Merzbow: Ikebukuro Dada
Circumvent Recordings (2002)

It’s a little odd that Merzbow references Dada in the title of this release. Sure, the early 20th Century Arts and Literature movement was all anti-establishment and anti ‘art’ just like the noise genre is anti ‘music’. However, Dada was heavily based on chance and the illogical – its practitioners gave spoken word performances based on collections of words and phrases drawn upon at random.

On Ikebukuro Dada Merzbow sounds less haphazard and more structured than ever before, entirely the opposite of the Dada’s shenanigans.

It’s not often that Merzbow ‘songs’ feel like they have a distinct beginning, middle and end. It’s rare that he takes the time to build his layers of sound rather than toy with them, and yet Merzbow seems very focused on achieving exactly this across all four of Ikebukuro Dada’s tracks. The record opens with a soft, clipped metronome effect interjected with the sound of someone running their hands through the body of a piano like a harp. With a snap, Merzbow throws in some high-pitched scree that builds in intensity until the track’s closing.

He shows more restraint on the second, and best track Ikebukuro Dada Texture, which opens with a subtle pulse, like the dense throb of outer space in a Sci-Fi movie. Rhythmic splashes of white noise fade in and out, but Merzbow keeps returning to this throb that holds the piece together like glue. I haven’t heard Merzbow do ‘quiet’ all that often, but I love it when he does, particularly here where he sounds like Wolf Eyes or Prurient on Valium. And don’t get me started on how fucking awesome the sliced and diced jazz pianos sound when they suddenly interrupt this cacophony.

Hardcore power-noise heads don’t need to fear though, there’s still plenty of face melting moments on Ikebukuro Dada, but Merzbow cleverly balances them with a much wider range of volumes and densities than I’ve heard him play with before. He also sounds so much more determined to take the listener on some sort of journey. Every click and tick and burst of sound seems carefully placed within its wider context, and it’s that calculation which seems at odds with the concept of Dadaism.

Perhaps Merzbow is attracted to Dada’s anti-war ethics, which might tie in with his whole ‘peace for animals’ schtick (proceeds from this record go to ‘Chimp Haven’ according to the cover notes) but don’t ask me where Merzbow’s penchant for Sado Masochism fits in with the whole no-war vibe. There are a number of field recordings on Ikebukuro Dada and maybe their random nature also appeals to the Dadaist title. Who the fuck knows? The title could just be a prank on Merzbow’s part, or more likely it’s absolutely irrelevant.

But whatever, go and hunt down a copy of this because it’s among his finest works.

PS: Circumvent Recordings doesn’t actually exist anymore, they’re now called Drone Works. I bought my copy on eBay, but I think you can still get a copy direct if you want it.

You’ll never guess what happens on this one. Merzbow drums!!! I mean fuck me! I am so completely blown away. I have never* heard him do that before. It is so original and profound**. Oh boy does he go nuts***. Is there any cowbell you ask? You bet there is some fucking cowbell. Tinky tinky tinky it does and then whoosh – big fucking noise, and thumpa thumpa thumpa go the drums. It’s almost a religious experience****. The three tracks rank among his best*****.

*except for the other nine records in the series oh and Somei and you know a lot of others.

** Fuck, it is dull

*** Yawn

**** If your religion is all about worshipping shit

***** No they don’t, although the last one doesn’t suck quite as hard.

Here’s a documentary on Britain’s Electronic Music Studios (EMS):

I was watching a documentary on Merzbow recently and was interested to note that he was using an EMS synth in his studio.  “This filter will make the sound very cold,” he says.

I don’t know where I’ve been living for the last couple of years but in the last couple of months I’ve discovered discogs.com. Besides being a free way of cataloging my music (take that Record Collector!) it is also a great way of picking up out of print releases without having to search ebay every week. I received an email form a reader a couple of weeks ago where he listed his favourite Merzbow records and I was a bit surprised that I had only heard about two of them. Many of his favourite releases are from the pre-laptop era of the mid-1990’s, a period of his work that i don’t know enough about although my thoughts on two of the key release from this period, Pulse Demon and Venerology have appeared on this site. Both of those records are certainly towards the more extreme end of Merzbow’s noise excursions and it is perhaps for that reason I haven’t felt the need to return to those records because to be honest how much of that kind of noise does anyone really need. Well as it pans out quite a bit.  I don’t want to see like an obsessive fucker but since the last Japanese Birds record came in late September I’ve acquired Age of 369/Chant 2, Fantail, Hybrid Noisebloom, Space Metalizer, Camouflage,  Ikebukuro Dada, Rainbow Electronics  2 and his collaboration with Porn. I’m figuring that might be all the Merzbow I need but then I read a recent interview Merzbow did with a French Website where Merzbow hints at a future no-wave influence and you know I’ll be lining up for those records.

Oersted is a pretty harsh Merzbow record with few identifiable forms and it is these sorts of Merzbow records that I’m listening to a lot a the moment.  Experimental musician, Mason Jones, quoted in the Merzbook says this:

“I live by their Noiz. It seems to have no rule, no limits and is totally expansive. I can get lost in those dense textures for hours on end. Philosophically, I think I like noise because it is a collage of sound…What I really want to hear is an unencumbered, original voice leaking through. Of the harsher artists, Merzbow was the most popular – part of this maybe because there are more Merzbow releases and the recordings are easier to find. I think there is more to it than that however. Merzbow’s noise is the result of more editing and a greater variety fo sound textures.

Jone’s thoughts could so easily be applied to Oersted. If you’re a fan of 1930 then this is well worth tracking down (I think you can download it off itunes). Both are towards the harsher end of Merzbows work but both also share a playfulness which isn’t present in the more grindcore offerings of Pulse Demon and Venerology. Just don’t  buy Oersted thinking you might find a beat of some sort. Oersted displays the  sort of noise you can drown in .

As I searched the internet for info about Puroland I found this rather handy entry on a Merzbow database. This is what Mr Akita has to say about the record:

Puroland is the name of a Sanrio amusement park which is dedicated to Hello-Kitty, located in suburbs of Tokyo. “Pilgrimage to Puroland” is the melancholic first song. I played once this song live in Tokyo. “Celebration Day” is inspired by the song “Celebration Day” of Led Zeppelin (from their album “3″), once I played this song at Fandango, Osaka. “Pleasant Valley Monday” is inspired by the song “Pleasant Valley Sunday” of The Monkees (from their album “Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones LTD”). “War Frog” was originally called “Boom Boom Bomb” because of the sound of the bass loop. I played this live many times.

