Tiger Style
For this 6-track EP, AmAnSet has enlisted the remixing assistance oflabel mates Her Space Holiday as well as Belgian Morr Musicup-and-comer Styrofoam. The EP kicks off with a re-working of an oldertrack, followed by a charming cover of Her Space Holiday's "TheseDays'. Both of the remixers, whose expertise lies primarily inelectronic-based music, fuse digital elements into tracks from theTexas quintet's most recent release, 'Know By Heart.' Marc Bianchi ofHSH puts an edgy spin on "Aaron & Maria", and turns the title trackinto a funky trip hop feast of sliced and diced vocals with anunobtrusive touch of drum 'n' bass. Both remixes feature the orchestralgilding present on much of Her Space Holiday's last album. Styrofoam'sremixes have the warmth and subtlety that is signature of so many ofthe Morr Music artists. He adds gently crunchy beats to "The Postman",stripping the original of nearly everything but the original vocaltrack, and turns the instrumental "We're Computerizing and We JustDon't Need You Anymore" into a delicate ambient piece. 'Updates' isplesant treat for fans of all the artists and labels involved.
For this 6-track EP, AmAnSet has enlisted the remixing assistance oflabel mates Her Space Holiday as well as Belgian Morr Musicup-and-comer Styrofoam. The EP kicks off with a re-working of an oldertrack, followed by a charming cover of Her Space Holiday's "TheseDays'. Both of the remixers, whose expertise lies primarily inelectronic-based music, fuse digital elements into tracks from theTexas quintet's most recent release, 'Know By Heart.' Marc Bianchi ofHSH puts an edgy spin on "Aaron & Maria", and turns the title trackinto a funky trip hop feast of sliced and diced vocals with anunobtrusive touch of drum 'n' bass. Both remixes feature the orchestralgilding present on much of Her Space Holiday's last album. Styrofoam'sremixes have the warmth and subtlety that is signature of so many ofthe Morr Music artists. He adds gently crunchy beats to "The Postman",stripping the original of nearly everything but the original vocaltrack, and turns the instrumental "We're Computerizing and We JustDon't Need You Anymore" into a delicate ambient piece. 'Updates' isplesant treat for fans of all the artists and labels involved.
In recent years, forgive my unflattering opinion, it seems that womenin rock forgot how to, well, rock. Piano crap like Sarah McLachlan andFiona Apple can only spawn weaker alternatives, with other femaleartists doing soul rip-offs or beach rock retreads that do not nor cannot satisfy the hunger in our souls to hear a woman who can rock. Andhere, without any warning, comes Seana Carmody of Swirlies fame with agreat solo debut. Sure, she slides into familiar territory on some ofthese songs, and it doesn't necessarily rock you into oblivion, but itdoes a great job of creating a mood and keeping you there. And, on sometracks, most notably on 'Tailgate', the rock happens in a big way, andalmost as a kiss off to non-believers. For the most part, I suppose youcould call this shoegazer rock, as it does provoke that response onmost of these songs. But Carmody has a great voice, and gets so closeto the sound of others without parodying or copying that it comes outsounding completely original and unique. The double-tracking of thevocals allows for minor differences that punctuate some songs on abizarre note, and the saccharine quality that may annoy after a whilefrom some doesn't grate when Carmody expresses it. Mostly, this musicis full, raucous, and moving, with short jabs of loud aggression. Onthe eight-minute-plus closer 'Stay Awake', however, it excels to awhole new level of noise, meandering and crashing on top of itself withan interesting Mogwai-esque sustain, though it seems the noise'spurpose was to add time to this too-short disc. It's an accomplisheddebut of pretty good songs worth sampling, though.
The Chap are a new group formed by Karamasov guitarist Johannes vonWeizsaecker. If you heard Lo's _Fresh Fruit_ budget compilation from ayear or two back, this is the Johannes behind the stunning "My MyRock'n'Roll", a catchy guitar number evoking a feel of casualsophistication. The knowing hipness persists on this a 10" mini-albumof original and witty instrumental rock. Having named themselves afterthe modern gentleman's publication which offers advice on the semioticsof smoking and of facial hair, and which has a "sartorial agony" page,they're in no position to deny the accusation that they're pretentious,but frankly this is what I want in a band -- particularly when, as withThe Chap, the pretence is more of a wry smile than a sneering glance.
