There's that old saying as to how writing about music is like dancing about architecture. If ever that sentiment were true (and obviously I disagree to a certain extent) then there was never a better example than the music of Merzbow. Not that most people would dare call any of his hundreds of releases "music" or even "experimental." They are, quite simply, noise. Static. Sounds pushed well beyond the normal limits and distorted into new forms of sonic abuse.
That's not to say everything he does is purely idiot white noise. Quite the contrary. While the end result my be difficult to wrap one's hard around, it's obvious that the process of making his tracks hold great meaning Masami Akita, the man behind the machines. One can quickly see how his music could hold the same meaning as a lead vocalist shouting about injustice at the top of his lungs. Plus much of Akita's work revolves around short loops of much more recognizable sounds like drums synths and other, natural sounds, a tendency no doubt due to his early beginnings with analog tape. These simple sounds are then run though the Merz-machines and transformed into stark, shrieking soundscapes.
Akita has found a large wealth of support outside of the noise world. Perhaps most notably he's worked closely with Mike Patton, vocalist for Faith No More, Fantomas and many, many other projects. Massive rock band Boris is another group that has collaborated with Merzbow, several times in fact. Two personal favorites have been his Satanstornade collaboration with Russel Haswell and the epic live show he performed with the Finnish duo Pan Sonic which was later released as V.
When it all ends, it is the silence that is deafening. His work is at times beautiful, at other times awful, and that's exactly his point. Perhaps his approach is best summed up with this quote: "The effects of Japanese culture are too much noise everywhere. I want to make silence by my noise."
"Minus Zero"
Official Site
Live 1991
"Cycle Part 2"
1 comment:
Interesting article - I'm not sure I've ever been much of a fan of straight up noise music, but Merzbow has a pretty interesting history of collaboration.
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