DOWNLOAD: Your Noise Is My Slow Death – Part 2 | Noise [146.6 MB – 01:00:00 – 320kbs]
TITLE: Your Noise Is My Slow Death – Part 2 | Noise
Oh look, another noise sensitive creature
On this day in 1993 i had the fantastic fortune to kiss the most beautiful woman that i had ever seen.
And 33 years later we are still together.
Meaning she still puts up with this grumpy, fussy and irritable sod.
So i made another mixtape for her.
OMG, how embarrassing.
This one is for you honey.
Well, they all are. But on this special occasion even more so.
“Sensitivity signifies an exception that might be assigned value as social power, sacred dispensation, or creative gift. It can also lead to vulnerability, disablement, and condemnation. Sanctified and stigmatized. Asset and liability.”
~ Eleni Stecopoulos – Dreaming in the Fault Zone
//cw mention of death and suicide
In 1851 Arthur Schopenhauer published a short essay called “Ueber Lerm und Geräusch” (literally On Noise and Sound, it gets usually translated to “On Noise”) in which he laments:
“Certainly there are people, nay, very many, who will smile at this, because they are not sensitive to noise; it is precisely these people, however, who are not sensitive to argument, thought, poetry or art, in short, to any kind of intellectual impression: a fact to be assigned to the coarse quality and strong texture of their brain tissues. On the other hand, in the biographies or in other records of the personal utterances of almost all great writers, I find complaints of the pain that noise has occasioned to intellectual men. For example, in the case of Kant, Goethe, Lichtenberg, Jean Paul.”
The elitist and biologist (if not eugenic) undertones in this quote sound horrendous today. But when i first read this essay by Schopenhauer, it must have been sometime in the 80s, it did put me at ease somehow, to know that i was not the only one and that even some great writers and thinkers suffered from all the noise. The reverse of his elitist claim is of course easily disprovable. Not all people who are sensitive to noise turn out to be great writers, or even thinkers, which anyone will notice who reads this clumsy attempt at writing a coherent text.
Compared to the noise pollution that is imposed on us today, it seems almost quaint to read how for Schopenhauer the most “disgraceful” of all noises was the whip used on horse carriages. “It deprives life of all peace and sensibility. Nothing gives me so clear a grasp of the stupidity and thoughtlessness of mankind as the tolerance of the cracking of whips. This sudden, sharp crack which paralyses the brain.” Makes me wonder how Arthur would fare in our time, with leaf blowers as one symbol of the omnipresence of the internal combustion engine?
In 1908 Theodor Lessing published “Der Lärm – Eine Kampfschrift gegen die Geräusche unseres Lebens”. In this a much longer manifesto, or diatribe, he writes:
“All this terrible rioting, this incessant roaring, booming, whistling, hissing, snarling, hammering, rattling, knocking, shrieking, screaming, and raging, with which man [sic] tends to accompany all actions, arises, just like language and music, from a vital necessity. Therefore, any struggle against the noisy side of life would not advance us one step further if we did not first probe the psychological underpinnings in which all this noisy roar of life is necessarily anchored. For the most beautiful music as well as the most terrible noise, the purest religiosity as well as the most incomprehensible mysticism, the poetically transfigured love as well as vulgar sexual obscenity – they all have their roots in the very same place, in the same profound depth of the human soul. Only the rescuing, nourishing layers of soil through which these spiritual root forces burst forth from the same seed, color and transform, dull or purify their essential nature, so decisively so that in the end, in one place in life, a delicate, otherworldly heavenly flower emerges, while in another, a disgusting, shameful hermaphroditic plant rises up.”
Lessing goes on to puzzle about Mozart and John Stuart Mills, who both apparently were able to work unperturbed by noise. Which sounds similar to John Cage (whose quote i used in part 2 of the mix series), who claims to love silence, but associates silence with the sound of traffic. All i can think is, good for them, i guess, to then alongside my pal Lessing continue to suffer from the disruptive and at times disabling force that is unnecessary noise. Towards the end of his Kampfschrift (there is no satisfying translation for this) Lessing offers a despairing inventory of the way noise gets treated in the law–which would be a statist solution for a social problem (which i, for one, would not want this problem to be solved by repression).
Lessing ends his pamphlet in quiet despair:
“In short, I don’t know what will happen, nor how it will be. But there will certainly be noise [how right he was about that]. I will no longer resist, but will turn toward the wall, and leave no other request in my will than that no firecrackers will be set off at my grave.”
Fuck. Maybe this is all that is left for me to do as well?! Turn toward the wall. Crank up the white noise machine even further. Wear the noise cancelling headphones even longer, who cares if they make me claustrophobic. And hope that it doesn’t get even worse, somehow. Which i am sure it will.