That second last sentence kills me. There is so much over-analysis of Merzbow that the idea that he named a song Boom Boom Bomb because that’s what the bass loop sounded like gives me the flutteries. For your average Merzbow nerd though, Puroland is really good. It’s digital though so if you like the more analogue based stuff then this may not  light up your life. I’m a  bit partial to the digital records so I give this the big thumbs up. The noise Merzbow conjures up on this now out of print release on a small Norwegian label is probably some of the more accessible Merzbow out there and also some of the most un-Merzbow themes you’re likely to hear. The opener begins with a looped dark-folk guitar and voice snippet before the layers of digital noise are allowed to settle over the top of it. There are some beats and strange vocal effects added to the mix as the track progresses. The idea that Pleasant Valley Monday reference the Monkees is just mad because trying to reconcile the rather malevolent and dense fog of noise with the  shiny, uselessness of the Monkees is ultimately pointless although pretty fun. A guitar loop make s a reappearance and on Celebration Day but any link to Zeppelin is kind of baffling. And you know what the final track War Frog, after beginning with some lovely field recordings of birds does have a bass loop that goes boom boom bomb. Classic stuff but for an album inspired by an amusement Park the vibe is not a happy one. In fact its is almost the record of someone who mourns for a society hell bent o the most pointless consumerism. Although this is out of print there are copies still around which oddly enough are not going for stupid money.

Suite du premier épisode paru la semaine passée…

Entretemps en 1999, il crée son propre label Ipecac avec Greg Werckman. Au départ, ce label a été créé pour accueillir les disques de Fantomas, mais très vite les Melvins ont rejoint Fantomas, et finalement aujourd’hui ce label produit régulièrement des groupes de styles divers  tels que le métal, le rap… mais toujours des artistes qui ont  une production disons plus marginale, ou plutôt qui entre moins dans les créneaux de leur style.

Maintenant qu’on a fait le tour de ses groupes on va poursuivre avec ses projets personnels, ses one-shot….

Ce mec a vraiment touché à tout , il a fait ceci :

Mais aussi la voix des monstres du film “I am Legend”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsK0GKajlsI&hl=fr]

Ou encore… du plus radical et, c’est le moins qu’on puisse dire.

Commençons par les projets personnels ….

Adult Themes for voices : 1995.  Sur le label Tzadik créé par  John Zorn. Au cours d’une tournée avec Faith no More, il réalise son premier disque solo. Le soir, dans les hôtels, il enregistre sa propre voix sur bandes, des cris, des borborygmes, qu’il fait passer par des traitements électroniques. Il expérimente ainsi trente quatre très courtes plages bruitistes. Pour être honnête avec vous, c’est un disque totalement expérimental, intellectuellement très intéressant mais franchement pas facile du tout à écouter !.

Pranzo Oltranzista : 1997. Toujours sur Tzadik, pour ce second projet il s’entoure de Erik Friendlander – cello – Marc Ribbot – guitare – William Winant – percussion – et John Zorn – sax alto. Il se réserve la partie vocale bien sûr en plus des effets sonores. Tout autant expérimental que son premier opus, mais plus construit. Les titres s’enchaînent les uns aux autres comme s’il s’agissait d’une seule pièce. Alternance de calme et de sons obtenus pas les instruments mais aussi des sons quasi concrets.

A Perfect Place : 2008. Un court-métrage réalisé par Derrick Scocchera pour lequel Patton a réalisé la bande originale. Par moments, nous sommes proches des musiques de Morricone ou de Schiffrin,  mais très vite il y met son grain de sel en y introduisant des petits éléments incongrus qui déforment cette filiation, il y mêle des cris, fait des breaks, mais chante également une belle ballade. Un petit plus : le cd audio est livré avec le film en bonus.

Les one shot….

General Patton Vs. The X-Ecutioners : 2005. Cette fois, il se lance dans une aventure avec les turntablists new-yorkais. Avec un nom pareil, on comprend bien que les thèmes abordés par les bandes-son parlent de guerre. Ca va dans tous les sens, beat boxing, scratches, extraits de bandes sonores de films, rythmes latinos, easy listening… un sacré patchwork. Patton chante, joue de la guitare, de la basse, des percussions et est bien sûr le grand ordonateur du projet.

Peeping Tom : 2006. Premier album éponyme. On y retrouve un Patton compositeur, chanteur et multi-instrumentiste. Il s’associe avec des têtes de gondole une fois de plus. Je cite : Kid Koala, Odd Nosdam, Rahzel, Massive Attack, Jel, Bebel Gilberto, Norah Jones, Doseone, Kool Keith, Amon Tobin et Dan the Automator excusez du peu.  Oui, mais et la musique dans tout ça ?  Ce sont des chansons qui changent de couleur et de genre en fonction de l’invité. C’est le disque le plus  easy listening de toute sa carrière.  Je pense franchement (et ça n’engage que moi)  que Patton a fait ce disque pour se faire plaisir, point. Le  plaisir de chanter des chansons, mais aussi d’être entouré de tout ce beau monde, et de pouvoir monter sur scène avec des musiciens qu’il aime et qui sont issus d’univers différents de ceux fréquentés jusqu’à présent.

Les collaborations…

Maldoror “She” : 1999. En collaboration avec Merzbow, musicien noise  japonais extrêmement prolifique. N’essayez pas de trouver la moindre trace de voix “vive”  sur ce disque. Collages et manipulations de bandes, d’effets, sorte de fourre-tout de sons. Il y a des sons industriels, d’autres plus figuratifs, des ambiances spectrales aussi. La  pochette rose bonbon et son livret contenant des photos osées début du siècle  est  assez trompeuse quant à son contenu.

Nathaniel Merriweather “Lovage” : 2001. Projet de Dan “The Automator” – alias Dan Nakamura, producteur de hip hop et aussi Mr Gorillaz avec Damon Albarn – avec comme sous-titre “Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By”. C’est donc un recueil de chansons sexy, susurrées par la très sensuelle Jennifer Charles.  La bande-son parfaite pour un film érotique des 70’s.

