''Escape from Noise'' is the fourth studio album by

Negativland Negativland is an American experimental music band that originated in the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1970s. The core of the band consists of Mark Hosler, David Wills (aka "The Weatherman"), Peter Conheim and Jon Leidecker (aka "Wobbly" ...

. It marked the band's first release on an established

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

SST Records SST Records is an American independent record label formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California by musician Greg Ginn. The company was first founded in 1966 by Ginn at age 12 as Solid State Transmitters, a small business through which he sold elec ...

. The album continued to develop the band's

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

style, though it also featured shorter, more melodic songs than their previous material. The track "

Christianity Is Stupid "Christianity Is Stupid" is a song from Negativland's 1987 concept album, ''Escape from Noise''. Background In the song, Negativland rearranges words and phrases to form a different meaning. They sampled phrases from a sermon by Estus Pirkle (fro ...

", a track featuring samples of evangelist

Estus Pirkle Estus Washington Pirkle (March 12, 1930 – March 3, 2005) was an American Baptist minister, evangelist, and filmmaker. Early life Estus Washington Pirkle was born in Vienna, Georgia on March 12, 1930. He was one of eleven children to Grover W ...

from his film ''

If Footmen Tire You, What Will Horses Do? ''If Footmen Tire You, What Will Horses Do?'' is a 1971 American Christian exploitation horror film directed by Ron Ormond, featuring Southern Baptist minister Estus Pirkle. Background The film is based on a sermon by Estus W. Pirkle held on ...

'', proved to be an enduring

signature song A signature (; from , "to sign") is a depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. Signatures are often, but not always, handwritten or styliz ...

. Negativland gained media attention a year later after issuing a press release falsely implying that murderer

David Brom David Francis Brom (born October 3, 1971) is an American mass murderer. He killed his parents, brother and sister with an axe in February 1988 at the family's home in Rochester, Minnesota, after an argument with his father. Crimes In the early e ...

had been motivated by the song; this would inspire their subsequent album ''

Helter Stupid ''Helter Stupid'' is Negativland's fifth studio album, released in 1989. It is a concept album focused on the media coverage of a hoax formulated by the band claiming that "Christianity Is Stupid" from their previous album, '' Escape from Nois ...

''.PRANKS! – Pullout – Music Quarterly – The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper
/ref>

Release

The original release of ''Escape from Noise'' came with a yellow

bumper sticker A bumper sticker is an adhesive label or sticker designed to be attached to the rear of a car or truck, often on the bumper. They are commonly sized at around and are typically made of PVC. Bumper stickers serve various purposes, including p ...

with black letters reading "Car Bomb", and a booklet outlining the history of the band, along with photos of band members and reviews of previous releases. In the booklet, Crosley Bendix ( Don Joyce) describes how the band's apartment and studio space were destroyed by a two-alarm fire on the night of "Friday the 13th of February, 1987". Bendix, Crosley. "Is It Over Yet?" Twenty-page booklet from album, pages 1–2. Rec Rec Music, SST Records. The fire started in Smart Laundry, a

dry cleaning Dry cleaning is any cleaning process for clothing and textiles using a solvent other than water. Clothes are instead soaked in a water-free liquid solvent (usually non-polar, as opposed to water which is a Solvent#Solvent classifications, polar ...

business located at street level below Negativland's apartment at 10028 San Pablo Avenue in

El Cerrito, California El Cerrito (Spanish language, Spanish for "The Little Hill") is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States, and forms part of the San Francisco Bay Area. It has a population of 25,962 according to the 2020 United States census, 2 ...

. When he saw flames leaping up past their kitchen window, band member Mark Hosler yelled to his friend Tera Freedman in the next room to call

9-1-1 911, sometimes written , is an emergency telephone number for Argentina, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Fiji, Jordan, Mexico, Pakistan, Maldives, Palau, Panama, Iraq, the Philippines, Sint Maarten, the United States, and Uruguay, as well as ...