My record collection reads like many other music-obsessed mid-20s malecomputer geeks (let's be honest). I've got loads of laptop generatedmusic, a bunch of jazz (especially stuff on the 'fringe'), some goodol' Krautrock, not to mention the classics: Zeppelin, Floyd, etc, toname just a few of the genres represented on my shelf (but, I am proudto say, no Magnetic Fields or the like). But I'm lacking somethingintegral in my record collection: BLUEGRASS. I was brought up inAppalachia, with bluegrass and old-time music around me my entirechildhood. The lack of Louvin Brothers or Carter family records in myapartment is therefore appalling; I've always liked and appreciatedbluegrass and old-time, and a good banjo player always knocks my socksoff more than a flashy guitar player. So where are my Flatt &Scruggs LPs? It must be city life - how can I ever have "KnoxvilleGirl" in my head when I'm trying not to get hit by cabs as I speedwalkto the subway? All of this is leading up to the fact that I love thisCD by The Boggs, who live in the same city I do and somehow findthemselves inspired to pick up banjo, mandolin, etc and make somedamned fine downhome bluegrass. On the cover of the album, the bandlooks like deceivingly like any other NYC band, possibly one that wouldmake "dance music with a punk edge," but the Boggs couldn't be furtherfrom the typical NYC trend in bands. Though no one is going to confusethe Boggs with Doc Watson or Bill Monroe, this is straight upbluegrass, not 'alt country' or 'bluegrass-infused rock.' Usually, Imake progression a priority in the music I like; that is to say, I liketo use the argument, "Why listen to [new artist making music in an oldstyle] when I could just listen to [artist from 20-18 years ago]?", butI find myself unable to justify that argument with the Boggs. Maybe Ilike them so much because there aren't too many people up north makingmusic coming from an Appalachian influence (though I must admit I don'tknow the true roots of the members of the Boggs). In a city overflowingwith bands aping bands that ape 20 years ago, it's refreshing to hear agroup whose music isn't dictated by their surroundings.
Asmus Tietchens and Vidna Obmana have been collaborating on "recycling"projects since 1995, using each other's work to build uniquetransformations. For this 2 CD set, they have turned their attentionsto a third party. I've never heard Shifts, but I have enjoyed Frans deWaard's other minimalist ventures as Quest and as a member of Beequeen.For "The Shifts Recyclings," Tietchens and Obmana use de Waard'sambient guitar material, and lay out their interpretations across adisc apiece. The two have produced beautiful and strikingly differentresults - it's hard to imagine that these sounds came from the samesource. Tietchens cranks up his electron microscope and focuses oncrackling ice, eyeless subterranean creatures, and earth drones. Thereis a fantastic variety of organic sounds here that hold few hints ofthe source material or the method by which they were created.Tietchens' pieces really seem to occur naturally out of nowhere, andconjure up mental images of strange phenomena. Vidna Obmana's disc is arevelation for me. I don't remember hearing anything of Obmana'sbefore, and didn't know what to expect. While Tietchens' disc exploresthe caves, Obmana's wafts through the upper atmosphere. His first threepieces focus on sublime drones and dramatic crescendoes that build upmightily then subside into a metallic haze. I am somewhat reminded ofCristoph Heemann and Stuart Dempster, but this material seems to havemore of a foundation in classical archetypes. Epic themes seem to behinted, but get lost in the shimmering undulations of sound. The hazeevaporates during the last half of the disc, revealing mournful musicalpassages. The guitar has been forged into a baroque orchestra of brassand strings that strains out a beautiful dirge. "The Shifts Recyclings"is an excellent collaboration, and illuminates the strengths of allthree involved. I'd be interested to hear their interpretations ofless-ambient source material in future "recyclings."