Et enfin la période Zorn….

Elegy : 1992. Un album de musique contemporaine dédié à Jean Genet divisé en 4 mouvements et composé par Zorn.  Une alternance de moments calmes à la flute,  petit carillon et alto, avec des  embrasements soudains  et puis le calme revient. Patton y chante,  David Shea est derrière les platines, Scummy alias Trey Spruance (Mr Bungle)   à la guitare, les autres musiciens viennent du monde du classique contemporain.

Hemophiliac “50th Birthday Celebration – 6″ : 2003. Zorn fête ses 50 ans en revisitant sa carrière pendant un mois. Chaque soir, un projet différent se produit live au Tonic, un club  mythique new-yorkais. Certains de ces concerts sont parus en cd sous le titre ”50th Birthday Celebration”.  Hemophiliac est un trio formé par John Zorn – saxos – Ikue Mori – laptop sauvage – Mike Patton – cris étranges. Improvisation, vent de folie, décoiffant.

John Zorn “Moonchild – Songs without Words“  : 2006. Cette fois, Zorn écrit, compose, arrange et dirige le trio formé par Joey Baron – batterie- Trevor Dunn – basse – et Patton – voix.  Grosse basse bien lourde limite métal, roulements de tambours indéfinis et inattendus, et chants gutturaux, des bruits de  bouche ou des cris effrayants, musique d’avant-garde, avant-rock ? Et tout ça mené de main de maître par Zorn depuis son pupitre. Tout à la fois free et structuré.   Entre le free jazz, la noise et du rock ultra radical avec des saturations en tous genres.

John Zorn “Astronome” : 2006. Comme pour Moonchild, Zorn est à la composition et le trio est le même que pour Moonchild sorti quelques mois plus tôt. Disque dédié à Antonin Artaud, Edgar Varèse et Aleister Crowley. Dans la continuité du projet Moonchild.

John Zorn “Crucible” : 2008. Même formule avec Marc Ribot – guitare – en plus.

Voilà j’ai plus ou moins fais le tour. Ouf !
Evidemment c’est sans compter toutes ses participations (Bjork, Sepultura, les covers de Gainsbourg et de Burt Bacharach…)

En conclusion, je vous donne mon super top 5 avec une subjectivité que j’assume entièrement.

Faith no More “Angel Dust”
Mr Bungle “California”
Peeping Tom
Tomahawk “Mit Gas”
Nathaniel merryweather “Lovage”

Un petit dernier pour la route, parce que 5 c’est vraiment trop dur !
John Zorn “Moonchild”
Et alors, je triche un peu ….

surtout ne jamais rater Fantomas en concert ! c’est une tuerie !

Et vous, vous en pensez quoi ? C’est lequel votre préféré ?

Brigitte Molenkamp

Along with Dust of Dreams, this is my favourite Merzbow record. Blossoming Noise has released some of the finest Merzbow records out there at the moment (Senmaida, Zophorus) but Bariken is now out of print and well, I’ve already voiced my opinion on what I think of that concept. I mean seriously how fucking hard can it be to keep a  record in print. If you have any interest in Merzbow at all then you need to get yourself a copy of Bariken. One of the reasons it works so well for me is that it is equal parts noise maelstrom and recognisable forms. Minka Pt.1 reminds me of the opening of Bauhaus Double Dare which I think is fucking excellent because you know, I like Bauhaus, yet at the same time the noise is nudging the higher thresholds of Merzbow’s output. The second track, Bariken,  is all industrial bombast and crunchy Dilloway-esque effects and I put my hand up and say I really enjoy when he goes a bit industrial and in my opinion it anchors some of his finer work. On most of the  tracks a sound akin to a squadron of WW2 Spitfires overheard makes an appearance. The same  effect anchors Minka Pt.2 which almost suffocates the other layers to create a track full of ominous dread.Minka Pt.3 begins as all crackles and kitchen clatter before some tribal drumming begins and some micro vocal dispatches makes an appearance. It’s almost a bit like Nurse with Wound at times. The whole album  is rounded off by one of Merzbow’s finest moments – the epic Bariken (reprise), 30 minutes of noise textures and industrial rhythm menace before evolving into a noise-ambient masterpiece. Nearly perfect.

This was the first album Merzbow released in 2009, arriving from a small Greek label, Low Impedance. I suspect that had I heard this at the  time it was released and before I started receiving the 13 Japanese Birds records, my thoughts on this work may have been very different. But it was not until May of this year that I shelled out the cash for Somei  and by that stage Merzbow drumming in a free jazz style (and other styles for that matter) was no longer the novelty that it might have been when this first came out. In fact Somei is really a precursor to the whole 13 Japanese Birds thing in that it heavily features Akita doing the whole drumming thing but here it is much more restrained  than what you get on many of the 13 Birds records but had the title and art work had been any different you’d probably have thought that it is one of the recent series. To be fair, out of all of the recent Merzbow records I’ve heard barring a couple of the 13 Japanese Birds ones which have been excellent (Pt 2 for instance) my favourite (recent) Merzbow record has to be Tombo and I wonder whether this is because deep down I actually prefer his pure noise records rather than those which have some recognisable forms. I was reading a review of Oersted which appears on Amazon of all places, and the reviewer has an idea which I think has some merit: he differentiated the Merzbow records based on the harshness of the noise. So for instance he gave Pulse Demon an extreme rating, 1930 a very harsh rating, Merzbuta was given a low to moderate rating etc. As a general idea I think it is pretty good, but it become tricky when you have to start examining his latest work. There has to be more to differentiating Merzbow’s work than simply the harshness factor, and how do you in fact define harshness because my idea of harsh and your idea of harsh might be quite different. To truly make sense of  Merzbow’s work and to write a meaningful review I think a Merzbow record has to be considered on a criteria of  volume, the density of the layers, recognisable forms, repetition and rate of change  and whether when you chuck them all of them into the mix, the record actually works. And I think that might be some if the problem with his more recent works (particularly last years). The concepts by themselves are pretty good but what actually makes a Merzbow record interesting is two fold. Firstly are we hearing something new, for instance does  Merzbow’s take on an already recognisable form astonish and delight? Secondly if there are no recognisable forms,  is the way it is constructed and controlled great – does it allow me to reach some form of “noise nirvana” (I pinched that off Paul Hegarty). Basically is the record convincing as the work of someone who is at the top of his game or was it simply put together after breakfast and sent  to the latest small label to release.  Good Merzbow astonishes and delights. Is Somei good Merzbow? No not really. Is it a good noise record? As Sarah Palin would say – You betcha!

