Always one for trying to deconstruct whatever possible and saying that something’s opposite is the same as that something (e.g. love and hate are one in the same, etc.), I was reminded today about how beautiful noise can be.

When I was in junior high and high school and loving bands like Sonic Youth and Babes in Toyland, I remember my dad complaining about the songs and saying that they were nothing more than noise. I argued that it was music, of course, but maybe he was on to something?

Then I remembered a time during my freshman year of college when I was sitting in my dorm room and I thought I heard someone on my floor playing Sonic Youth’s song “Washing Machine.” I went outside to see if I could track down who had the obviously awesome taste in music when, instead, I saw the cleaning person vacuuming the stairwell. I guess Sonic Youth really is noise. (But who is to say vacuuming isn’t a nice sound.)

Today while heading to Tower Records for my monthly music binge, I walked past a parking garage where, for some reason, all of the car alarms were going off at the same time (or something happened to make a noise like that). I couldn’t help but stop and listen to the sound — it was really cool. I wish I had a tape recorder with me so I could have captured it.