. Hosler and Freedman collected the finished

master tapes Master recordings, or simply masters, are the original recordings—including post-recording mixes and production edits—of audio performances, from which all analog and digital copies of the audio are derived from. The term refers only to the r ...

and artwork for ''Escape from Noise'' and quickly left the building, just as fire crews arrived. Cleaning solvents in the laundry accelerated the fire and caused extensive damage to the building before fire crews gained control. Afterward, the band grimly assessed the total destruction of the recording equipment and the materials from previous releases before traveling to Los Angeles to meet with SST executives and "reaffirm their album commitment". In 1999,

Seeland Records Seeland Records is an independent record label created by Negativland in 1979 to release their own recordings. It is a reference to the song "Seeland" by the band Neu!, who also gave Negativland the basis for their name, Sea-Land Corporation, a ...

reissued the album in a new "un-remixed" edition, adding no bonus tracks and moving the text on the front cover to the booklet. A sticker was placed on the album, saying:

An old album from Negativland: Digitally exacto-remastered 33
rpm Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...
compact disc re-issue of Negativland's classic 1987 LP with no added bonus tracks of any kind! Don't let the new cover design fool you – your
audiophile An audiophile (from + ) is a person who is enthusiastic about high-fidelity sound reproduction. The audiophile seeks to achieve high sound quality in the audio reproduction of recorded music, typically in a quiet listening space in a room with ...
friends might think that such classics as "Car Bomb" and "Christianity Is Stupid" sound crisper and cleaner on this newly un-remixed edition, but they're dead wrong! And even though there are no longer eleven time zones in the Soviet Union (and no Soviet Union, either) this re-release sounds ''exactly'' the same as the original. The only thing different is the sticker you are reading right now.

The original LP is still in print on SST Records. In 1988, the group released a

press release A press release (also known as a media release) is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing new information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public releas ...

suggesting that the song "

" was connected to murders by

, and that the group was forced to cancel a planned tour in support of ''Escape from Noise''. However, there were no connections with the murders, and the tour was cancelled only due to shortage of funds and free time. Their next album, ''

'', made use of the event by sampling news reports on the case.

Track listing

* A hidden track follows "Endscape". It is performed on the ''No Other Possibility'' video compilation as "Fire Song". * On the 1999 CD release, "Announcement" is split into a 0:13 Track 1 and a 1:39 pregap to Track 2.

Personnel

Negativland *Mark Hosler: singing, synthesizers, guitars, voice tapes, percussions, rhythm loops, bomb parts, David manipulation, tiny metal banjo, recorder, many other noises, mix * Don Joyce: yelling, talking tapes, electric tympani, synthesizer, lyrics, singing, Booper bee, bomb parts and assembly, noises everywhere, mix *Chris Grigg: drums, synthesizer, singing, computer & software, field recordings, mix *David Wills: talking,

shortwave Shortwave radio is radio transmission using radio frequencies in the shortwave bands (SW). There is no official definition of the band range, but it always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (app ...

, family tape, bomb parts, regular Booper *Richard Lyons: singing, lyrics, voice ;Additional personnel *Ian Allen:

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

(on "Sycamore"), rhythm loop (on "Car Bomb"), bell (on "Time Zones") *

Jello Biafra Eric Reed Boucher (born June 17, 1958), known professionally as Jello Biafra, is an American singer, spoken word artist and political activist. He is the former lead singer and songwriter for the San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys. Init ...

c/o

Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk bands during its initial eight-year run. Initially consisting of lead guitarist East Bay Ray, bassist Klaus Fl ...

: toilet flushing (on "The Playboy Channel") *Das c/o Big City Orchestra: voice tapes (on "Quiet Please") *Dina Emerson: wordless vocals (on "You Don't Even Live Here") *

Steve Fisk Steve Fisk is an American, Washington-based audio engineer, record producer and musician. As a musician, he has been in bands such as the instrumental alternative/indie rock band Pell Mell and the electronic band Pigeonhed. He has long been a ...

optigan The Optigan (a portmanteau of ''optical organ'') is an electronic keyboard instrument designed for the consumer market. The name stems from the instrument's reliance on pre-recorded optical soundtracks to reproduce sound. Later versions (built un ...

and voice tapes (on "Michael Jackson") *Tera Freedman: voice tape (on "Backstage Pass") *Phil Freihofner: bomb parts (on "Car Bomb") *

Ray Briem Ray Briem (January 19, 1930 - December 12, 2012) was a radio personality who worked in Los Angeles most of his career, most notably at KABC. He was noted for his conservative viewpoints, historical knowledge, polished delivery and love of Big B ...