Extreme Records is an innovative label out of Australia that has been around since the mid 1980s and introduced such artists as Merzbow, Paul Schutze and Muslimgauze to a worldwide audience. This is a double CD set released in 1997 representing, perhaps obviously, the first ten years of the label. The first disc is a compilation of ten songs representing the artists on the catalogue. The second disc is a mix by Social Interiors.

If you’re looking for some really interesting and experimental music this is a great place to start. It’s incredibly diverse and engaging, definitely music to get lost in.

While most of the music is headphone friendly, a word of caution about Merzbow if you’ve never listened to him: his works deal with “noise”. It will challenge your notion of music but I recommend at least experimenting with it. After all, what is “noise” to some can be music to others.

This is a continuous mp3 mix if someone has a separate track version available.

Another compilation worth checking out from Extreme Records is Assemblage Volume One. It too is out of print and features artists found on other comps on this blog such as Paul Schutze, Muslimgauze, Jorge Reyes and Shinjuku Thief.

CD 1: Part1//Part2
CD 2: Part1//Part2

Info

these ten songs.  these ten songs are all perfect tumours and broken-teeth smiles and drunkdrunk women in shortshort skirts.  they’re like getting ripped and taking off all your clothes and running running running; listening, it’s cracking an egg and finding a chicken fetus.  it’s blood and vomit and spunk and piss and shit.  it’s the sky falling.  it’s a house on fire with the family inside.  it’s the best worst orgasm of your goddam life.  it’s the sun the moon the earth.  it’s everything horrible and glorious about being human and alive and sick and dying.  it’s the whole clever dumb smart stupid beatifully ugly fucking endorphine fueled dog and pony show.

• wraiths: ghoulsong
• part chimp: ashita no bakahatsu
• merzbow: aenokoto 223
• michael gira (body lovers body haters): (5.20)
• weenliz: fur / bramble
• gravetemple: v
• axolotl: bonds
• the skaters: wind drapeing incense 2
• birchville cat motel: heavens flaming horse
• the rita: untitled

(last days of radio)

Playlist:
1. Fela Ransome-Kuti and The Afrika 70 “You No Go Die… Unless” (Na Poi, HMV/EMI, 1971, Nigéria)
2. +2 Moreno, Domenico & Kassin “Jogada Infantil” (Ímã, s/g, 2009, Brasil)
3. +2 Moreno, Domenico & Kassin “Broto de Bambu” (Ímã, s/g, 2009, Brasil)
4. David Sylvian “The Rabbit Skinner” (Manafon, Samadhisound, 2009, Reino Unido)
5. The Flaming Lips “See the Leaves” (Embryonic, Warner, 2009, EUA)
6. Mujava “Township Funk” (Township Funk 12”, This Is Music/Warp, 2008, Reino Unido [África do Sul])
7. Eric B. & Rakim “Paid in Full (Seven Minutes of Madness – The Coldcut Remix)” (Paid in Full 12”, Fourth & Broadway, 1987, Reino Unido)
8. Hayward/Coxon/Thomas/Taylor “Relph” (About, Treader, 2009, Reino Unido)
9. Melvins “Snow Rem Rem Ibvz (Remix by Merzbow)” (Chicken Switch, Ipecac, 2009, EUA)
10. BLK JKS “Molalatladi” (After Robots, Secretly Canadian, 2009, EUA [África do Sul])
11. Staff Benda Bilili “Avramandole” (Très Très Fort, Crammed, 2009, Bélgica [Congo])

Fikk du med deg Merzbow på Henie Onstad sist søndag? Uansett: Her er mitt 2001-intervju med den japanske musikkterroristen. Han elsker norsk black metal, synes punk er kapitalistisk og står bak noe av den mest ekstreme og støyende musikken som noensinne er laget.

En bekjent beskrev nylig hvordan han opplevde Merzbow på konsert: «Lydnivået var så ekstremt at hvis jeg åpnet munnen fikk vibrasjonene kjeven til å vibrere.» Ved første møte vil da også Merzbows musikk framstå som en nærmest ugjennomtrengelig vegg av ren støy – robbet for alt som kan minne om melodi og rytme – med volumet skrudd langt forbi 11.

– Jeg ser på lyd som en sjø, der rytme er bølgen, melodi er fuglen som flyr over sjøen og lydnivået er tidevannet som skyller fram og tilbake over stranden. Jeg liker å bruke høy lyd fordi jeg prøver å gjøre noe med hele sjøen, forklarer Merzbow fra Tokyo via epost.

Kafka og progrock
Masami Akita, alias Merzbow, har siden 1983 arbeidet med sin sjø av støy, og sluppet et utall kassetter, lp- og cd-plater med ekstrem musikk løs på publikum. Han vil gi ut tusen utgivelser, og kom flere skritt nærmere målet med fjorårets Merzbox – en boks bestående av hele 50 cd-plater.

Akita oppdaget vestlig rock som The Rolling Stones, The Doors og Cream på 1960-tallet, men det var kombinasjonen av progrock og Franz Kafka som ble det første viktige skritt på veien mot statusen som støykonge.

– Jeg hørte på Brian Davisons Every Which Way (trommeslager som ga ut sitt eneste album i 1970, journ.anm.), og et tidsskrift skrev at musikken minnet om Kafkas romaner. Også Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Inventions We’re Only in It for the Money refererte til Kafka.

Dette førte til at den japanske tenåringen leste sin første roman, Kafkas Prosessen, på toget til slektninger i Chiba. Romanen gjorde et voldsomt inntrykk på unge Akita.

