Glitch

Glitch is perhaps better described as power noise, another name for the genre. Glitch artists produce a sonic collage, frequently from samples and other found sound sources, spliced together with creative editing effects, distorted drum kicks, and other industrial effects. The genre evolved as a fusion of early industrial and noise music with more technical electronica genres such as intelligent dance music (IDM) and breakcore. Here is where we draw the distinction between power noise, with glitch being more influenced by IDM and power noise drawing from the more harsh influences of noise and industrial.

Noise music has become more and more popular in Europe in recent years, with the German Maschinenfest festival being the annual highlight of the genre, and glitch is one of its more rhythmic subgenres. Only a handful of power noise groups are currently reviewed here, but look for more to eventually be added. The most relevant of these to the wider music industry is Negativland, a collective who has been involved in numerous lawsuits and legal proceedings with the RIAA over the legitimacy of sound collage and found sampling, and who actively work to promote intellectual property and copyright law reform in the music industry.

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