Search - Non :: Terra Incognita

A dark trip back in time

Charles A. Miller | Baltimore, Maryland U.S.A. | 09/09/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As the liner notes try to impress on you, NON (a.k.a. Boyd Rice) holds a very special place in the history of "noise" music. With material dating back to 1975, he certainly pre-dates all of the industrial bands that have come after. Was he an influence on these musicians? Probably not considering the limited distribution Mr. Rice's early works received. But still... he was there first.



The notes in the accompanying booklet also make you aware of the fact (if you didn't already know), that Boyd Rice did not have any musical training and cannot read music. When listening to this retrospective, one cannot help but be even more impressed with the work he has done over the years with this fact in mind... musical miracles out of nothing it would seem.



Being a retrospective, you can't help but wonder why certain tracks aren't included here, but as Boyd Rice arranged this compilation, you take it as a "new" album... what Mr. Rice wanted you to hear. By all means, whether you are new to NON or not, buy this CD. For those who are new, it makes a great introduction to some his strongest instrumental works. For those who are already familiar, again, it assembles works from the past in a new, coherent form."