There's really a shortage of good prog rock these days, mostly becauseof the overwhelming need for the artists or critics to make each albuma concept record. Good ideas can rarely be carried that far, as NineInch Nails showed on "The Fragile". Really, has anyone accomplishedthis feat as well as Genesis on "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway"? Sowhat if a band played surprisingly good prog rock but didn't make it aconcept album, and it moved the minds and souls of millions toaccomplish near-impossible feats? Well, The Standard have at leastlanded the first part on this, their second full-length. And I'm notsure I'd call them prog rock, but this album has that general feel allover it to me. The first track opens quietly enough on acoustic guitarand with soft vocals and keyboards, but then rips into loud guitars andkeyboard swells that would make Peter Gabriel blush. 'The Five-FactorModel' starts off stuttering and stopping, but then settles into a nicegroove that carries the wieght of the lyrics ("I could not sustain it","I could not explain it") well. And those keyboards again, ringing andbuzzing with bizarre fluidity and intensity. The album continues withsimilar themes and airy vocals, sounding at times like the best albumRush never made, others like the best moments on the Archers of Loaf'slast studio album which was the best they'd made in terms of structureand power. This is music from a band that will improve over time, buthave made a pretty damned fine start.
A highly anticipated return for this band with many faces. They're thefirst Pearl Jam side project - guitarist Stone Gossard was the first torecord a project without any of that band's members; they're afunk-rock project that Brits loved for their catchy single '20thCentury'; they're the band that named themselves after the guy whoowned the rights to the first band name they wanted, Shame; they're theband that gave Jeremy Toback a place on the alternative rock map sothat he could start his mildly successful solo career. Why so muchanticipation, you ask? Brad's first album in five years, "Welcome toDiscovery Park" is their first for Redline Entertainment, consumerconglomerate Best Buy's fledgling independent label - Prince is alsoone of their few signings. Their tours are always wildly successful,and their albums have sold moderately. And with lead singer ShawnSmith's other two projects, Satchel and Pigeonhed, gone seemingly forgood, Brad is all he's got, and fans want to hear more of him. It showson this release, which is one of its major weaknesses. Smith is theprimary songwriter and performer on most of these tracks, as he hasbeen in the past. However, something's changed. His writing is morepedestrian, more mellow than it has ever been. Gone are the pure funkmoments of earlier releases, and the slower material has nowhere nearthe power of 'Screen' or 'The Full Sentence', mainly because Smithseems afraid/ashamed of his falsetto on these songs, where he has usedit in the past to great success. Admirable touches are added byThaddeus Turner and Elizabeth Pupo-Walker, new to the Brad scene, buteven Gossard seems more subdued than ever or he's taking his cues fromSmith. Plus, Toback appears only on a few tracks, which weakens thealbum's appeal as a group project. This has the feeling of a Smith solorecord that he wanted Brad to be the backing band on, and it's notanywhere near as dynamic. They're not taking any chances. On theirfirst two records, we also got to hear Toback's voice, and Gossard's,on occasion. Not this time. And why not? It certainly couldn't havehurt the record any. I'll still listen, but with caution from now on.This is not the Brad I was used to, that much is crystal clear.
The title track of this EP continues in the brutalising, complicatedstyle of 'Confield', which has caused such polarization in the Autechrefan base. Booth and Brown have earned the freedom at this point intheir career to lay down sheer digital noise if they want to, and tosee it consumed in numbers that must far exceed even flagship MEGOreleases. And, like their work on 'Confield', "Gantz_graf" is anauthoritative track that hammers and screams with pure digital flavours.
