Hmm.. lets raise this old topic from the digital graveyard, so amount of Merzbow topics won't rise too high..
Lately been revisiting many old Merzbow CD's. It always reminds me why I like his works so much. Reading the Merzbook again, it's always a pleasure. It's like any music genre, the classic bands, you tend to re-read books about them. Got several books of bands I don't even listen to, but find interesting as how it happened.
Anyways, once in a while, it makes me curious, if I really have accurate view of what the artists is doing. Hearing many good old recordings, I feel like I need to actually re-check the latests works. Yesterday went through "Marmo" CD which is among the very latest works? And fuck... there are few moments when I though Merzbow is getting somewhere. Perhaps nearly kraut'ish wibe of keyboards/random electronics, but it was always just short piece that was barely successful. Most of the disc could be described just as Tommy C. described recent Stockholm show: sounds lack the punch.
Noise doesn't sound amplified. It sound synthetic, line-in computer generated sounds. Most of harsh noise he comes up, operates is "quiet mode". It doesn't seem to have proper pressure. It doesn't have such overdriven & massive fierce edge like at best. Out of 3 tracks, the final is so wanky, that I considered simply stopping listening half way. But to be able to honestly say I did give it a try, and listened carefully through it all,... well, I did. I could imagine that if this was played loud, via amps and/or rugged PA, it could be good. Now it sounds weakly executed half assed work. Poor synthetic noises. Even the analogue gear, with all the standard wah-wah eq sweeps etc is like plastic version of past. Simulated synth sounds and the style of distortion just makes you wonder if this is really the type of sound someone think is good? Or noisy? Anyone with some piece of gear, can test how weak distortion pedals sound if not amplified or blown up with recorder device gain. That is still perhaps louder/stronger than this?
3 songs seems like excerpts of some improvised jams. Just randomly start, go on, and eventually stop. In moments what sounds like there wasn't really any plan or interest to cut it in some moment which actually would make it sound as if there was some goal / sense of composition like in some of the best works of artist.
Well, with one hour of your time spent, perhaps it works as reminder why stay on older materials until these is decent grip on the gear again....
