Beyond auditive unpleasantness: an exploration of noise in the work of Filthy Turd

In this essay we examine the work of noise-artist Filthy Turd with a particular focus upon its relationship with noise, exploring the specific ways in which his practice can be considered ‘noisy’, as well as suggesting what it might tell us about the nature noise itself. As our title suggests, we will show that — far from simply being a ‘racket’ — the notion of noise is explored and presented here in several different ways that go beyond superficial or ‘common sense’ conception of noise as auditive unpleasantness. In doing so we will show how these seemingly disparate aspects of Filthy Turd’s practice—the nonsense text, the repulsive imagery, as well as some of the specific musical techniques themselves—come together to form a coherent noise-aesthetic.