Released last year, this double-CD compiles tracks recorded over anumber of years in tribute to one of the most influential bands of thelate 1980s. Whils I have always loved Galaxie 500, it's strange toconceive that the three members, pursuing useless post-graduate degreesin the most prestigious Ivy League school, probably hadn't evenimagined what sort of impact they would have on the rock community,subtly combining surrealistic post-VU art-rock into a melancholy mixthat was noisy enough for the indie rockers and dark enough for thedesperate goths looking for a way out. Following their almost legendaryunamicable split in 1990, a rash of shoegaze and slowcore acts seemedto emerge, further attempting to tie similar precious binds betweendivided scenesters. Coincidence? This set is rather atypical in thefact that most of the tracks seem to be culled over years ofrecordings, rather than curated and commissioned by a label boss whoreally wants to get their fave artists to do versions of some of theirfave songs. Thus, there's both a lot of repeats and a decent amout ofmusical variety, strangely enough almost mimicing various artistcompilations once released on Shimmy Disc (a label run by Galaxie 500producer, Kramer). It's similar in the fact that on a Shimmy Disc comp,it would be an almost inconsistent mess of people: some who only everseem to pop up on random compilations, some who I was fond of, some whoI've heard of but not from, and some who will never be heard fromagain. While there's almost no comparison to the feel of the tunes intheir original forms, a number of these groups do indeed do a sincerejob of paying homage. The music on disc one seems to drag towards themiddle, however, especially when Trains and Boats and Planes entertheir sixth minute of "Spook," leaving me to wonder that age-oldquestion about "why expend on the styles set forth on the original whenyou can easily put a far more original take on the songs?" Luckily disctwo has a wider variety of both electronics-based and guitar-based actsand, from track to track, holds my interest longer. Be warned, however,that Sugar Plant's version of "Sorry" was recorded way back in 1994,while ISAN's version of "Strange" has no date attached&$151;neithersound remotely like what each band sounds like today. Neither MusicalChairs nor The Pribata Idaho seem to do my fave G500 track, "Fourth ofJuly" good enough justice while Seely do a fine job with "PlasticBird," leaving me wondering what's the deal with them these days? (HasScott Herren become too big with Prefuse, Savath + Savalas, andDelarosa and Asora to be a part of a cool rock band any more?) One ofthe things I can't get over is that I find it rather odd to own atwo-CD tribute to a band who only recorded three albums. At thediscounted price, however, there's really enough good material to beworth it.
For any NWW or Mirror fan who has yet to own anything from Organum, orcurious onlookers who saved their money from expensive eBay auctions ofthese two limited CDs the first time around, now's your chance tofinally get a piece of what made Organum so damned cool andcollectable. Both discs center around the material originally releasedby L.A.Y.L.A.H. and United Dairies from 1985 through 1987, where DavidJackman pretty much started releasing full albums'-worth pieces ofmusic as Organum. Long before software was making noise, Jackman (andpossible yet unnoted other members) would construct evil, abrasive, yetgorgeous noise symphonies from abusing objects and mis-playinginstruments, stretching vocal noises and crating a myriad of soundeffects, not entirely unlike a number of his contemporaries. Jackman,however, would weave the noises into a long, droning tapestry ratherthan shuffle through numbers of instruments like what the NWW camp wasdoing. Perhaps it is through this type of influence that Stapletonbegan to evolve from the choppy early cut ups and experiment more withlong soundscapes, as is heard on NWW's "A Missing Sense" (which was theother side of "Rasa", included here on Volume One).
Spiritualized mastermind Jason "Spaceman" Pierce was all too public about firing essentially all of his bandmates after the tour that produced the Live at Albert Hall album (he wisely kept Coil co-conspirator Thighpaulsandra, though). However, instead of letting it get them down too much, the crew struck back and reformed under the moniker of Lupine Howl. "Vaporizer," the latest single from their Carnivorous Lunar Activities album sounds more like a forced attempt to recreate the Britpop funk of Shaun Ryder's Black Grape than the beautiful noise of Spiritualized.
Released to coincide with Warp's recent European label tour, 'Magic BusTracks' is a collection of exclusive and rare cuts from its currentroster, as well as tracks from related artists like Luke Vibert andHecker. However, it is important to keep in mind that "exclusive" and"rare" songs tend not to make it onto full-length artist albums for areason. That being said, 'Magic Bus Tracks' is a widely lacklustereffort from a label that hasn't been consistent in terms of qualityreleases lately. Part of this stems from many of the "new breed" ofWarp acts, whose releases have failed to impress me. Richard Devine isone such culprit, and his rather monotonous "Mov Macros 7" reflectsthat accurately, with a bland rhythmic pattern that inevitably degradesinto DSP fuckery. The same goes for Mira Calix, whose "Simple" is inline with the rest of her uninteresting back catalog. But undoubtedly,the worst thing here has to be Russell Haswell's three minute pisstake,apparently taken from a live gig. The recording quality is crap, butthat's pretty irrelevant since "03:01:21 2002 Schirn KunsthalleFrankfurt" is just pointless and dull. There are a few tracks that savethis collection from being a total waste. Former Skint Records artistReq both shows and proves on the previously released "Soul Plot," acut-up hip-hop track sprinkled with vocal snippets and just the rightamount of sampled funk. Chris Clark surprises with a post-electro jamentitled "Spinning Spines (Aldi Edit)" that comes off like aFunkstorung outtake. Rephlex's new great white hope, Astrobotnia opensthe album with a catchy Satanic ditty, but sadly sets a highexpectation that the remainder of the compilation never delivers.Considering how enjoyable Warp's previous compilations have been, I wasdefinitely let down by 'Magic Bus Tracks'. 
