The almighty Merzbox turns 25 on Jun 16, 2025. We Noiseheads should celebrate this momentous occasion with a (re)listening schedule. I propose 10x Mon to Fri as follows:
Mon Jun 16- 1
Tue Jun 17- 2
Wed Jun 18- 3
Thu Jun 19- 4
Fri Jun 20- 5
Mon Jun 23- 6
Tue Jun 24- 7
Wed Jun 25- 8
Thu Jun 26- 9
Fri Jun 27- 10
Mon Jun 30- 11
Tue Jul 1- 12
Wed Jul 2- 13
Thu Jul 3- 14
Fri Jul 4- 15
Mon Jul 7- 16
Tue Jul 8- 17
Wed Jul 9- 18
Thu Jul 10- 19
Fri Jul 11- 20
Mon Jul 14- 21
Tue Jul 15- 22
Wed Jul 16- 23
Thu Jul 17- 24
Fri Jul 18- 25
Mon Jul 21- 26
Tue Jul 22- 27
Wed Jul 23- 28
Thu Jul 24- 29
Fri Jul 25- 30
Mon Jul 28- 31
Tue Jul 29- 32
Wed Jul 30- 33
Thu Jul 31- 34
Fri Aug 1- 35
Mon Aug 4- 36
Tue Aug 5- 37
Wed Aug 6- 38
Thu Aug 7- 39
Fri Aug 8- 40
Mon Aug 11- 41
Tue Aug 12- 42
Wed Aug 13- 43
Thu Aug 14- 44
Fri Aug 15- 45
Mon Aug 18- 46
Tue Aug 19- 47
Wed Aug 20- 48
Thu Aug 21- 49
Fri Aug 22- 50
Play along if you want. Post comments / reactions / reviews if you want.
Hail The Merbox!!!
I do not have a box but haven't listened to his albums for a while. Will play some of the classics in the upcoming weeks!
Quote from: impulse manslaughter on May 22, 2025, 12:13:04 AMI do not have a box but haven't listened to his albums for a while. Will play some of the classics in the upcoming weeks!
Cool.
I want to add that SS1535 inspired this idea. I just ran with it. 😂
I ordered this in 2000. I recall a few emails between myself and Roger Richards - the mastermind / driving force behind this project.
I'd love for him to know that (hopefully / maybe) a few of us are celebrating 25 years of this Epic Thing.
Can anyone shed light on what Roger is up to today?
How can you listen to just one disc per day? Such self-control! I've listened through the box a few times and it's always been 5-10 discs per day.
Quote from: moozz on May 23, 2025, 09:39:08 AMHow can you listen to just one disc per day? Such self-control! I've listened through the box a few times and it's always been 5-10 discs per day.
Yikes! 😂
Well, if you play, you can be "That Student" who gets it all done early!
I'm a 2-disc per day Noisehead myself. AM/PM. Maybe I'm a lightweight.
Hah - FUCK THAT.
In reality, I cannot join because I cannot drop $500 on a Merzbox right now. Sad times we live in!
That being said, I do think Merzbow is perfect summer music, and I will be blasting him aplenty as the heat begins to turn up in the city.
Quote from: k.p.g on May 24, 2025, 07:28:27 PMHah - FUCK THAT.
In reality, I cannot join because I cannot drop $500 on a Merzbox right now. Sad times we live in!
That being said, I do think Merzbow is perfect summer music, and I will be blasting him aplenty as the heat begins to turn up in the city.
😂
I believe that there are free / online options for Merzbox, but I'm no expert so perhaps someone else can specify.
Quote from: Minus1 on May 25, 2025, 12:32:34 AMQuote from: k.p.g on May 24, 2025, 07:28:27 PMHah - FUCK THAT.
In reality, I cannot join because I cannot drop $500 on a Merzbox right now. Sad times we live in!
That being said, I do think Merzbow is perfect summer music, and I will be blasting him aplenty as the heat begins to turn up in the city.
😂
I believe that there are free / online options for Merzbox, but I'm no expert so perhaps someone else can specify.
