Merzbow

jackhammer · 07-03-2008, 06:03 PM

I have tried and tried to listen to 'Pulse Demon'but I cannot make it past the first couple of tracks. I hate it when music 'beats' me and becomes unlistenable but I have to draw the line somewhere.

Molecules · 07-03-2008, 06:52 PM

^it takes alot to admit it I know... with Merzbow I can understand the appeal and periodically I will have a hankerin' for some deeply textured noise, but it just gets too much after a while.

However I do love the idea though of noise filling in the spaces; and should you choose to you can listen, picking out the nuances like you would in the silence of a quiet summer's afternoon - passing cars, distant birdsong. Except in this case the distant bird song is nails on an aluminium sheet drowning in a sea of white static. It's all relative.

~~CAPTAIN CAVEMAN~~ · 08-12-2008, 02:24 PM

merzbow/boris collab "sun baked snow cave" is amazing. anyone else like it?

Demonoid · 09-17-2008, 12:31 AM

I actually like Merzbow. And I don't even know why...
Their(his) discography is confusing though. I have some 80s/90s stuff, which are more or less noise(and my favorite), but some of the recent releases aren't that bad on the ears.
Check out '24 Hours - A Day of Seals' and 'Offering'. Both are very listenable actually.

Chernobog · 09-19-2008, 03:05 PM

I like Merzbow, but more as background music, or funny entertainment. It's not really my thing, but I respect the guy a lot for all the work he's put out.

Although, I am really into most of the stuff he's done with Boris. I recommend any of their collaboration tracks to anyone into both Noise, and good old-fashioned rock.

TockTockTock · 04-18-2011, 09:34 AM

I'm thrilled that Skaligojurah introduced me to this man's music. He is already one of my favorite noise/noise rock musicians.

starrynight · 04-18-2011, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wren

Many have pointed to merzbow's super-prolific discography (over 500 albums) and denouncing him and his music as throwaway and lacking skill or technique. However i think thats exactly the point! look at merzbows junk-art aesthetic and love of dada / anti-art (like schwitters merz bau). Akitas music isnt meant to be refined or heavily 'technical' . Yet every album offers something new and his technique is masterful.

I haven't really heard enough to fully judge him, and I suppose some 90s music can be too technical and cold (for me certainly), but I'm not sure lower technical rigour necessarily would have to be the reason people would call it throwaway. Could be other reasons. I remember when I heard some of his music it sounded a little simple. And for some reason Japanese music is seen as particularly hip by some, but more when it uses styles already very familiar in the West.

OccultHawk · 04-18-2011, 12:40 PM

Quote:

for some reason Japanese music is seen as particularly hip by some, but more when it uses styles already very familiar in the West.

Japanism adds a special sprinkle of sparkle. The cute accents of of the girl bands that sing in English is beauty that has been refined since Sei Shonagon. And the extremes that Merzbow insists upon take us to mountaintop Zen meditation epiphanies. That stuff deserves to be thought of as hip.

starrynight · 04-19-2011, 05:44 AM

Japanese pop to me has definitely been the main part of their music, rock music often sounds more derivative of the West though. I do like some Japanese experimental music like World's End Girlfriend but some others like The Boredoms bore me lol.

Ska Lagos Jew Sun Ra · 04-19-2011, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jackhammer

I have tried and tried to listen to 'Pulse Demon'but I cannot make it past the first couple of tracks. I hate it when music 'beats' me and becomes unlistenable but I have to draw the line somewhere.

Eh, I find a brilliance in it's painfulness. It's somehow relaxing to me, a psychotheraphy for my inner frustrations.

07-03-2008, 06:03 PM	#21 (permalink)
jackhammer Ba and Be. Join Date: May 2007 Location: This Is England Posts: 17,331	I have tried and tried to listen to 'Pulse Demon'but I cannot make it past the first couple of tracks. I hate it when music 'beats' me and becomes unlistenable but I have to draw the line somewhere. __________________ It be my music and film collection. “A cynic by experience, a romantic by inclination and now a hero by necessity.”

07-03-2008, 06:52 PM	#22 (permalink)
Molecules daddy don't Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: the Wastes Posts: 2,577	^it takes alot to admit it I know... with Merzbow I can understand the appeal and periodically I will have a hankerin' for some deeply textured noise, but it just gets too much after a while. However I do love the idea though of noise filling in the spaces; and should you choose to you can listen, picking out the nuances like you would in the silence of a quiet summer's afternoon - passing cars, distant birdsong. Except in this case the distant bird song is nails on an aluminium sheet drowning in a sea of white static. It's all relative. __________________ [SIZE="1"]Eff em tumble her

08-12-2008, 02:24 PM	#23 (permalink)
~~CAPTAIN CAVEMAN~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: VAN Posts: 2,530	merzbow/boris collab "sun baked snow cave" is amazing. anyone else like it?

09-17-2008, 12:31 AM	#24 (permalink)
Demonoid Music Addict Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 734	I actually like Merzbow. And I don't even know why... Their(his) discography is confusing though. I have some 80s/90s stuff, which are more or less noise(and my favorite), but some of the recent releases aren't that bad on the ears. Check out '24 Hours - A Day of Seals' and 'Offering'. Both are very listenable actually.

09-19-2008, 03:05 PM	#25 (permalink)
Chernobog Groupie Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 1	I like Merzbow, but more as background music, or funny entertainment. It's not really my thing, but I respect the guy a lot for all the work he's put out. Although, I am really into most of the stuff he's done with Boris. I recommend any of their collaboration tracks to anyone into both Noise, and good old-fashioned rock.

04-18-2011, 09:34 AM	#26 (permalink)
TockTockTock They/Them Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 1,914	I'm thrilled that Skaligojurah introduced me to this man's music. He is already one of my favorite noise/noise rock musicians.

04-19-2011, 05:44 AM	#29 (permalink)
starrynight Music Addict Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 937	Japanese pop to me has definitely been the main part of their music, rock music often sounds more derivative of the West though. I do like some Japanese experimental music like World's End Girlfriend but some others like The Boredoms bore me lol.