In its three years of existence, Carlos Giffoni's annual No Fun Fest has become an international noise summit, bringing together like-minded artists who might never meet face to face otherwise. It has also served as an informal history lesson. Giffoni strives to include veteran noise musicians in every lineup, so attendees can connect the dots between forefathers like Borbetomagus or Macronympha and relative youngsters like the Skaters or Lambsbread.

Giffoni started his label, No Fun Productions, with a similar intention: to document today's noise alongside what preceded and inspired it. Until now he had only put out contemporary recordings, but his first archival release is a stunner, a beautifully-packaged, highly-detailed 4-CD set by 1990s Japanese juggernaut C.C.C.C. Though the group generated at least 20 releases, only one-- 1993's Loud Sounds Dopa-- was ever widely available in the U.S. So Early Works is an excellent opportunity for noise-geeks to fully immerse themselves in this group's enveloping sound-world.

C.C.C.C. were a four-piece centered around Hiroshi Hasegawa and Mayuko Hino. The former started the group to try his hand at guitar, but soon moved to electronics and synth; the latter, previously an actress in "pink movies" (Japanese soft-core porn), joined to add voice and homemade electronics. Rounded out by the drum programming of Fumio Kosakai and the bass of Ryuchi Nagakubo, C.C.C.C.'s sound was sometimes called "psychedelic noise," and it certainly had a hallucinatory quality-- even their most abrasive pieces are so dense with ideas it can be hard to process them all in one sitting.

Such a detailed style encouraged long durations. Early Works' four discs offer only eight tracks, most hovering near the half-hour mark. (The first six tracks are previously-unreleased live cuts recorded between 1990 and 1992, while the final two are taken from rare, out-of-print releases.) Given the time and attention they require, pieces this long can be daunting even for noise aficionados. But none of these tracks are unvaried or forbidding. C.C.C.C.'s work can be harsh and aggressive, but it's always busy, never content to sit in one place for long. If you're even slightly inclined toward the hypnotic powers of noise, you're bound to get hooked by at least some of Early Works.

The tracks most likely to snare ears are those whose noise is in constant motion, traversing so much sonic ground that it finishes miles from where it began. On "Live at Donzoko House #1", thick drones recall the dense layers of Double Leopards, while on "Live at Dozonko House #2", naturalistic noises evoke a campsite, synths whir like spaceships, voice-like whines conjure nightmares, and guitar achieves Metal Machine Music-worthy dissonance. All this bubbling activity can be dizzying, but C.C.C.C. could be starkly minimal too: check out "Live at Gospel #2", whose clanging Kosakai percussion feels like the score to a documentary on the beauty of construction sites.

Since C.C.C.C. disbanded in the mid-90s, Kosakai joined Incapacitants, who played last year's No Fun Fest, while Hasegawa has pursued a solo project called Astro, which will play this May's installment, the first to be held at the Knitting Factory. In his liner notes, Kosakai suggests that a C.C.C.C. reunion is unlikely to occur. But in a better world, the achievement of Early Works would propel the group to reform, just in time to headline the Madison Square Garden edition of No Fun Fest that's surely on the horizon.