This looks like it might have everything? https://archive.org/details/merzbow_merzbox_2000
Quote from: Minus1 on May 22, 2025, 09:23:02 AMI ordered this in 2000. I recall a few emails between myself and Roger Richards - the mastermind / driving force behind this project.
I'd love for him to know that (hopefully / maybe) a few of us are celebrating 25 years of this Epic Thing.
Can anyone shed light on what Roger is up to today?
I got a quick email from Roger. He is still involved at Extreme. Maybe he'll check out our little celebration. 😍
Well, perhaps some of you have dusted off your Merzbox, or found an online version, and we'll celebrate 25 years on Monday (and beyond).
Have a great weekend! 😂
this sounds like an interesting idea
don't have the box and honestly hours and hours of harsh noise normally does not seem appealing. but i'm willing to try out new things.
searched it up and i found that someone uploaded it to internet archive, and i can play it in browser. seems like the full thing but you would know better than I do. one disk per day seems like a bit much, since i'm already listening to music for another website i'm on. i just need to know how much takes up one disk.
https://archive.org/details/merzbow_merzbox_2000
Quote from: groesk on June 14, 2025, 09:21:00 AMthis sounds like an interesting idea
don't have the box and honestly hours and hours of harsh noise normally does not seem appealing. but i'm willing to try out new things.
searched it up and i found that someone uploaded it to internet archive, and i can play it in browser. seems like the full thing but you would know better than I do. one disk per day seems like a bit much, since i'm already listening to music for another website i'm on. i just need to know how much takes up one disk.
https://archive.org/details/merzbow_merzbox_2000
From what I remember, individual discs run between 45 and 75ish minutes.
---
I'm thinking that when this kicks off on Monday, I will make a few (brief) diversions through the course of the event. I want to make sure to compare the
Collection discs with the reissue as well as do a bit to follow where Kiyoshi Mizutani ends up after leaving the group. Maybe even follow up on Reiko?
I won't allow this to derail the schedule, though...
I don't want this to be like homework!!! 😂
Quote from: Minus1 on June 14, 2025, 05:56:55 PMI don't want this to be like homework!!! 😂
This is not homework, this is my life!
Quote from: Balor/SS1535 on June 14, 2025, 05:39:51 PMQuote from: groesk on June 14, 2025, 09:21:00 AMthis sounds like an interesting idea
don't have the box and honestly hours and hours of harsh noise normally does not seem appealing. but i'm willing to try out new things.
searched it up and i found that someone uploaded it to internet archive, and i can play it in browser. seems like the full thing but you would know better than I do. one disk per day seems like a bit much, since i'm already listening to music for another website i'm on. i just need to know how much takes up one disk.
https://archive.org/details/merzbow_merzbox_2000
From what I remember, individual discs run between 45 and 75ish minutes.
---
I'm thinking that when this kicks off on Monday, I will make a few (brief) diversions through the course of the event. I want to make sure to compare the Collection discs with the reissue as well as do a bit to follow where Kiyoshi Mizutani ends up after leaving the group. Maybe even follow up on Reiko?
I won't allow this to derail the schedule, though...
45 to 75 minutes is pretty do-able. going off of what the archive says, there seems to be a ton of content in each disk. i think its organized by disk number and track, so take a look at it and see what you think. if its more than 75 minutes i might just do it at a slower pace.
HAPPY 25TH BIRTHDAY, MERZBOX!!!
I did CD1 - Om Electrique this morning. It's still slightly annoying to my ears/brain after all these years, but it's cute. We all gotta start somewhere, right? I'm glad that this CD exists.
(Damn! My Merzbook cover-slip is disintegrating.)
Quote from: groesk on June 14, 2025, 09:21:00 AMthis sounds like an interesting idea
don't have the box and honestly hours and hours of harsh noise normally does not seem appealing. but i'm willing to try out new things.
searched it up and i found that someone uploaded it to internet archive, and i can play it in browser. seems like the full thing but you would know better than I do. one disk per day seems like a bit much, since i'm already listening to music for another website i'm on. i just need to know how much takes up one disk.
https://archive.org/details/merzbow_merzbox_2000
The whole thing is almost exactly 50 hours so the average is 60min/CD.