– Boka hadde ingen endelig løsning eller ordentlig slutt. Siden har jeg lest mange bøker av Kafka, og alle bøkene hans har de samme trekkene. Å oppleve kunst uten en begynnelse, midt eller slutt var noe helt nytt for meg – og det fortalte meg at det var meningsløst å lete etter mening i verden. Gud og samfunnets normer og regler er menneskeskapt, og ingen absolutte verdier. Disse tankene ga meg stor frihet.

Merzbow live på Henie Onstad 11. oktober 2009.

Surrealisme og dadaisme
Kafka ga Akita en glødende leselyst, og han slukte bøker av Arthur Rimbaud, marki de Sade og grev de Lautréamont. Samtidig begynte han å spille i band, inspirert av rockere som Frank Zappa og Captain Beefheart, krautrock som Ash Ra Tempel og Can og frijazz à la Ornette Coleman. Men det var kunstudiene, og da spesielt surrealisme og dadaisme, som skulle bringe Akita videre i jakten på den rette musikken.

– Det fantes ikke musikkforskning sett fra et surrealistisk ståsted. Det ble for eksempel sagt at «Le Marteau sans Maitre» av Pierre Boulez og fransk musique concréte var surrealistisk, men jeg oppfattet det som heller konservativt. Skulle jeg følge den surrealistiske læresetningen om å «være samtidig», måtte jeg lage postpunk og gal musikk. På samme måte som dadaismen brøt med alle tidlige kunstretninger, burde punk brutt med all musikkhistorie. Men punk så jeg på som en enkel, kapitalistisk greie, så ekte surrealistisk eller dadaistisk musikk burde da være ren støy.

Black metal
Akita ga opp både progrock, rock ‘n’ roll og punk – og skapte isteden noe han mente var antirock – samtidig som han beholdt rockens høye lyd og brutale stil. Han likte den industrielle rockescenen, men følte seg ellers ganske alene i musikklandskapet. Ved hjelp av loops og manipulering brukte han støykilder som tv, sin egen platesamling, feedback, ødelagte instrumenter og lydopptak til å klippe og lime sammen ny musikk. Rundt 20 år senere er Merzbow guru for støyscenen, og skal spille på Blå tirsdag og sammen med norske Jazkamer på jazzfestivalen i Molde torsdag (i 2001 altså, 2009-kommentar).

– Den norske støyscenen er veldig aktiv og interessant, men akkurat nå har jeg ingen anelse om hva jeg og Jazkamer finner på i Molde. Vi skal øve sammen i Oslo, så da finner vi vel ut av det.

Og spør du Akita om han kjenner til noen norske band, kommer det kjapt en lang remse med black metal.

– Det finnes mange gode norske grupper, blant annet Burzum, Emperor, Mayhem, Satyricon, Immortal, Gorgoroth og Ulver. Jeg liker musikk som er revolusjonerende og ikke så lite gal. En annen favoritt er When, selv om det ikke er black metal.

Bonus 1: I støykongens favn – Lasse Marhaug om Merzbow

Norske Jazkamer har fått spillejobb på årets jazzfestival i Molde. Men forvent alt annet enn saksofonsoloer når elektronikaduoen står på scenen sammen med verdens ukronte støykonge, japanske Merzbow.

- Merzbow er blitt stemplet som ”støykongen fra Japan”, men han nyter stor respekt over hele verden som en lydkunstner av rang. Selve konserten i Molde blir delvis planlagt og delvis improvisert, sier Lasse Marhaug, som sammen med John Hegre utgjør Jazzkammer/Jazkamer.

Under jazzfestivalen i Molde spiller de to en konsert sammen med Merzbow, etterfulgt av en oppvarmingsjobb for Merzbows solokonsert på Blå i Oslo like etter.

I tillegg har Merzbow remikset et spor fra Jazkamers Timex-album, som sammen med andre remikser fra folk som Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), Tore H. Bøe, Pita, Maja Ratkje, Aleksander Rishaug og Francisco Lopez utgjør albumet Rolex, som slippes på Smalltown Supersound i mai.

- Vi har latt remikserne få frie tøyler. Thurston Moore er ganske respektløs og prøver virkelig å ta livet av materialet ved å spille gitar over. Merzbow vrenger stoffet til himmels, og det blir veldig intenst, sier Marhaug.

Japanske Masami Akita, alias Merzbow, er en av verdens fremste lydkunstnere, som har forent surrealisme, dadaisme og heavy metal på utallige støyende CD-utgivelser. Musikken hans er ekstremt fysisk, og kan være svært utmattende for både øre og sjel å høre på. Merzbow-kjennere gikk da også over seg i begeistring av den 50 CDer sterke utgivelsen Merzbox i fjor.

- Jeg brukte sommeren på å høre på den ja, det er vel nærmere 60 timer med musikk, sier Marhaug.

Marhaug liker ikke tittelen ”Norges støykonge”, men hans utgivelser og arbeid med plateselskapet Jazzassin Records gjennom ti år gjør det fristende å smykke ham med den tittelen. Nå er han ute med soloplata Nothing But Sound From Now On.

En rask gjennomhøring av soloplata kan fort få en til å tro at noen skrur tuneren på radioen din raskt fram og tilbake på langbølgen, samtidig som naboen banker i veggen. Og får du sansen for den eksperimenterende støyscenen innen musikken, kan resultatet fort bli at naboen begynner å banke i veggen din – i ren fortvilelse.

For mange opplever støymusikken som et kraftig slag i ansiktet – kaskader av ubehagelig støy og gnissende ulyder. Men som Merzbow selv har formulert det: ”Hva som er støy og hva som er musikk er avhengig av personen som hører. Dersom ’støy’ betyr ukomfortabel lyd, så er popmusikk støy for meg”.

Men soloplata er langt mer behersket enn det Marhaug har levert på plate og scene tidligere.

- Det er ikke så mye som skjer samtidig i musikken min denne gangen. Dessuten er jeg nok blitt farga av å samarbeid med John i Jazkamer, der musikken også er langt mindre støyende.

Marhaug henter mye av sitt lydmateriale fra nærmiljøet, ja faktisk fra leiligheten sin.

- Jeg henter lyd rundt meg, og sampler, låner, manipulerer, vender og vrir på det. Mye av stoffet på plata er opptak fra stille rom i leiligheten min. For det blir jo aldri helt stille. Utenfor leiligheten min er det vanskeligere å finne interessant lyd, på grunn av all bilstøyen.