In real life Lessing went on to form the “Anti-Lärm-Verein” (anti-noise-association) and founded a magazine called “Der Anti-Rüpel” (the anti-brute). He continued to fight noise (and fascism) until 1933, when he was one of the earliest victims killed by Nazis in Marienbad. The brutes did won in his case.
Many humans suffer from noise, many get sick because of noise, most without even knowing. But let us also not forget all the other species we share this planet with, who can suffer greatly under all the noise that we humans impose on them on this small planet, nonstop and with escalating intensity. I want to mention the narwhals, one of the most beautiful animals in existence (dubbed the unicorn of the sea), who go quiet as the oceans grow louder. Or the capercaillies in the pinewoods of Scotland, one of the most elusive and gorgeous birds, by now pretty much extinct, who would need some peace and quiet in order to survive. Or much closer to home, think of all the dogs hiding under the sofa when humans “have fun” with their lame fireworks.
Vibe
I admit it. I have chosen quite an accusatory title for this series of DJ mixes. This title claims that “your” noise is “my” slow death. I do mean this in a literal, but also in the metaphorical sense. Slow death being the self-explanatory expression, often used by disability justice activists, to show how a mixture of organized abandonment by the state, hyperindividualism under late stage neoliberal capitalism and structural ableism results in disabled and chronically ill comrades slowly dying.
By the way, i love/hate the German expression “ein Tod auf Raten” a death by installments. Sums it up, really.
I mean this title in a literal sense, because my need for peace and quiet goes much further than a simple preference, or maybe a silly sensitivity, much further than something that could be resolved with ease. For me it is an existential issue in the sense that it is the noise (among a few other factors), that prevents my body from healing. The noise from our downstairs neighbor is quite literally responsible for my not finding enough sleep and relaxation, not enough the peace and quiet that i would need in order to start my healing process, or to at least improve or stabilise this awful chronic illness.
I mean it in a metaphorical sense, because of course i understand it as a symbol. Of course i see the bigger picture here. It is a sign of how end times capitalism whips (quick shout out to Arthur) humans into an alienated frenzy, where no one has the time, nor the energy, to consider the sensitive people next door, who suffer. It is the constant noise that leaves me no other choice, than to either hope to die soon or else to betray my true personality by drowning out the noise in my desperate effort to shield myself a bit. The creative or healing potential (“social power, sacred dispensation, or creative gift” writes Stecopoulos, quoted above) that my sensitivity might or might not have, lost by the wayside.
“Sensitivity is suspect to a masculinist society that mandates constant productivity and disembodiment.”
~ Eleni Stecopoulos – Dreaming in the Fault Zone
Ever since 2020 at the start of the ongoing!!! COVID-19 pandemic, when i developed Long COVID, my hyperacusis has escalated to the point that it is by now almost unbearable. It was always the case that i had trouble to un-hear noise once i had clocked it. Which might be the neurodivergent part of me. Maybe my tinnitus makes me prone to this. But Long COVID has made my hyperacusis so much worse. My weakened, debilitated body no longer simply craves, no, it now needs!!! peace and quiet. If i noise was an annoyance before, it now feels like pain.
True, my sensitivity does have a history. Like others, i think that i was born HSP (highly sensitive person). HSP might be a snappy acronym, that does ring true. But at the same time the phenomenon can just as easy be explained with being introverted or neurodivergent. Others have argued, better than i ever could, that we do not need a new label for this phenomenon. Let’s just call it what it is, a form of autism. Hyperacusis also presents itself as a syndrome. Instead of as a fixed condition, it also needs to be placed on a spectrum.
Since Long COVID i am no longer sensitive to noise alone. Bright lights, smells, vibrations can also be too much to handle. All my senses, my entire apparatus of perception, are in constant fight or flight mode. My entire body feels like an open wound. Like a peeled egg. All sensual perceptions are impacting it, in brutal rawness. But never mind these other sensitivities for now and focus on the fucking noise, the most invasive among them (alongside smell), which has always been the biggest challenge for me and presents itself as such a burden when living during the cynical and noisy capitalist era.
So here’s why i think noise is my slow death. It’s never an easy task to express bodily sensations with words. But ever since Long COVID i feels like i am lacking all (not just some) of the filters that protect so-called healthy people. Any perception can turn painful, in its raw and unfiltered form. It often feels like i am “all ears”. My hyperacusis may well have been building up over the years, it may be an expression of my neurodivergence. But it was COVID-19 that has thrown me over the edge. Many of my early Long COVID symptoms have gotten better since the start, if only because i learned how to pace myself. My baseline remains in a fragile balance, any stress, like lack of sleep, can bring on a crash. At any moment.