No. I did not forget---just a bit late in my timezone (but still on time)!
It's been a long time since I last listened to disc 1---probably since I did my last full-listen of the Merzbox. I don't recall it making much of an impression on me then, and I can't say it did to me now either, though I now (with an added few years of listening more widely to noise) appreciate it more. In many ways, it sounds pretty typical for "noise" of the period? Or at very least, it fits well alongside a certain strand of extremely minimal, drone-like noise that appeared in the late 1970s and early 80s. While dated now, it's interesting to see how Merzbow started with something so minimal and then developed towards the opposite extreme!
It makes me think, is there anyone still making noise that consists of such simple drones/rhythyms---that is not turning into HNW?
I did CD2 - Metal Acoustic Music this morning.
This single 47min piece (called Balance Of Neurosis) was recorded the very next month from CD1.
But to my ears/brain, this represents a quantum leap. (Did you know, scientifically speaking, that a quantum leap represents the smallest possible change? I digress.)
This thing creates a mood, (not an annoyance). 😂 It has a lovely flow, and even a subtle climactic part near the end. (Is that Masami's voice?)
I bet Sacher-Pelz would have blushed at this.
Disc 2 is definitely a step towards more complexity while also retaining an emphasis on simple compositions that I find rather interesting, overall. I wish someone would specify what exactly is encompassed in "Merztronics"!
This morning I did disc 3 - Remblandt Assemblage.
I was up at the crack of sparrow farts, and Noise at such a time doesn't really work very well for me. Luckily, I played this CD. 😂 The so-called King Of Noise sure did start quietly, didn't he? I wonder if in 1979/80 he was even thinking about Harsh Noise as he plucked his guitar in his bedroom. There's a consistent flow/mood to this CD though, with some other sparse soundings amongst the guitarings.
I think the sparrows liked it.
Disc 3 has been my favorite of the extreme early works so far. I find loops very interesting generally, so they are obviously put to good use in Merzbow's hands. And vocal noise? Guitar noise too? A lot of people (like Paul Hegarty) seem to think that Merzbow is his noisiest in the 90s, but I think that really depends on what you consider to be "noise." Sure that era is much harsher, but there is an edge of expectation that overhangs many of those albums that sort of prevents the harshness from being surprising. Has Merzbow done diverse releases that actively subvert themselves from track to track like Rembland Assemblage since?
*Of course I love 90s Merzbow... Just some thoughts for conversation!
This morning I did CD4 - Collection Era Vol 1.
Enter Kiyoshi, exit Home recording, and exit Crude. To my ears/brain, these compositions are much more assured, colourful, creative. A lot goes on in each of these 3 lengthy tracks. No more...er...tinkering.
But it's still rather sparse and quiet. The sparrows still liked it.
Now entering the Collection era with disc 4...
The Collection albums will always have a special place in my Merzheart because it was through them (thanks to the Urashima boxset) that first got me really listening to Merzbow. They are surprisingly diverse and playful, equally valuable for their historical importance in showcasing duo-Merzbow's abilities as much as for their own sake in the present. The Urashima box has liner notes in Japanese, but there are listings of bandnames in the original language---relating these works to Nurse With Wound, Borbetomagus, and others.
I did do a side-to-side comparison of the Merzbox comp disc with what I take to be the equivalent tracks on the Urashima version (I can't seem to find the track names used on the Merzbox disc reproduced anywhere else?), and I guess my memory was off a bit. The Urashima mastering has less noise and more "space" for the sounds, but they are equally busy and noisy albums.
An administrative note regarding upcoming CDs:
Disc 5 is 8 tracks / 65:56.
Disc 6 is 7 tracks / 66:45.
But the Merzbook has these reversed. The Vol 2 page is all about Vol 3, and vice versa.
This morning I did CD5 - Collection Era Vol 2.
