It was Marc Laidlaw who in 1986 published a horror story entitled “Muzak for Torso Murders” in Dennis Etchison’s landmark anthology, “Cutting Edge”. That title stuck with me all throughout the years and it instantly resurfaces whenever I’m confronted with music that hurts my ears.
“Muzak”, as you all probably know, is basically a synonym for “background music”, “elevator music”, or worse. The way I understand the term, it describes that endless stream of noise pollution we are confronted with everyday in supermarkets, shopping malls, elevators, holiday resorts and God knows where else. If one wanted to be a cynic, one could also define it to be basically any music that is streamed to living rooms and offices across the globe via today’s radio stations, but we don’t want to be cynical today. Not at all. Continue Reading →
