Temporada 1 · Rizomas en Combustión · JVV-T1-28
Accelerationist noise: soundtrack of the collapse
I When the hum becomes a manifesto
Civilisation is coming down with a roar: sirens howling in Gaza, drone engines over Kharkiv, turbines screaming in the lithium mines of the Altiplano.
Noise —that tangle of distortion, saturation and feedback— is no mere musical genre; it is a sonic seismograph of the planet's broken edges.
Merzbow shredded rock in the 90s; Ben Frost coated the glitch in sub-bass drones; today, collectives in Mexico City and Lagos mix mutilated reggaeton with air-raid alarms and live war RSS: sonic accelerationism.
II Physics of the roar
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Dynamiting the form
Melody is hierarchy: verse, chorus, bridge—the tree Deleuze would hate. Noise embraces the electric rhizome: every frequency connects to any other, with no centre. -
Energy with no reconciliation
Capital accelerates on exponential curves; noise replicates that curve in decibels, with no harmonic redemption. It is the soundtrack of Land's Diagram. -
Brutal materiality
Valve feedback, saturated pedals, digital distortion: every spark reminds you that the signal is physical, that it burns copper and silicon and coal. Noise makes Spotify's mineral footprint audible.
III Listenings from the fracture
- War situation — Ukrainian artists stream layers of sirens, gunfire and drone loops on Twitch; the chat donates crypto for medicines.
- Latin American megacity — The collective Humo Ajeno records gas leaks and street shouting, processes them in granular synthesis, and plays on rooftops against the narco curfew.
- Data-centre suburb — Sound architects in Utah amplify the server fans; a 120 dB wall denounces the cloud's thermal tax.
Noise becomes the acoustic record of the externalities that pop music polishes away and hides.
IV Politics of distortion
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A refusal to entertain
Streaming rewards the skip rate; noise throws the impatient listener out: “If you want an instant reward, go to TikTok; here you will feel the scab.” -
Micropolitics of occupation
Flash concerts in car parks, a march of rolling speakers flooding wealthy neighbourhoods with 30 Hz drones: occupying physical space with vibration. -
Anti-song economy
Release royalty-free NFT tracks, raise funds for climate shelters; the value lies in the in situexperience, not in infinite playback.
V Feedback paradoxes
- Deluxe co-opting — Street-luxury brands license noise as “edge” for their adverts; the rebellion handed back as perfume.
- Sonic ecology — Festivals saturate wild areas and harm the fauna; the protest devours its own habitat.
- Nervous fatigue — An excess of decibels silences empathy; constant shock becomes normal and turns into inner silence.
VI Methodology for a fractal listener
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Context before volume
Research the location and the cause of the roar; every track is a map of pain or resistance. -
Bodily listening practice
Use graduated earplugs, feel the vibration in your sternum and your gut: noise is as much touch as hearing. -
Remix as exegesis
Take the released stems, graft in your own everyday noises—turn the global catastrophe into a local diary.
VII Coda: tuning the Apocalypse
“No harmony is possible while the world creaks; noise is the truth with no cosmetics.”
Accelerationist noise does not aim to console; it amplifies the crack and turns it into an instrument.
If acceleration cannot be dodged, better that it resound with no tonal lies, so that every collapse finds its echo and every possible future starts with an honest crunch.