorite track of the compilation, as with Moonbeam Terror it’s never certain what you will hear, what is certain is that it is all very good. Making some of the most terrifying and impressive post-industrial & noise music in the last decade, here a mechanical and cold pulse creates a hypnotic basis for chaos and unhinged junk noise. Eros is Karl O’Connor (aka Regis), Boris Wilsdorf (Einstürzende Neubauten Producer & founder of studio andereBaustelle in Germany), and Liam Andrews (aka Archer and several other project), gives us the thin and airy lo-fi unpredictability of T 2221. Ambient bowed textures, layering overtones are interrupted by crashes of saturation. Acoustic space is optimal in creating the space sizzling throughout the track. Another highlight for me comes from Blixa Bergald’s “some small animals you don’t want to meet”. I had no idea what to expect with from the founder of Einstürzende Neubauten – though I was not disappointed, where layers of Blixa’s animalistic, strained and somewhat jarring vocal chants, deep throat gurgles that I would expect to hear from an isolated goregrind vocal track. I also knew to expect greatness from one of the best to do it, multimedia artist Suzy Poling under her musical outlet Pod Blotz and of course I was right. Alien electronics mutated with field recordings seemingly from outer space, at one moment rhythmic and at the next in trance. Error-Control Regulator continues to use the same soothing techniques to slowly drag the listener under water. There is no doubt that Suicide were one of the greatest groups of all time. Martin Rev, one half of Suicide was also notably an important solo artist although this track does not demonstrate that to me, said to be recorded with Internal digital gear, the track Rev Train is one that I could do without. Merzbow blends a bit of his signature harsh noise with free-jazz and glitchy elements, sampling what sounds like video game soundbits and bitcrush in no logical sequence or musical fashion. Also random dry piano notes are consistent throughout the piece, where reverse sound is critical to the psychedelic components of this track called anestolapas. The D side plays inward from the outer grove where Merzbow turn into a 4 second locked grove – proving to be the greatest there ever was with his 4 second track Untitled where there is no mistake that you are hearing the unapologetic magic of that is Masonna.
Currently there are no confirmed plans for a Volume III, although the ideas are undoubtedly brewing.
