Book excerpt: The music and noise manifestos of the Italian Futurists formed a blueprint for sonic warfare waged against traditionalism, a radical new agenda played out with machines primed for maximal acoustic destruction and aimed at the negation of all existing value systems. THEe ^ARTe ^OFe ^NOISE collects together these and other writings for the first time in English, showing how the origins of modern noise music actually date from a century ago, forming an invaluable insight into Futurist thought and its most enduring and relevant legacies, and revealing how an understanding of noise-art is key to a complete comprehension of Futurist painting. THEe ^ARTe ^OFe ^NOISE includes five key Futurist manifestos: Luigi Russolo's "The Art of Noises" and "The Futurist Noise Machines", and Francesco Balilla Pratella's "Manifesto of Futurist Musicians", "Technical Manifesto of Futurist Music", and "Destruction of Quadrature"; plus Carlo Carra 's related sensory manifesto "The Painting of Sounds, Noises and Smells"; Bruno Corra's notes on "Chromatic Music"; proto-Futurist Ferrucchio Busoni's visionary and influential "Sketch for a New Aesthetic of Sound Art"; a historical introduction on Futurist music and its legacy; and a chronology of Futurist music and noise.