I tillegg til Merzbow-konsertene, soloplata og Jazkamer-remiksene, har Marhaug enda en plateutgivelse på trappene: En LP-plate fra Jazzkammer, døpt Turntable/Surface Fireball 2.

- Plata rommer det samme sporet i en studioversjon og en konsertversjon. All musikken er i utgangspunktet vinylstøy; knitring, loops og rytmer. Vi har brukt plater, men konsentrert oss om de musikkløse øyeblikkene, som det lille øyeblikket mellom låtene, partiene helt på slutten og begynnelsen. Spesielt idet du setter stiften ned på plata, får man mange godlyder.

Her legger Marhaug og Hegre seg i en tradisjon etter musikere som Christian Marclay og Otomo Yoshihide, folk som bruker plater og platespillere til å lage abstrakt samtidsmusikk. Det er nemlig ikke bare hip hop-Djer som skaper musikk av gamle plater, og Yoshihide har da også til tider brukt platespillere uten plater for å skape musikk.

- Den elektroniske, eksperimentelle musikken i Norge har opplevd en liten boom de siste to-tre årene. Artister som Tore H. Bøe, Arm og Der Brief lager spennende ting, og samleplata Le Jazz Non var en representativ samling og en god instruksjon til det som skjer i Norge.

- Jeg har holdt på i ti år, og vet ikke om jeg er blitt så veldig mye bedre. Men ideene og ambisjonene er de samme som før; jeg vil eksperimentere, gi ut plater, gjøre konserter og jobbe med spennende mennesker, avslutter Marhaug.

Marhaug jobber for tiden med en CD-utgivelse med amerikaneren John Wiese, samt en LP-utgivelse med Brutum Fulmen.

Bonus 2: Anmeldelse av Molde-konserten på plate.

Merzbow/Jazzkammer
Live at Molde International Jazz Festival
Smalltown Supersound/VME 2001
5/6

Dynamisk og spennende mestermøte.
Stummende mørke og full konsentrasjon. Det er oppskriften for å få fullt utbytte av konsertopptaket fra møtet mellom den japanske støymesteren Masami ”Merzbow” Akita og nordmennene John Hegre og Lasse Marhaug i Jazzkammer.

For å ta høydepunktet først: Se for deg at du kjemper deg gjennom den verste og kaldeste snøstormen i manns minne. Du klarer til slutt å krabbe deg i ly, i et infernalsk støyende sagbruk. Omtrent slik låter det tredje og siste sporet på denne platen –  er det rart jeg liker det?

Men heldigvis er dette ikke et 40 minutters totalangrep på sansene – slik Merzbow alene fort kan ende opp som. I møtet med Jazzkammer har det oppstått noe mer dynamisk og variert, en bulldoser som sakte, men sikkert bygger seg opp mot det iskalde klimakset. Men du bør legge igjen tradisjonelle forestillinger om rytme og melodi bak deg før du våger deg ut på dette.

Foto: nomo/michael hoefner http://www.zwo5.de/

Japaneren Masami Akita er mannen bak gruppa Merzbow. Han er den mest profilerte musikeren innen sjangeren eksperimentelt støy/noise. Han er også veganer og dyrerettighetsaktivist. På søndag kan han oppleves på Henie Onstad Kunstsenter. Merzbow er inspirert av dadaisme, surrealisme, futurisme, frijazz, psykedelisk og progressiv rock.

Jeg har alltid likt industriell og eksperimentell musikk som grenser opp mot støy. Merzbow er jeg ikke vant til å lytte til, det tøyer grensene for hva som er musikk, men noe av det finner jeg veldig bra. Kanskje en bør være forsiktig med det hvis en sliter med migrene. Her er en smakebit:

Volden i Masami Akitas musikk blir temperert av hans fredelige budskap, var det noen som formulerte det som. Etter at Akita tok til seg noen høner klarte han ikke å spise kylling lenger. Det utvidet seg gradvis til å gjelde alt kjøtt og alle animalske produkter. Rundt århundreskiftet ble han veganer. Han har samarbeidet med  PETA og Sea Shepherd og flere av hans utgivelsene er knyttet til dyrerelaterte temaer. I 2006 kom hans bok My Vegetarian Life/Cruelty Free Life ut på japansk.

http://www.merzbow.net/

Alien8 Records have released some of the finest Merzbow records and Animal Magnetism just happens to be one of them. This is one of the very first Merzbow records I bought and although I flogged it to death when I first bought it I don’t think I actually sat down and listened to it properly in well over a year which is absolutely fucking nuts because Animal Magnetism, when I look back at everything of Merzbow’s that I’ve heard, is one of the strangest and most rewarding noise experiences I’ve had.

When Merzbow produced this he had already begun his experiment with digital noise - Merzzow and Merzbeat had already been released and if you read the reviews of the time their was a bit of sniffiness about Merzbow’s digital experiements. I think that as a body of work his digital stuff is excellent so pay no heed to the naysayers. Proceedings kick off with the self titled rack which begins as a whirlwind of processed cicada noise, filtered guitar heaviness, chicken noises, scree and hiss. It is one of those fantastic Merzbow tracks that constantly shift and changes as new effects are continually piled on to create an oddly rhythmic behemoth of noise. The second track, Quiet Men, is much the same – swirling digital pulses of noise buggery with a whiff of metallic psychedelia. The third track Super Sheep has that wonderfully woozy techno beat like  Atari Teenage Riot on a pogo stick. It may also be the shortest track of Merzbow’s career coming in at 4 minutes 30 seconds. The final two tracks are completely different. A Ptarmigan is the longest tracks here at 22 minutes and also one of the strangest Merzbow tracks I can remember. Here he uses silence and effect to create something truly creepy before slicing up the mood with bolts of hiss. Again the track changes and morphs as it progresses but the progression feels very deliberate and micro-managed. The last track Pier 39 is one of those tracks where Merzbow takes a violent swerve away from everything else on the album to create one of the loveliest things he’s every done. Pier 39 is ambient – noisy ambient sure – but somehow calm. Perfect noise for the morning  after the night before.

If you’re not a fan of Merzbow during his digital phase then you might want to skip past this one. I, on the other hand,am a huge fan of his digital output and I recommend that you head to the Alien 8 webshop and buy everything Merzbow they have. Doors Open and Aqunecromancer included.