Cor Gout is no unknown Person in the Dutch leftfield arts & musicscene due his main job as singer, lyricist & composer withTrespassers W, a unfortunately often overlooked outfit when it comes toremarkable independent music. Here, various sidesteps are compiledcarefully - some live, some studio, most are sung in Dutch but a fewalso in English. The recordings, made between the late 80's and thelate 90's, are all remastered and mostly remixed for this limitededition of 200 CD-Rs and packed neatly in an oversized artprint folder.
Further exploring theories behind the track of the same name on souRceresearch recordings 2000 compilation 'Emre [Dark Matter]', 'Netmörk'the disc expands the piece to a 34+ minute movement in three parts. COHponders what might be hiding within the intricate infrastructure of thetelephone network. What becomes of the digitally encoded emotionalresidue? Perhaps there's an accumulation of energy yet to revealitself? Conceptually it's very intriguing right from the start. Partone asks the fundamental question is it "dark inside the telephonewire?" It might be but there's certainly a lot of life in the organizedchaos of the system. COH's signature tone-drones and other laptopgenerated gestures seem to perfectly imitate electromagnetic energies.Part two, "Love as Hate" approximates the aftermath of a concludedconversation. At first the touch tones at the tail end of part onesimply carry over then slowly morph into beautiful, elongated chimes.By the seventh minute a loping digital dirge sets in and later, nearthe end, the chimes return accompanied by a cute rhythmic march. Therumbling pulse of part three, "materialize: m=E/c^2" (dedicated toproducer Giorgio Moroder and the Khari Kelvin character of "Solaris")gathers and dissipates energy as it ripples through time and space.Then, with an abrupt sputter, it suddenly ceases to be. The final track"Undercosm" fills out the near 40 minutes of the disc. Sound wavesreminiscent of a lift-off and distant transmissions are befitting ofthe MIR space station to which it is dedicated. Up next from COH is aremastered reissue (with bonus tracks) of 2000's 'Mask of Birth' LP onCD courtesy of Mego.
David Marhana, known for his work with his brother Andre as the duoOsso Exotico, here presents a new composition that seems equally asinformed by Swans and Godspeed You Black Emporer! as by minimalistclassical music. Throughout the "Lullaby"s hour (nearly) of music,several patterns cycle over and around each other. The content of eachis taken from (melo?)dramatic rock music; a steady bass drum kick,three succinct high-hat hits, a peel of guitar feedback. There's nomistaking the oppressive death-rock gloom that hangs over the work,with rhythmic bass thud anchoring it to an unchanging pace. Images ofguitar distortion pedals (most notably a DOD pedal, conspicuouslymarked "Heavy Metal"), 1/4" guitar cables and a snare drum serve tohammer home the RAWK connotations. Yet, despite the many references towhat might be percieved as an energetic or cathartic genre, the musicdoes not evolve or build to any climactic noise; rather, all of theelements present at its beginning of the CD make appearances severaltimes, and then "Noe's Lullaby" simply ends. The composer includes thephrase "to play LOUD" (caps are his) in the sleeve text, but the musicisn't loud-sounding at all. So volume doesn't seem to affect the musicvery much (I resent a composer telling me how to listen to his or hermusic, anyway). Neither is it particularly narcotic, as its titleimplies. I tried going to sleep to it, but the threat of a big loudclimax, while never actually arriving, seemed possible at every moment.
