Released
on January 12th, 1987, the first proper full length studio album by
NON, Blood & Flame, was published by Mute Records on this day, 35
years ago.
Though Boyd Rice had released several records prior
to this, including his “black” album under his own name, a live NON LP, a
collaboration with Fad Gadget’s Frank Tovey and a few EPs and oddball
singles, Blood & Flame would become his definitive statement on
"noise" music for the latter half of the 1980s. In the same way that
Dick Dale became the “king” of surf guitar or Martin Deny the “king” of
Exotica, Boyd claimed the noise crown on the basis of offering up one of
the most uncompromising, yet listenable entries into this rapidly
expanding genre. Whereas many stuck to piercing, shrill cacophony for
pure shock value, NON offered up something that had far more nuance,
harmonic complexity and textural variety. Culling his sounds from a
selection of homemade devices, destroyed tapes or butchered vinyl, Rice
was able to craft his music with a degree of artistry that was elusive
for most other practitioners of the art.
I remember when the
album was first released, it quickly became a staple of my library and a
go-to whenever I needed something cleansing to grind away the detritus
of life as it accumulated on my mind’s hull, like barnacles on a boat.
Its abrasive brutality, tempered with a kind of fuzzy warmth, was always
a perfect antidote. It was also inspirational in terms of my own
creative endeavors as it was one of those rare records that triggers an
epiphany insofar as revealing new worlds of possibilities and
approaches. I still find myself drawn to this music, despite the often
controversial nature of its author. Nobody else has ever managed to
make “noise” sound so “nice” to my ears. For that, I can ignore the
social-Darwinian indulgences of the man and focus solely on his “music”.
