Merzbow - Cycle

Look at all that lovely sand! Well, one assumes it's sand - like the coloured sand you hammer into crappy glass bottles on family holidays to the beach. No? Well fuck you.

Cycle is a pulsing, circular throb of a noise session, that loops and dives into waves of repetition and (yes) cycles; the palpable worm Ouroboros in wave format, writhing itself in undulations of sonic ecstasy. Yeah. At least, that is what part one sounds like. I expected more of the same from part two (because Merzbow really loves more of the same) but alas I was mistaken - part two starts with a building ambiance of muted synth noise before casually falling apart into a cacophony of what at first appears to be a succession of random sounds.

What's fascinating is, is that as the final stages of the record progress, the blips and hisses firing from all corners of the aural spectrum begin to sound like wildlife (edit: this record is rumored to include recordings of Merzbow's personal pet chickens). It is as if you are listening to a machine simulation of the Mekong Delta at sunset, rather than a harsh noise record.

Merzbow - Sphere

Sphere is one of my favourite Merzbow releases. Granted, I have in no way shape or form heard them all, but of the ones that I have heard, Sphere is high up there amongst the best. The three Sphere tracks are pulsing, blooping, bleeping harsh displays of spherical madness. I’m not entirely sure why the tracks were even broken up in the first place, but hey – what do I know. My favourite though is the final track – “Untitled for Vasteras” (which itself is a title – LOLbow) – which is a nigh-on-30-minute disasterpiece of tinnitus-inducing proportions. 

Can’t really say much more than that about a harsh noise release in a literally fucking endless discography of one project. Long live Merzbow, of course, but for once I am at a loss for words. 

Enter the sphere! *que Crystal Maze-style music*

 

Alec Empire Vs. Merzbow - Live CBGB's NYC 1998

Christ, who's idea was this? Mixing gabba-techno / industrial kingpin Alec Empire with the father of harsh noise, Akita Masami would surely result in a cacophonous cocktail that would make the world end in any other given circumstance. Somehow the earth didn't stop turning, and instead we are treated to one of the craziest collaborations in musical history in all it's glory. This is quite probably the most coherent thing I've heard Merzbow being involved in. Empire's spastic beat programming and bass warbles dominate the forefront of the performance, with Merzbow's harsh noise attacks bringing up the rear, fleshing out the higher echelons of the audio canvas. 

It's kinda like what Libido Airbag would sound like if their members were originally from Ramleh instead of GUT. I've not heard awkward synths and industrial terror mashed together so uncertainly since Greed-era Swans. Obviously, the 'harshness' of the harsh noise has to be a little scaled back for Empire's parts to even get a look in, but even when it's Merzbow's time to shine, he seems to focus on broken, stuttering loops and staccato, stabbing distortion in lieu of punishing walls of wailing static. There are some clever references in the song titles here, such as "606: The Number Of The Beast" and "Curse Of The Golden Angel". In case you didn't know, this references Curse Of The Golden Vampire, which was another short-lived bat-shit-crazy-random supergroup featuring Alec Empire, Godflesh's Justin Broadrick and Kevin Martin of The Bug / King Midas Sound fame (I know, right?).

Whoever thought up this collab might have possibly been smoking a lot of meth at the time, but it fucking works. If you loved Masami's Merzbeat, Aqua Necromancer or Door Opens At 8am albums, or even his Merzdub collaboration with Jamie Saft, then you've probably already heard this. If you're an Alec Empire fan, I don't see why you wouldn't love this either. Everyone is a winner! 

Merzbow - Recycled

It's been a good while since I last reviewed a tape (the Electric Wizard one that went up yesterday was written months ago), so seeing as I bought a few recently it's high time I did some more tape posts. This is my first ever Merzbow purchase and potentially an in-road onto a long slippery slope of trying to collect all his shit. I went through the same fad in 2007 with Agathocles, and failed miserably, but at least with them it is a case of every release being known (not counting bootlegs, of course). Merzbow's discography is so large that it is said that not even the man himself knows of every release that has been put out. Jesus!

This Recycled tape is an item in a returning trend in tape culture; the dubbing over of old shit tapes. A cheap and easy way to put out music! This was originally a Barbara Streisand tape, which has been butchered and dubbed over with some pulsing and horrible noise. The noise starts off fairly bassy, but gets pretty harsh as things develops. I like the way noise builds and reveals itself; constantly warping and molding itself into new textures, so I'm a bit bummed when other shit cuts through, like random singing and shitty beats. I guess this runs with the Recycled ethic and gives the impression that the music underneath is sneaky through the harsh wall.

This is also probably the loudest tape I own yet; more than likely due to Merzbow's massive bass frequencies abusing the depth of an analogue format. At one point there is a huge pulsing sound which shook not only my speakers, but my TV stand, sofa and whole floor. The volume wasn't even particularly high. As far as I can tell, this is Merzbow self-released, and as much as I enjoyed it, there is a million (literally) other Merzbow cuts out there that are so much better.

PS I can't find a link for this on Youtube!? One day I really will start uploading out of print stuff there.