Merzbow Top Hits

[ghoulson]

END OKTOBER 2012   (VOD 104-108)
VOD108: Merzbow 10Lp-Box  "Lowest Music & Arts 1980-1983" w. Book  (plus 7" / T-Shirt for members)

I hope for plenty of his mailart in the book... got an old catalogue from ZSF somewhere which lists all his early releases. Several I never seen mentioned anywhere else. I'll return with some titles when I've located it.

My personal list of his best works:
N.A.M. Material Action 2
Sadomasochismo
Pornoise 1KG
Solonoise I & II
The Lampinak

[acsenger]

Got the Merzbow/Aural Torture Mechanism split CD a couple days ago and after one listen, I must say the Merzbow track (about 34 minutes long) is one of his best ever! It was recorded in 1994 and it has everything: harshness, loops, great structure, a wide range of sounds... awesome.

[Bloated Slutbag]

Just made it through my first round of the Merzphysics 10cd box and my auditory passages are. fucking. shot. I like to imagine this as a joke very consciously played on all the merzpervs - ten. fucking. discs from the Merzpeak, principally 1994. Like after seeing Noisembryo repeatedly namechecked over the last seventeen years, someone decides to drop a veritable merzload from the same era...

After a single run I can say - with only the slightest concession to my basic fanboy instincts - that I thoroughly enjoy the physical sensations pulsing through the passages. A lot of it does smell like live-to-tape improv with some of Akita's favorite things. (Versus, say, a fully fleshed out sonic-sensual statement, as such.) Still these are very good things and plenty punishing all the way through. Scrap metal sources appear to scour heavily into the first half, discs 3 and 4 in particular if lingering aftertaste serves, and undermine a pointedly consistent penetralia. Back to disc 1 again and the shit is not getting old, in fact is getting better. Will definitely be getting plenty of spin in the forseeable future.

EDIT. Gripe. Most of the discs clock in at about C60 tape length or less, emphasis on the less. In his defense - "Mixed and mastered from orignial cassette tapes"

[Bloated Slutbag]

After a single run I can say - with only the slightest concession to my basic fanboy instincts - that

...and after a couple more runs I think it's time to temper those instincts a bit. Get a grip, Slutbag. There will never be another Noisembryo. Never. Merzphysics is, yes, most enjoyable, but does not at all rank among the very best. These discs could in fact represent the very best of merzsource materials or merzbacking tapes. Track titles like "gig4649" seem indicative. The shit would also benefit from a proper - loud - mastering, but then I am familiar with the wonderous technological breakthrough commonly known as the "volume knob", so no worries there.

Nevertheless. Even if Merzphysics does present little more than, essentially, dicking around, the dick easily kills most contemporaneous shit on offer. All of these discs are eminently releasable. And if I really need another Noisembryo, I now have the materials to fucking do it myself. End.

...intrigued to hear how the split with Aural Torture Mechanism fits into all this dribbling.

Incidently, thanks to whoever mentioned Hannover Interruption. Plonked it on this shortly after rolling out of bed this am and suffice it to say, had a Good Morning. Dense cacophony of a thousand metals, sharing air with some of his late 80's / early 90's material but quite compositionally sound in its distribution of component parts.

[Zeno Marx]

Nevertheless. Even if Merzphysics does present little more than, essentially, dicking around, the dick easily kills most contemporaneous shit on offer. All of these discs are eminently releasable.

I was thinking something similar after listening to Oersted the other day.  It wasn't a negative, nasty reaction to the quality of noise we now get, but it was a childlike, enthusiastic, joyful response to how fantastic that '94ish period of Merzbow was.  I know it.  I talk about it.  I see it on "my favorites" list.  But there's nothing like a real-life reminder of how incredible these sounds are; to have a rebirth in appreciation that can sometimes rival what it was like upon that first listen with utter amazement.  How often do you get that even with the best of the best?  1 in a 1000 listens?  Once every decade or decade and a half?  Everything has to align just perfectly, and there it is.  I found myself feeling such gratitude as I was listening to Oersted.  When it was over, I didn't want to listen to anything else.  I was wholly satisfied.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

I may have missed it, but does it say anywhere if Masami recorded this "classic era" direct to tape to regular cassette or DAT?

I have been told by some Japanese guys that secret to their sound was actually DAT. That all stuff needed to be recorded to DAT to get the good sound for it.
Specific player with analogue to digital processing results loud and crispy distortion. No crackling, no glitch, but violent razorsharp overdrive. I guess this could be secret of many. I don't know so many people in west who could have said DAT players were very popular in consumer use. Japan is probably slightly different?

Back then DAT was too expensive and obscure format unless you had studio and after popularity of advanced computers and CDR format it became quite obsolete... but it may have had effects to certain type of noise we hardly realized.  One Merzbow master DAT I got for FA#11 compilation, it was all-at-maximum blast, with plenty of DAT tape overdrive. Made local studio guy very surprised. While analogue tape can be crucial for some noise, it makes you wonder if role of Digital Audio Tape is foolishly ignored since it appears to be so much less cooler format?

[acsenger]

I may have missed it, but does it say anywhere if Masami recorded this "classic era" direct to tape to regular cassette or DAT?

The notes on the box only say "recorded at bedroom, tokyo 1993-1995, mixed and mastered from original cassette tapes at munemihouse, tokyo 2012"

...intrigued to hear how the split with Aural Torture Mechanism fits into all this dribbling.

I have Merzphysics but I've only heard the first 1 or 2 CDs so far. Based on that, I'd say more work went into the track on the split with ATM, although like you said, the more raw material feeling of Merzphysics doesn't mean it's not good.