There are a couple of reasons why this is a great addition to the Japanese Birds series. For one, it probably has one of my favourite Merzbow tracks of all time. Across the Earth is another big fat slab of Suicide-esque groove. It is simply outstanding and if for no other reason, this track is worth buying the whole record for. It is that good.

I’ve noticed with Merzbow (and I’ve probably posted on it before) that my mood really dictates my response to Merzbow’s work. The first track left me underwhelmed when I first heard it but today at the gym it became something else entirely. Maybe it was because I was in a nice relaxed space mentally because what might at it surface seem like another analogue Merzbow by-the-numbers noise excursion became something far more special and enjoyable as the track progressed. It’s all subtle changes and surprise, kind of the same kick I get from listening to 1930. The last track it probably the least successful – Purple Triangle skirts very close to being generic Merzbow and I’m not sure that is good enough anymore. Still, I think it’s fair to say that none of the records of this series have been universally awesome, even on the great ones there’s always one track that’s a bit weaker than the others. But given the  amount of material he is producing this year I think I can forgive him.

Grata fué la sorpresa de contar en esta clínica con mas de 60 asistentes. Iniciamos la clínica cerca de las 18:15 con el auditorio completo. Jorge Haro comenzó explicando que el titulo de la clinica le fué heredado y que el mucho no tenía en claro que significa “ruido”. Haciendo algunas aclaraciones acerca del término “ruido” comenzó a desarrollar una linea historica comenzando por el manifiesto futurista “The art of noise” y desde allí mostrar obras y formas de pensamiento compositivo de E.Varese; J.Cage; P.Schaefer; Kraftwerk; Merzbow; Alva noto; P.Reche; J.Haro entre otros. Por cada artista se citó filosofía de trabajo, técnicas y textos de entrevistas de los artistas. Hacia el final de la clínica y luego de mas de 2 horas se abrió un rico espacio para preguntas de los asistentes desarrollandose temas como el uso de la ritmica pulsada, el concepto de dañar por exceso de volumen, la intención del artista, la mezcla de audio con uso de ruido, el respeto por los componentes del ruido en una masterización, integración entre imagen y audio entre otros tantos.
Esperamos poder repetir clínicas de este tipo donde mas alla de la música la idea es reflexionar.
Agradecemos a Jorge Haro por su predisposición y dedicación.

Jorge Haro clinica de ruido 2009

Well this one started well enough. The relatively short opener, Mesmerism, is essentially drug induced psychedelic groove with some noisy bits thrown at it. There is a bit of drumming towards the end but those looking for a groovy krautrock vibe in their Merzbow would be smart to start here. From there we head to Black Swan which again starts well. I mean, Akita just smashes the shit out of his drum kit to sustain a sound that as a listener I could actually feel. The  interesting thing about it is that with time and as the track progresses, the drumming doesn’t sound as forceful. This is either because Akita is getting on a bit and couldn’t keep up the force, I got used to the volume and it didn’t see so loud after a couple of minutes or the great man chucks so much noisy detritus over the top of it that the drums get buried somewhere in the mix. I’m leaning to the third of those explanations and to be honest it isn’t the most interesting thing he’s done. The third track Colored Rain actually begins with a low roaring drone and what sounds like a million glass panels being smashed before the roaring walls of distortion take the whole thing away. Yes there is drumming but it would have lost none of its power if they didn’t make an appearance at all. There is an innate creepiness in the track, in some ways it creates the same vibe (although obviously sounding very different) as Khanate. That whole suck the joy right out the air kind of thing but that might just be what I bring to it as a listener. It becomes at times less and more bleak as the track progresses and just goes to show that noise can express emotion. I really like the fourth track, Ushiwaka 2. it works along two beat lines. The first a distorted manipulated industrial beat and next to it the organic drumming of Akita himself. And then something strange happens – a noise,which I though initially was a guitar but ends up sounding like a bird in pain weaves in and out of the beats.  I really enjoyed it but not the most fun thing Merzbow’s done but a great addition to the series none the less.

SOUNDTRACK: SONIC YOUTH-SYR8: Andre Sider Af Sonic Youth (2008).

This final (so far) SYR release is another live recording and it sees the bands joined by saxophonist Mats Gustaffson and electronic wunderkind Merzbow.  This EP comes from the 2005 Roskilde Festival in Denmark (and the language is all written in Danish).  According to the SY website, the day before this, they had performed a set in support of Sonic Nurse. However, this set, “The Other Side of Sonic Youth” is an hour or so improvisation. It is basically broken down into 5 minute intervals:

1 min.  Kim (guitar) & Steve (drums) start
5 min. Thurston (guitar) joins
10 min. Lee (more guitar) joins
15 min. Jim O’ Rourke (bass/synth?) joins
20 min. Mats Gustaffson (saxophone) joins
25 min. Merzbow (laptop) joins
30 min. Kim & Steve leave
35 min. Thurston leaves
40 min. Lee leaves
45 min. Mats leaves
50 min. Merzbow finishes

All times are approximate, and even listening to the disc it’s not entirely clear when the new players come on (or when they leave). For the most part, the set is varying levels of noise and dissonance.  But it’s not just a wall of chaos. It starts fairly simply with the guitar and drums (although when Kim and Steve play it’s never really simple).  By the time Jim comes out, the band has morphed into all manner of sound scapes.

When Mats comes in and that saxophone starts squealing, it’s a whole new ballgame. I don’t find Merzbow’s entrance to be all that noteworthy, but by the end, when it’s just him and Mats (or him by himself) he’s doing some pretty amazing stuff.

It’s hard to imagine what the Roskilde people thought of this (although crowd noise seems to be positive).  This set was followed by Black Sabbath, which in and of itself is pretty funny.  Especially since the SY set seems far more dissonant.

[READ: September 6, 2009] Samuel Johnson is Indignant

This collection of Davis’ work contains fifty-six of stories.  The stories range from one sentence (!) to some twenty pages.

The book is disconcerting in that it opens with several of the one to two page stories, leading you to suspect that they will all be that length. Then, when you actually get to the longer pieces it kind of throws you.

