Noise Level

Noise Level was a fanzine by John Brunner.

Published in the 1950s in London, England, Noise Level was equal parts science fiction fanzine and folk music fanzine. It was distributed through the Offtrails Magazine Publishers Association (OMPA).

Ten issues were published. The first issue appeared in December 1954, distributed in OMPA 2; #2 was released in March 1955, distributed in OMPA 3; issue 3 in June, 1955, distributed in OMPA 4; issue 4 in September 1955, included in OMPA 5; issue 5 in December 1955, through OMPA 6, and was combined with Brunner's other fanzine Pogrom #4; issue 6 was released in Summer 1956, in OMPA 8; issue 7 in December 1956, in OMPA 10; issue 8 in June 1957, in OMPA 12; issue 9 in September 1957, in OMPA 13; and the last issue, 10, in May 1958, in OMPA 16.

The Cobalt Corfu Auction List, compiled by Sandra Bond, describes issue 10: "#10 particularly fascinating as it comprises John's account of the Aldermaston march which saw the founding of CND." John Brunner's song, The H-bomb's Thunder (1958), first written for this march, became the unofficial anthem of Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, later released on the album, Songs Against the Bomb (Topic 12001).

Noise Level was one of a handful of fanzines devoted to folk music that were published in the 1950s and 1960s, along Rambler from the UK, and with Ontario, Canada's Hoot and Sing and String, and British Columbia, Canada's Singalong!; the U.S.A.'s The Broadside of Boston, Caravan, Gardyloo, The Little Sandy Review, The Songmakers Almanac, and Tune Up. Later in the UK other folk music zines, such as Folk Scene in the 1960s, and Folks, in the 1970s and 1980s would appear.

During the 1950s, John Brunner wrote a regular column as the London correspondent for Lee Hoffman's folk fanzine Caravan, and contributed to Micheal Moorcock's folk fanzine Rambler, as well as various science fiction fanzines. He is best known for his science fiction novels, Stand On Zanzibar, The Sheep Look Up, and The Jagged Orbit.