: radio talk show host (on "Time Zones") *Ed Markmann: paid voice *

Fred Frith Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as a founding member of the English avant-rock group Henry ...

: urban drum and halfspeed violin (on "Michael Jackson") *

Jerry Garcia Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician who was the lead guitarist and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence during the counterculture of the 196 ...

c/o

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

: mouth sounds and chimes (on "Backstage Pass") *

Alexander Hacke Alexander Hacke (also known as Alexander von Borsig, Alex Hacke, Hacke, born 11 October 1965) is a German guitarist, bass guitarist, singer, musician, record producer, writer and filmmaker. He is primarily known as a longtime member of the influ ...

c/o

Einstürzende Neubauten (, 'Collapsing New Buildings') is a German experimental music group, formed in West Berlin in 1980. The band currently comprises founding members Blixa Bargeld (lead vocals, guitar, keyboard) and N.U. Unruh (custom-made instruments, percussion, ...

: metallic noises (on "Christianity Is Stupid") *

Mickey Hart Mickey Hart (born Michael Steven Hartman, September 11, 1943) is an American percussionist. He is best known as one of the two drummers of the rock band Grateful Dead. He was a member of the Grateful Dead from September 1967 until February 19 ...

c/o Grateful Dead: percussion and processed animals (on "Backstage Pass") *Tom Herman c/o Tripod Jimmie: torture guitars (on "Methods of Torture") *

Henry Kaiser Henry John Kaiser (May 9, 1882 – August 24, 1967) was an American industrialist who became known for his shipbuilding and construction projects, then later for his involvement in fostering modern American health care. Prior to World War II, ...

: doublespeed disco guitars (on "Quiet Please") *Louisa Michaels c/o Step One Nursery School: singing (on "Over the Hiccups") *

Mark Mothersbaugh Mark Allen Mothersbaugh (; born May 18, 1950) is an American musician and composer. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder, lead vocalist and keyboardist of the new wave band Devo, whose " Whip It" was a top 20 single in the US ...

c/o

Devo Devo is an American new wave band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs ( Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a No. 14 ...

: jazz bass,

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

, e-cussion, saxophone and noises (on "The Playboy Channel") *

The Residents The Residents are an American art collective and art rock band best known for their avant-garde music and multimedia works. Since their first official release, ''Meet the Residents'' (1974), they have released over 60 albums, numerous music vid ...

: hoots and clanging (on "You Don't Even Live Here") *Rev.

Ivan Stang Ivan Stang (born Douglass St. Clair Smith; August 21, 1953) is an American writer, filmmaker and broadcaster, best known as the author and publisher of the first screed of the Church of the SubGenius. He is credited with founding the Church wit ...

c/o The

Church of the SubGenius The Church of the SubGenius is a parody religion that satirizes better-known belief systems. It teaches a complex philosophy that focuses on J. R. "Bob" Dobbs, purportedly a salesman from the 1950s, who is revered as a prophet by the Church. SubGen ...

: larynx (on "Christianity Is Stupid") *Rand Weatherwax c/o

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

orchestra hit An orchestra(l) hit or stab is an isolated staccato note or chord synthesizer, synthesized from the sounds of many orchestral instruments together, or sampled from a single Sforzando (musical direction), sforzando performance. The orchestra hit ...

s and e-cussion (on "Quiet Please") *Rob Wortman c/o Kingshouse: leaf blower (on "You Don't Even Live Here")

References

External links

Collection of reviews of ''Escape from Noise''
* ''Escape from Noise''at

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Escape From Noise 1987 albums Negativland albums 1980s concept albums Experimental music albums