The Summer Of Merzbox:

[groesk]

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

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.

[Minus1]

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.)

[moozz]

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

The whole thing is almost exactly 50 hours so the average is 60min/CD.

[Balor/SS1535]

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?

[Minus1]

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.

[Balor/SS1535]

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"!

[Minus1]

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.

[Balor/SS1535]

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!

[Minus1]

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.

[Balor/SS1535]

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.

[Minus1]

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.

[Minus1]

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.

[Balor/SS1535]

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.

[Balor/SS1535]

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!