To maintain the baseline of my health i discovered that it is necessary for me to keep quite specific routines, most crucial for my sleeping patterns. But my next door neighbors have different ideas. They keep me awake. Or wake me up. With their banging. Their door slamming. With their washing machines and dryers at all hours (even though we begged them not to use them at night). With their loud voices on balconies. With music and barking dogs. With whatever.
Quick interception: Consider how sleep deprivation is used in torture. Food for thought.
Lack of sleep deteriorates my health. So that is how noise leads to my slow death. That’s the brutal truth. That’s how “your” noise is “my” slow death. Yes. I mean you. I mean you, in general sense, the capitalist fucking system that imposes all this shit on us and our animal friends.
The capitalist system must die, so that we can live. So that everyone receives all the care that they deserve. So that everybody receives everything.
“I write deliberately about sensitivity associated with an inspired state—overlapping with intuition, talent, skill—together with sensitivity as a toxic state—a chronic assault, not being able to tolerate exposure to this world, or somehow not being of this world. Partly because I don’t want to create a hierarchy between the culturally sanctioned and the demeaned, and partly because they often come bundled together, and being rewarded for one can sometimes aggravate disbelief about the other, not least the internalized disbelief that comes from living under patriarchy and capitalism. I won’t separate them, because I want to reduce suffering.”
~ Eleni Stecopoulos – Dreaming in the Fault Zone (a much recommended book)
The origin of the techno beat
I hope my mixtape can offer a brief escape from all the noise.
If this is the case, please tell a friend
Look out for part 3 in a few months, maybe.
[Please consider supporting these artists, by following the bandcamp links (if available) below]
01. Simon & Garfunkel – Sound of Silence
02. ÄTNA – Number One
03. Underworld – Capa Meets The Sun (To Heal)
04. Nicolas Jaar – Space Is Only Noise If You Can See
05. De La Soul – Day In The Sun (Gettin’ Wit U) ft. Q-Tip & Yummy Bingham
06. Kista – Computer Rock (Future Shock)
07. Little Simz – Free
08. Smith & Mighty – Odd Tune For Piano
09. Soulwax – Dshungel
09.1 All Saints – Pure Shores
10. Wagon Christ – Acid
11. Public Enemy – Contract On The World Jam
12. No$shu – Punch A Nazi
13. keiyaA – Be Quiet !!!
14. Laid Back – White Horse
15. Drexciya – Andreanen Sand Dunes
16. A1 People – Do It (Metamatics Remix)
17. Marie Davidson – Y.A.A.M. (Soulwax Remix)
18. Sigrid – Sucker Punch (Four Tet Remix)
19. Mr. Ozio – Flat Beat
20. Björk – The Anchor Song (Black Dog Remix)
21. Miss Kitten & The Hacker – You And Us
22. Saul Williams – The Noise Came From Here
23. Jonny Greenwood – Trust Device
24. Chris Morris – Morton Interview
25. Gorillaz – The God Of Lying ft. IDLES
26. Chris Roe – Nueve Cuerpos
27. Milenia Patagônia – Dijaspora Baby
28. Silance – Amore Dai
29. Smith & Mighty – Down In Rwanda (More Rockers Remix)
30. Anthony Rother – 65 Million Years
31. Little Simz – Gorilla
32. Siriusmo – Lehm ft. Erobique
33. Jonny Greenwood – Dark Streets
34. Mira Calix – I’m In Love With The End Of The World
35. Marshall Jefferson – Yellow Meditation For The Dance Generation (Joakim’s Horizontal Remix Instrumental)
36. anaiis – Freedom Dreaming (Adrienne Maree Brown’s Interlude
John Cage on silence, Gangaji – The search for silence, The psychology of people who love staying at home, SNL, The Responder.s02e03, Beastie Boys – Fight For Your Right (Revisited), Benediction.2021, The Card Counter.2021, Antlers.2022, A conversation with Ricky Lee Jones, Lee.2023, Peaky Blinders.s06e06, Bowie – The Final Act, The Hack.s01e06, Downtown Abbey – A New Era, Blue Lights.s03e05, Clipse – Chains & Whips, Eddington.2025, Josh Johnson – 23andMe, Good Luck To You Leo Grande.2022, A Complete Unknown.2024, The Offer.s01e03, Tha 4orce · Wan-Cee – Make Some Noise (Acapella), Beastie Boys-Make Some Noise (Acapella), Silver Haze.2023
COVER: Created by the wonderful Fr3nzIn3 thanks a silentforcetrillion.
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