Strange City by Merzbow
Strange City is the obvious and correct pick for the best and most important pure noise record of 2016. It’s a Lawrence Taylor type of tackle to seriously take on and reinterpret the music of Sun Ra and I’d be dubious of all but a select few artists who would dare to try. I learned from reading the pitchfork review something I probably should’ve been able to piece together myself from the album’s title: that this record is composed from very rough and chaotic samplings (spiced with Merzbowisms) from two classic Sun Ra masterpieces:
Magic City and Strange Strings
Magic City is an homage to Sun Ra’s hometown of Birmingham, Alabama and Strange Strings is “a study in ignorance” where Sun Ra gave his band a bunch of stringed instruments they had no experience with.