ABSTRACT
The Art of Noise was formed while Trevor Horn was working on 90125, adopting a name derived from the Italian Futurists. It was the first group to be signed to Horn's ZTT label. Although The Art of Noise had no image constructed around their physical presence, they presented images in conjunction with their work through a series of vivid record sleeves, promotional videos and advertising material. Verbal imagery was presented through titles, as well as the words and phrases that appeared on the sleeves or could be heard, usually as samples, on their recordings. The use of pre-recorded material (as the basis of the work of art) began to permeate a far greater range of musical genres with the invention and development of the digital sampler in the late 1970s. Once recorded sounds with specific physical connotations are subjected to the manipulative facilities of the sampler and sequencer, musical and cultural messages may be combined in unusual ways.
