/Merzbow/
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You are currently reading a thread in /mu/ - Music
You are currently reading a thread in /mu/ - Music
What do you think of Merzbow? Do you like his work? What do you think his intentions are?
I was listening to Merzbow last night and I think I made a realisation, and was wondering if anybody agreed on this.
I think his discography is (mostly) poking fun at idiotic Heavy Metal groups and blind consumers. In an interview, he said this:
>"I hate some heavy metal artists affirming violence as Satanism and taking idiotic acts called animal sacrifice on blind faith."
>"Venereology was my first release on a death metal label. So, my target was "death metal" itself... the tone of Venereology was lots of overlevels and dirty sound. It's important to know that I made Venereology while drinking lots of beer."
I have about a dozen of his albums, and all of them are heavily distorted recordings of pre-existing Heavy Metal / Punk / Grindcore albums. Listen closely. Even Pulse Demon linear notes state that there are no over-dubs, so he just cranked the volume / distortion / saturation on a Metal album and it's a secret joke that he is profiting off the work of dumb metal bands that he hates. He even said that:
>"The number-one inspiration has to be listening to records. I also occasionally listen to my old stuff as well."
This seems too vague, like a joke that he is just ripping off terrible bands. You also never hear him talk about many noise acts he respects. That's because a lot of it is missing the point.
>"Think about what you mean by the term "noise scene" specifically... Haino used to say that he wasn't a noise artist, and I myself from one point started losing interest in the kind of stuff that's restricted to noise"
Cont...
Cont...
Also, the amount of music he puts out is ridiculous, but he says it's all "on request" and that Merzbow music will only die when he does. If someone asks, he'll make it. The fact that a lot of his work is made using distorted pre-existing albums.. maybe there's a sneer there about how consumers will buy anything in nice packaging. I know some of it is enjoyable, but all the albums I have heard from him are like this if you listen closely. He can't be blamed for producing SO MUCH of it. He must know how ridiculous a Merzbox is.
tl;dr - Merzbow isn't deep, he is poking fun at sub-cultures he despises (terrible, animal-hating Heavy Metal) and profiting off their work. It's possibly a long-running half-joke and it will last as long as consumers blindly want it. What do you think?
>>63594403
Nope, not really.
>>63594439
I'm interested in other people's thoughts. Pulse Demon is absolutely arranged from existing metal albums. Do you like his work / do you have an idea of what his intention might be?
>>63594498
Except it wast. The album was dedicated to sine waves and was constructed out of sine waves and white noise.
The only connection it has with heavy metal, and it's a remote connection, is that it was released on Relapse Records.
>>63594563
Do you have a source on that? All I can find is that he used a fuzz box. I can hear metal tracks in ever single Pulse Demon track, it's just a bit distorted to tell sometimes.
>>63594657
I don't remember, I read it long time ago.
Can you specify where you heard metal tracks? I'm only hearing noise synths.
>>63594760
I can hear it from about 3:15 in Tokyo Times Ten, and I swear some of the cymbals in Yellow Hyper Balls are coming from the drum tracks. It's a little more obvious in albums like Aqua Necromancer and Tamago.
What exactly is a noise synth? I found another interview from the 90's where he says:
>"I'm using actual sounds, just recording sounds then altering it electronic devices. So then it's not very different."
>PSF: With your use of tapes, are you appropriating, recontextualizing?
>"Tapes are just raw materials to use. When I'm using tapes, I'm just using it as music equipment. I'm always thinking like I'm mixing. Of course, I want to change the original source to something else"
Uzu Me Ku
>>63595104
>Uzu Me Ku
I don't think all of his music is approached this way (using metal / hardcore albums as most of the source material), but most of it likely is.
>>63595006
Okay let's dissect this. In Tokyo Times Ten the samples used throughout the song can be heard in their original format at the start of the song. As the song progresses he uses more and more layers on top of those samples. The samples he uses are metal objects thrown around or smashed onto other metal plates. Common practice in noise music.
Noise synths are custom build oscillators which produce output signals/sounds that are (through various means) manipulated by the artist.
For example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucgjCRGBONE
The 90s era Merzbow was mainly done through analogue noise equipment and junk guitars and not sampling other albums or artists. The drums you heard are played by Masami himself as he was a drummer and often puts his drumming skills to use. Later on he went on to hire a drummer that goes with him on live shows.
>>63595216
OK, thanks for breaking that down. I still hear it in other tracks. Maybe it isn't as frequently used as I thought, but he did say in that interview (in the 90's) that he uses tapes as source material.
Aside from his recording methods, what about his intentions? He seems like an intelligent guy. He doesn't seem to speak much about how people should be interpreting it, but is there a general consensus out there on the "meaning" of Merzbow (if there is one)?
>>63595498
The tapes he mentions most likely refers to tape looping. This is a common practice in noise music. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tape_loop
As for intentions. This mainly depends on which era of his music you're referring to. His 80s output was mainly oriented on pornography and s&m bondage. His idea of noise was that it's the lowest form of music so naturally it's the companion to pornography. His early stuff often came wrapped in porn mags and such.
Later on his "intent" was on experimenting with textures and layers. This I'd call his 90s period which you seem to be focused on. There was no real intent here other than using something as a source (metal plates, animals or whatever else) and then extrapolating that source sound into all possible variations.
Later on he focused more on digital noise (noise made via laptops) where he basically continued his 90s experiments but switched methods of producing. Most of those albums are about sending messages about veganism, PETA, endangered species and so on.
>>63595498
He has no master plan
And he's not here to cause any trouble
But if you don't like what he's going to say
You better get out of his way
>>63595652
I'll look into it all a little more. I think a lot of what you says makes sense and connects. I just find it hard to believe that there was no intention to his 90's output and that he should be taken 100% seriously with such a prolific, tounge-in-cheek (Merzbox) catalogue. The fact that he states he only produces music on request seems like there is another meaning there too, like his music could die any time but it's the fans choice to keep it alive.
I'll read more about it, anyway. I'm probably going crazy.
>>63595890
I don't think any noise artist should be take 100% seriously. He made a lot of zany albums. The question of intention is often arguable and answers are a lot of the times vague or contradictory.
I suggest you give this a read: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16033289-japanoise