Those first stories are I guess what you’d call flash fiction.  Except that for the most part, it’s hard to tell whether the pieces are even meant to be fiction.  They are aphoristic, often.  Talking about neighbors and friends, uncomfortable moments, and mostly, lots of thinking about everyday activities.  Some of them are funny.  Some of them are thought-provoking.  Some of them are just weird.  And some of them make you wonder why they were written at all, or more to the point, why she would name this collection Samuel Johnson is Indignant, when this story,consists of this:

“Samuel Johnson is Indignant: that Scotland has so few trees.”

Or

“Examples of Remember“:
Remember that thou art but dust.
I shall try to bear it in mind.

It’s hard to know what to think of that.

Or else there’s something silly like “Oral History (with Hiccups)” which gives a brief history of a person            with several blank spaces where            the hiccups are meant to be.  Kind of a           joke, but I’m not sure how successful it is beyond the typographic one.

And then after this amalgam of short and really short pieces, you get the first long one, “Old Mother and the Grouch.”  After reading this I was all set to write how her short pieces are fun but her long ones are kind of annoying.  This piece basically reiterates over and over and over the things that Old Mother and the Grouch argue over.  It was kind of irritating in that there isn’t really a resolution, albeit a subtle change takes place over them.

However, some of the longer pieces do redeem the book.   A later short piece “Letter To A Funeral Parlor” which again is a letter, not really a story, I found very good, especially for the complaint about the word cremains (which funeral companies just made up).

The next long piece (about 16 pages) “Thyroid Diary” was interesting.  It is a (true?) accounting of a woman with an under active thyroid.  The woman is a translator (as is Davis) although I don’t know any other details about Davis’ actual life to cite any other parallels. It dragged a bit but overall was quite a good look into medical paranoia.

Two pieces come from McSweeney’s (“Mown Lawn” and “Marie Curie, Honorable Woman”) the latter misses out on any explanatory notes (that appeared in McSweeney’s #5, so you are left wondering why the language is so bad.

“In a Northern Country” is a unique story in the collection in that it doesn’t concern herself or abstract ideas.  Rather it is a flesh and blood story about an old man who goes to a distant land (Silit, Karsovy, Trsk…these are all fake, right?) to find his brother.  His brother went to this land to study the near-extinct language of the people.  It is a story of failure, death and lack of communication.  And it was quite gripping.

The only story that I found more gripping was “The Furnace” which is something of a history of herself and her father (and her father’s old house and furnace). As the story moves along it grows more and more personal, with her father’s state of mind getting called into question.  A very moving  piece.

So now, after having read the whole thing, I don’t know exactly what to think.  Some of the pieces were fun.  Some of them were irritating (I feel basically that any piece that compared two people overstayed its welcome).  And then some other stories were quite gripping.

Your tolerance for short short stories will definitely impact your enjoyment of the book.

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Holy God, this is very interesting. Looks like selling promo CDs and LPs is now legal!

This is probably my favourite Merzbow record. Big call I know but hear me out. Dust of Dreams, for me, is a prime example of why no other noise artist gets close to the great man. The record kicks of with the 12 minute 1339 an exercise of the interplay of psychedelic rock groove  and harsh noise. The real treat is the epic 37 minute Dust of Dreams, a track that would have even the most casual Merzbow listener in noise heaven. Over its 37 minutes, the track is anchored by a recurring loop of ethnic drumming which in turn is obliterated, changes pitch and re asserts itself before being swallowed again by layers of pure distortion. The track alternates between density and being flooded with light. It is in a work godhead. The final track leaves the  psychedelic forms of the first two tracks behind and embraces a quasi-industrial feel. It’s all great stuff. I’m not sure how readily available this is and I think I bought this from the Blossoming Noise website. Thisco is a tiny Portuguese label and kudos to them for releasing my favourite Merzbow record.

Merzbow: Zophorus
Blossoming Noise (2007)

Mr Akita’s Merzbow project generally does away with musical traditions. There are occasions though when Mr Akita does reference convention, such as the beat heavy Merzbird and Merzbeat records, or here on Zophorus where atmosphere and emotion come into play.

These five compositions are more than an exercise in noise. Layers of sound combine to create a blinding ambience, like a snowstorm that’s thick, hazy, horribly loud, disorienting, suffocating and completely intangible. Zophorus isn’t one of Merzbow’s ‘bang, crash and buzz’ records, it’s a hypnotising wall of noise akin to Merzbear. I like this side of Mr Akita, a lot.

Most of Zophorus features droning guitars buried somewhere in the mix that remind of me KTL, and this is what sets the record apart for me. There’s something very human about what he’s doing here and there are so many subtle sounds beneath the scrum. On track three there’s almost a melody, reminiscent of an old school Nintendo game, that bleats faintly somewhere in the mist. On track four, Merzbow samples the crow of his beloved Roosters, something I didn’t hear until listening to this with head phones in bed late one night.  The animals’ voices start off legitimate before being warped into a zany squeal.  The final track features a fantastic glitchy pulse, an industrial techno rhythm like Wolf Eyes melting down.

Listening to Merzbow in bed as I drift off to sleep might sound weird, but that’s the beauty of this facet to his sound. When he’s in the mood he’s capable of building unconventional but warm and appealing sound scapes; disorienting clouds of nothingness that render you blind but floating gently in space.

Phewww! He had me a bit worried there. After the mediocre tracks on the last instalment of this series I had my concerns that he was running out of ideas. Pt.7 is absolutely fucking terrific. Nearly as good as Pt.2 in fact. For once the gonzo drumming has been set to one side. Instead we get Merzbow acting like a solemn metronome on the first track before settling into a standard rock beat on the second and allowing his variety of analogue machines create the necessary fuzzy tension.  I think it is also a record that benefits from playing very loud. For a lot of noise records, unless the volume is turned up, the listener can miss a lot of the action in the tracks and the whole thing can sound like aural wallpaper. Turn this one up and you’ll hear fleeting Rehberg-style electronic thunderbolts and  those layers of unpleasantness that weave in and out of his best work to become something very satisfying. On Kujakubato he again allows light  to penetrate his noise (even on the metal heavy third track). There are moments of clarity and space and it is for these reasons that critics in the future may remember this series. Not just because the great man went all spazzo on the drums.