At Indieterria, we are very privileged to call Christopher Nosnibor a friend. He is a very respected music journalist, writer and reviewer at popular music blogs including the indie Bibles of Whisperin’ and Hollerin’ and Auralaggravation among others. Self proclaimed word machine, utterly brilliant, highly creative. Christopher is also a musician, member of the noise outfit …everything (ruined) and now NOISENIBOR. It will not be an exaggeration to call him a man of many great talents that shows our twisted reality through the prism of urban infection by populism, capitalism, consumerism and disdain for others. His music is experimental, difficult and avant-garde, yet soothing in a very strange, disturbing way. It’s like a constant droning white noise of our consciousness screaming at us from the background trying to point us to take the right direction. Once in a while, it’s good to just stop and simply listen.
“Festive Fifty” single cover
Official bio: What could be more festive than fifty minutes of continuous droning oscillators and distorted noise? Pretty much anything, but this could be the perfect soundtrack for clearing out guests who outstay their welcome. After a number of live collaborations, novelist, music critic, and spoken-word performer Christopher Nosnibor began experimenting with found-sound audio recordings in 2019, alongside forming power electronics duo …(something) ruined with Paul Tone. Lockdown rendered band activity rather difficult, and so be pushed forward with his own solo noiseworks, and, over time, NOISENIBOR evolved. “Festive Fifty” is his fifth and final release of 2024, a harsh noise instrumental work which is – quite intentionally – the antithesis of the conventional ‘Christmas single’. Its title is a reference to John Peel’s legendary end-of-year playlists, while at the same time referring to the track’s duration, which is precisely fifty minutes. Although a single, continuous, audio work, “Festive Fifty” comprises five distinct movements, each ten minutes in duration. Play loud. No, louder than that. If it doesn’t hurt, it’s not loud enough.
I’m sure nobody expected a Christmas track like this on our blog, but since 2024 has been a year full of surprises (good and bad), we decided to go along with the flow and chose a “song” that perfectly summarizes the last 12 months. “Festive Fifty” is not really a song, frankly, I was not sure if it was a single, EP or a one track album and I had to ask at the source. What we are given is a brilliant 50 minute composition that will make extreme music fans squeal with delight. ”Festive Fifty” is actually a dream come true for those who are not afraid to dive head first into genres such as power electronics, drone, harsh noise wall (HNW) and Japanoise.
Noise is not a genre one can hear being played on the national radio stations on a Sunday afternoon. It is classed as an experimental type of music and only a handful of underground zines or music blogs are currently covering it – you must already know about its existence to be able to hear it. Noise has its roots in the Italian, French and Japanese avant-garde electronic music of the 60’s and 70’s, but it became especially influential during the 80’s and 90’s, when portable recording equipment became available for home studios. UK and USA were true noise capitals of the world with artists such a Ramleh, Whitehouse, Dominick Fernow (Prurient, Vatican Shadow), Sam McKinlay (The Rita) or John Duncan revolutionized electronica by mixing it with samples, spoken word, industrial or cinematic sound effects, synthesizers and amplifiers.
Ok, history lesson over, it’s time to finally take a closer look at “Festive Fifty”. The track is divided into 5 equal parts lasting exactly 10 minute each. They do not have any names, so for this review, I will refer to them as Untitled I, II, III, IV and V.
“Festive Fifty” starts slowly and monotonously with Untitled I which probably uses the most minimalistic sound effects out of all 5 parts. If you are listening to it while on your headphones, be prepared that the rhythm and volume are going drastically up every few minutes, the first change is recorded at the 2 minute and 20 second mark. This sudden, unexpected volume increase can give you tinnitus if you are not careful. There is another change occurring at 5 minutes and 11 seconds that reminds me a bit of the sound my old ZX Spectrum+ used to make when loading games.
NOISENIBOR picture by Annabelle Jenkinson
Untitled II is probably my favourite part of the “Festive Fifty”. It is mid tempo, much faster than Untitled I, buzzing like a firecracker. One minute in, you can hear the hypnotizing and sizzling beat reminding me of hardcore techno produced by 90’s outfit Der Dritte Raum (Andreas Kruger) or maybe even Shit & Shine. At 14 minute mark, NOISENIBOR goes into the Members of Mayday territory with sonic vortexes and cacophony that turns into gabber. Brilliant stuff!
Untitled III starts at the 20 minute mark and as you will notice, the speed is increasing to the levels of industrial fast techno brackets. This is where the noise becomes the heart beat, you can physically feel the rhythm pulsing through your body, especially around the 26 minute mark. That’s Ramleh x Vatican Shadow x DeWelt 18V combi drill. I really love noise as a genre but at such a high level of distortion and clamour, I even had to take a bit of a break!
Luckily Untitled IV returns to slower pave and comporting buzz, with the exception of the ultra fast clicking sound at the base of the track. Christopher Nosnibor is a big fan of Prurient and this is almost a love letter to Dominick Fernow. I can also hear Gai, The Rita, Incapacitants inspired “pure noise” hum – very neatly done and executed.
The last part of the “Festive Fifty” aka Untitled V theoretically starts at the 40 minute mark, but in my personal view, we should consider it starting2 minutes earlier. Why? There is a massive tempo, volume and speed change that doesn’t fit with the rest of the segment. I know noise has no well defined boundaries, but structure is massively important, hence I’m more inclined to think Untitled IV has only 8 minutes in length and Untitled V – 12. In my interpretation, Untitled V starts with Thunder-dome techno, a furious vibration, deafening fluctuation and million beats per minute. Then it reverts into a drone, only to erupt again. This roller-coaster ride is accompanied by a wild and wide range of whistles, blares, hisses, shrieks and various signals until everything dies down and there is only silence again.
In summary, “Festive Fifty” is probably the truest holiday music we ever reviewed on Indieterria. I cannot name any other time of the calendar year that is equally noisy, droning, dull, littered with useless background yammer, jabber, babble and other unnecessary bedlams. There is hardly any sense or logic in the capitalistic pursuit of expensive presents nobody needs at the expense of charity, humility and simple empathy.
You will find more structure, more beauty in the harshest, most brutal HNW than at your local supermarket two days before Christmas eve.
Save your sanity and listen to more extreme music than to the Christmas carols in stores.
Merry Christmas.
NOISENIBOR music:
https://christophernosnibor.bandcamp.com/
Follow Christopher Nosibor online:
https://twitter.com/chris_nosnibor
https://www.facebook.com/christopher.nosnibor
https://www.instagram.com/nosniborchristopher/
Rita Dabrowicz
Indieterria 
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