[Zeno Marx]

Merzbient CD3

I haven't thought much of any of the first three CDs.  This third one is greatly guitar noodling sent through effects.  I wondered if it was krautrock getting reworked (maybe Manuel Gottsching).   By the last fifteen minutes, the sampled songs become discernible.  I think it might be either Can or Faust.  A bit later I recognize the vocals, but I can't put a song title to it.  I'm not understanding this box (yet).

[ghoulson]

Now I found the old mailorder catalogue from Merzbow (pre-ZSF I think?).

It lists the merztapes from 01-26, but also some other stuff. The interesting item here is:

"MASAMI AKITA / MUSICK FROM SIMULATION WORLD
C-46 cassette released at PRODUKTION HAIR."

Anyone familiar with this release?

[P A N I C]

Have never really found any info on it but one track of it is on the Expanded Music disc in the Merzbox (track 9, M.F.S.W. 1). Can't really recall from the top of my head what it's like. In my review I noted that it was 'particularly noise compared to most of the earlier Box material'. Regardless only part of the tape was adopted into the Merzbox, as the track is 18:58 (and I assume the C46 was a regular double-sided one).

[Bloated Slutbag]

Rainbow Electronics 2 (1996)
Metal Machine Music Up The Ass! Apparently a remix of the original Rainbow Electronics (1991), and I remember the (now rather quaint-sounding) criticism-cum-bitching starting immediately upon its announcement, re- "remixing fucking noise?! only from Merzbow". (Merzbow fatigue already well en vogue back then.) You can certainly hear elements of that great multi-colored classic throughout. The liner notes tell me RE2 was mixed in 1990 and "renumbered" in 1996. But this is actually quite an amazing piece of heavy duty industrial-strength Sound Sculpture (up the ass). This presents exactly as I would have characterized the Merz before he became inseparable from "Japanese Noise" - not at all the full-on harshness (up the ass), but more considered and open-cheeked in its scrapmetal`d textural prongings, explosive distortion-heavy flatulants, with plenty of room to breathe, or hyperventilate, throughout. The untimely result of which is an unfortunate, and rather preemptatory, overshadowing by the mighty harsh Merzclassics of the mid 90`s. I was certainly guilty. Popped this sucker in, spun it once, puked it out and, with wide-mouthed rainbow yawn, declared it far inferior to all my Merzfaves... what a fucking Bloated Wanker. Eating rainbow crow like a motherfucker right now as RE2 is enjoying almost constant spin this week, to be interrupted only occasionally by -

the Merzbow/Aural Torture Mechanism split CD...I must say the Merzbow track (about 34 minutes long) is one of his best ever! It was recorded in 1994 and it has everything: harshness, loops, great structure, a wide range of sounds... awesome.

On the strength of this recomendation, finally got around to getting with it. And ten minutes in I`m shaking my head thinking, "Damn you Ascenger! - *thunk.. buzz... clunk* "This is a total go-nowhere affair." But hold that thought. This one takes forever to get going, but - slowly, almost imperceptibly, all the seemingly random thunkings buzzings clunkings snowball into a massive kaleidescopic orgy of all-consuming density. Incredibly well-composed for something that appears to have been improvised on the spot. Perhaps not in the very tippy-top tier but makes for a very Merzwhile and satisfying listening session.

EDIT tagged on some dates in the interest of context

[acsenger]

I'm glad you liked the split with Aural Torture Mechanism, Bloated Slutbag. By the way, what did you think of the ATM tracks? They didn't really do anything for me.

On another note, Merzmorphosis is now available for order, so I'm about to fork out for it. It's 10 CDs of unreleased material from 1995-97, including outtakes from the Pulse Demon, Space Metalizer and Green Wheels sessions.

[audiodissection]

Merzgold (in no particular order):

- Noisembryo CD
- Artificial Invagination mCD
- Metalvelodrome 4xCD
- Hole CD
- Green Wheels CD+5"
- Pulse Demon CD
- Metal Mad Man C60
- Dadarottenvator LP
- Hannover Interruption LP
- Flare Gun 12"
- Project Frequency 12"
- Great American Nude / Crash For Hi-Fi CD
- Mercurated CD
- Hybrid NoiseBloom CD
- Psychorazer CD
- Rainbow Electronics CD
- Pinkream CD
- Venereology CD
- 1930 CD
- Batztoutai 2xLP
- Spiral Honey CD
- Oersted
- split w/MSBR  7"

as for compilation tracks..his contribution on "World Record" and "Noise Forest"

[audiodissection]

I'm glad you liked the split with Aural Torture Mechanism, Bloated Slutbag. By the way, what did you think of the ATM tracks? They didn't really do anything for me.

On another note, Merzmorphosis is now available for order, so I'm about to fork out for it. It's 10 CDs of unreleased material from 1995-97, including outtakes from the Pulse Demon, Space Metalizer and Green Wheels sessions.

thank you for the advice regarding the splitCD. Just grabbed it along with the new Merzmorphosis 10xCD boxset. It should be officially released this week but available for preorder

[Zeno Marx]

Anyone else questioning the integrity of these box sets?  He was so prolific during that period, and to 15 years later have hours and hours of material collecting dust?  I want both Physics and Morphosis to be as billed, but something is strange about it all.  Some artists never sleep.  Some of these unique personalities simultaneously live the lives of three people and squeeze 30 working hours out of every day.  I'm completely confident that Merzbow could pick up the old equipment and churn out era pieces.  He could probably use newer gear and mask it well.