International Noise Conference brings a tournament of abrasion to Notthingham Co-Cop Wednesday night

If you think all the equipment abuse, gadget mangling, and all-around merciless sonic fuckery loosely grouped together as "noise music" is just a bunch of undisciplined, honorless racket, the series of events known as the International Noise Conference will prove you at least somewhat wrong. Each INC show gathers together a number of audio miscreants to play sets of 15 minutes or less, and they're not allowed to use laptops, mixing boards, or drones. It turns this most undefinable form of music into a true test of ingenuity, assaulting audiences with all manner of foreign, unpleasant sounds (well, except that of a laptop farting out mid-set). This battle royale of the eardrums comes to Nottingham Co-Op Wednesday night, and the warriors include such locals as Loop Retard and out-of-towners like Miami's Laundry Room Squelchers. Lest you doubt that INC events can veer into some bizarre performance-art-type shit, here's a video of Loop Retard performing at an INC show in Miami earlier this year.