I (and again, the sparrows) enjoyed this CD for what it is: A low-key affair, akin to the works of AMM or Stockhausen, the intensity of which never gets beyond a shuffle (or a crawl). Some fans might pull their hair out, unless they think of this as Masami in his Pre-Noise phase. I don't think he was actually a Noise Artist until maybe 82/83? I might put this on as background at my next Finnegans Wake discussion club (which I'm not actually doing) and the (imaginary) participants might sync with it over wine and cheese.
Now disc 5 (or should I say 6, because Minus1 is correct about the error indeed!)...
There's probably not much more that I can say about the Collection albums that I have not already said, save, perhaps, that they also seem to parallel some of the industrial sounds of the period. At moments, this seems more like a set of Throbbing Gristle instrumentals than what we tend to think of when we imagine Merzbow.
Disc 6!
I think this is probably my favorite of the Collection... well... collections... included in the Merzbox. There has been clear development in only these three short years of recording, and this disc shows a lot of it. Everything from the more extreme side of improv to some hints as to the harshness to come in the future. The second-to-last track was especially strong for me. I liked the dissonance between the bass and the droning electronics!
Disc 7 claims to be the first live Merzbow performance, and it sounds pretty strong (as in it is as good or better than other material from the era)! I need to go back through Akita's pre-Merzbow activities again, but I wonder how much performance experience he had at this point---let alone experience using the gear that he had in front of an audience. The other thing I wonder about is the note that the performance was accompanied by a slideshow with images of the Italian landscape. Given that he would go to Italy in 1983 (I think that's the right year?!), I wonder if there is any link between this and his Italian connections---like maybe sourcing some of the tape loops from them? We may never know...
Disc 8 actually gets noisy rather than sound-collage! I find the recording strategy of just maxing out mic volume and amplifying small sounds around KM's apartment really interesting. I should give that a try...
I can see where others associate the contents of disc 9 with the Collection albums, but something feels different here. In a way, this reminds me most closely of the very recent collaboration with Lawrence English, not in regards to specific instrumentality but in overall atmosphere. Very dark, almost brooding.
Disc 10: Solonoise
I like the reference to Bataille, and I like the noise as well. Strong overall, but some parts are definitely more to my liking than others. In the Merzbook there is a comment that can sort of be taken to imply that Akita supplied the noise while Mizutani worked in a more "free improv" direction. I'm wondering if they might have gotten into some tension over this? From the little of Mizutani's later work that I have heard (just the disc on Pure), he seems to have taken a different direction from Akita.
Also, the most interesting (though perhaps not my favorite, aesthetically speaking) was the portion of track three where one or both of them were clearly rubbing pieces of styrofoam together. Very physical. It got me thinking that as Merzbow became more "harsh noise" as time went on, the physicality seemed to disappear as well? Then to computer noise, and AI art being embraced over the trash-collages of yesteryear. Has Akita's implicit post-humanism extended to an erasure of himself as an artist under the sheer weight of his output?
One more question that came up while listening today (though it might be more appropriate when we get to the Pornoise CDs...): Does Merzbow have any relationship with Pop Art?
His descent from Dada and Surrealism is well-attested, but he also engages with popular culture (usually as trash) and mass production. However, the nature of that engagement has certainly changed since he went vegan.
Disc 11...
I don't know why the Merzbook reviewer doesn't like this one! While there are a few areas of return to the prior, Collection-era racket, most of this is very strong feedback tones, often bass-heavy. I would love to hear a contemporary remaster of this one!
(This is, honestly, one of my favorite Merzbow albums overall. I will definitely return to this one on a future commute, so as to hear it on my car speakers---which are much better than my headphones.)
Not too much to say about DISC 12.
I remember having a hard time getting through this one when listening to the Merzbox for the first time, and things were not exactly much different with this attempt. I find loops interesting---provided they are interesting. These have moments of promise and interest, but feel, overall, like raw material that should/would/could be cannibalized for other Merzbow recordings (apparently track one on this disc was part of Solonoise 2?).
Disc 13: Very good, I can see why this became the first Merzbow lp! I used to characterize early Merzbow in my head as falling under the general heading of Surreal/Dada music-goes sound collage, but I am realizing that there is a very strong industrial phase at this time as well. This also feels a lot more cohesive than some of the other collaboration efforts between Akita and Mizutani---not that the Collection albums were not consistent in their own way---but that there seems to be a unified vision rather than an aesthetic compromise between what seem to be importantly (though not necessarily very) different artists.
