My fiancée does not like the noise music scene. After almost two years of dating the only admission I’ve gotten out of her is that it’s amazing that they can reproduce their compositions on stage. Not just some approximation of the original song but the actual original song, proving that the genre is not simply noise, but in fact precisely crafted compositions that many people take very seriously. This is the sort of thing going through my head as I listen to this very limited live White Mice release, containing a brief (just under 25 minute) show at Angle of View in Nashville last July. Stolen Sounds
I've got to start off by explaining just how fantastically packaged this Cdr is. It comes in a dark grey box roughly the size of the old cases double CD's came in before bands started almost exclusively using digipaks. The printing on the box (on not only the front and back but also all four sides) is a lovely metallic silver which looks astounding against the dark grey. The inside of the top of the box contains another full panel metallic silver illustration and there are three full panel stiff foam pieces with additional individual illustrations on each of them. Rounding off the set is a sticker of one of the illustrations plus a White Mice button and a button from the label, Stolen Sounds. Of course there is also the Cdr.
The Cdr contains one twenty four and a half minute track which is in actuality eight separate songs. I was at first disappointed that they didn't separate this out into eight tracks, but upon repeat listens it becomes obvious that the small pauses between tracks that accompany your typical Cdr recording would have been jarring in the midst of a show that flows from one song to the next so effortlessly. The show opens with vocals run through an oscillator and, delightfully, high pitch chirps that sound like a cross between birds and squeaking mice. These sounds weave themselves around each other incorporating slight pitch changes for the first three minutes with only a mercifully brief couple moments of crowd noise (one guy making the "whoo" noise and a light smattering of applause). A few seconds after the three minute mark the bass and drums rip through the atmosphere in full force with opening track "mousetrap." From there they transition into the drone laden "sewercide" repetitive beats pummeling the listener over the course of three minutes. The final fifteen minutes of the set abandons the atmospheric drone that was prevalent in "sewercide" and the opening few minutes for the faster paced sonic assault that tend to dominate White Mice albums. They briefly slow down towards the end only to transition into the fast pace chaotic grind of their closing song "the maze."
Two things struck me about this Cdr (besides the lavish packaging): First and foremost the sound quality is absurdly good for a live recording made even better by the silently rapt audience, and second, White Mice are one of the best touring live bands in the scene. This is more than just a piece of ephemera to put in a carefully arranged collection of limited edition noise releases; instead this serves not only as a gift to the band's dedicated fan base, but also as an excellent introduction to a very exciting young band. With five new releases already scheduled for 2007 music fans should do themselves the favor of discovering White Mice, and for those who are already a fan this Cdr is positively essential, not just to complete a collection but most importantly for the pleasure of the music.