(I admire and thank SS1535 for carrying on the good work here, and I wish that I had his/her/their resolve, but the gaf factor here caused me to cease the necrohippoflagellation. There's a great thread at S+W though, for all of you dead horses.) 😂
Quote from: Minus1 on July 03, 2025, 04:20:47 AM(I admire and thank SS1535 for carrying on the good work here, and I wish that I had his/her/their resolve, but the gaf factor here caused me to cease the necrohippoflagellation. There's a great thread at S+W though, for all of you dead horses.) 😂
I am a proud
Merzbox-solipsist.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/John_Smibert_-_Bishop_George_Berkeley_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg/250px-John_Smibert_-_Bishop_George_Berkeley_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)
But was Bishop George Berkeley really a solipsist? (We may get some participants now!)
Quote from: Minus1 on July 03, 2025, 05:07:15 AMBut was Bishop George Berkeley really a solipsist? (We may get some participants now!)
Technically no (but, in a weird, Christian way he sort of was), but his picture is on the solipsism Wikipedia page!
Disc 14: I appreciate the verbal aspect of the title of this album. Most titles seem to try and capture an overall tone of the album rather than a shift that occurs at a certain point in its duration. Here mechanization takes command in the transition between the first two tracks. Faux-exotica dominated by seemingly identifiable samples suddenly overcome by electronic noise.
Disc 15: Merzbow once again rhymes with itself again---but does not repeat. Less harsh than some of the albums immediately prior, but also harsher than the Collection material. I was a little irritated with the "beat shit" at parts of this, but in hindsight it might actually just be a rougher cousin of Throbbing Gristle at this point. I imagine that this could have been mind-blowing in 1983.
Disc 16: I liked this more than disc 15, the first half of the Dying Mapa Tapes. I'm wondering if part of this might be because of the background to this particular disc, which apparently was (digitally) remastered off of Damion Romero's copy of what I assume to be the finished/released album instead of the original master. Maybe running between initial master tape, dubs for release, then tape to digital made an impact?
Disc 17: The transition is happening! Still a collage-work at its core, but now much harsher. Not much else to say!
Disc 18: Have we made it? I think we made it. Heavy industrial noise, and I like it! I can't help but feel that we are missing out as listeners by not having some rough approximation of the original Pornoise packaging, though.
Yes, a day missed... (I was on jury duty...)
But onwards to discs 19 and 20!
I am really tired today, so I guess this is probably more of a "me problem" than anything---but the loops just don't do much for me. I liked the first disc the best so far. In other news, I looked up the original packaging finally, and the pictures on Discogs don't live up to the image I had in my head! I expected more literal trash...
Disc 21: Back on track! We are once again in the territory of industrial Merzbow. At times almost like a harsher Throbbing Gristle.
Disc 22: The Sadomasochismo side of this is among the best of the Merzbox that I have gone through thus far. Dark, haunting, and atmospheric! Here the oft-complained about sound collage elements take on a more expressive and content-communicating role. It bears some similarities to the Music for Bondage Performance albums beyond just themes (which I now need to revisit again). The second half of this disc was not as gripping, though I did like the bird samples on the last track.
Disc 23: Merzbow truly evolves in a spiral. Back again to collage-work, but also someplace new. Rather than pure and simple Dada-juxtaposition, the samples and the compositions that Akita creates out of them are much more atmospheric. While Merzbow has never been short on "themes" in his noise, this is really the outstanding era in which the form of his noise really coincides with some of the ideas he is expressing through it. Dark, dissonant, but not fully harsh. (Yes, I know that there is a larger, holistic project that is meaningfully reflected across literally all releases...)
Disc 24: This one really spans some time. 1986-89? As one might expect, the disc gets better as it goes on, evolving from industrial atmospherics to much harsher sounds. Overall, this felt much "sleeker" than earlier collage-works. He has clearly improved in his abilities to manipulate tapes---regardless of his dedication to trash.