If Cex is the laptop incarnate of Kool Keith, then Gold Chains must bethe equivalent of Sisqo. The first I heard from San Franciscan TopherLafata (the brains behind the chains) was "Burn Babylon" from theTigerbeat6 Inc. compilation last year. It featured sung vocals from amiss Nina Oppenheim and actually had no rap on it. However, theundeniable sass pulsing from that fat, pumpin' jam made me long formore. If that's your only exposure, do not expect a similar club smashon the first two EP releases from Gold Chains, do expect that rawkusattitude and some phenomenal programming. On the self-titled EP, Topheris accompanied by the production assitance from Joshua Kit Clayton,scratching from DJ Bre-Ad (who's credits include work with Mick Harris)and the occasional backing female vocalist. The result is far moredense than any Kit Clayton records and the rhymes are witty,entertaining and after a number of listens become drilled in the head,busting out when singing along. From the thunderous opener, "I ComeFrom San Francisco," to the closing nod to Stereolab, "Rock the Parti",there isn't a weak moment. With each listen, there's actually somethingnew to discover: "Did he say ebonic karate?" Jessica asked me during"The Wonderful Girls of Hypno" before the bombastic chorus sounds in,"San Francisco USA / to Berlin in Germany / Tokyo to Paris France /Hypno babes rule my pants". The self-titled EP came out last Octoberand is a bit of a task to locate but it's well worth it. 
Less than a year later, a second EP has surfaced from Tigerbeat6.Coming from such a strong, stunning debut, this release seems somewhatanti-climactic. The rhythms and tunes here are produced entirely byTofer this time around and, while the songs are still punchy andenergetic, are somewhat flattened by the lack of content. There's farless rap, and more repetitious vocals this time around. The sex anddrug obsessions are way more explicit than the other EP, with trackslike "Mountains of Coke" and "I Treat Your Cootchie Like a Maze" ("Lickthat cootchie, lick that cootchie, lick that cootchie,..." —okay, weget the point). The titles seem more promising but maybe I wasexpecting a little more meat. 'Straight from Your Radio' isn't terribleby any means, and can still provide an entertaining 25 minutes, but isnowhere near as over-the-top as the eponymous debut. Slap all 11 tracks(and "Burn Babylon") onto one CD and you've still got a pretty strongfull-length albm!
Fez Dispenser is Matt Thorne, one of two brothers that make up PsychicEnemies Network. With this project he dissolves the darkness andartfully expands upon the eclecticism already found in PEN's work.Fifteen instrumentals freely juxtapose played and programmed genreelements within tracks and track to track. But in the slick guitarriffs, vibes and grooves a jazz influence represents throughout. Thorneseems to be striving for songs that mix things up so much as to defyall pigeonholing and, more importantly, are just plain fun to play andlisten to. Drum and bass backdrops the busy jammin' of "Thank YouWould've Done Nicely" while horn-y dub and hazy dub make up "CastillianFennel Dub" and "Really I Do", respectively. "Smoothin'" slips intooverdriven overdrive with a stompin' spy thriller theme and "Watch forFalling Doors" percussively jazzes it up, both reminding me of BarryAdamson's recent imaginary soundtracks. Hip Hop beats and breaks addflava here and there, especially in "Everything Works", while the titletrack sets up camp near Muslimgauze territories. "He Speaks" dips intoelectronic whimsy a la The Orb with cute samples of helpful Englishphrases. "Lake Placidyl" offers a short-term treatment for insomniawith a slow moving quasi-psychedelic lullaby. And just to makeabsolutely sure I walk away happy, the lovely Stars of the Lid-like"And Fade" conjures up similar tired sounds as a finale. A little bitof everything goes a long way.
Radar Brothers create slo-core guitar music with almost saccharinevocals and harmonies on top, songs that explore a variety of subjectswith aplomb and spirit. Members Jim Putnam, Senon Williams, and SteveGoodfriend have been in or worked with bands as diverse as Medicine,The For Carnation, Matmos and Maids of Gravity, and the music theycreate now makes them out to be a modern version of The Band.Everything is rooted in a melancholy beauty, but everything has a hopeor dignity to it that breaks through and keeps you warm. In otherwords, these songs are not full of complicated arrangements or densesubject matter that will be lost on you. So the trick is to not borethe hell out of the listener, and to not sound entirely formulaic.Radar Brothers do this admirably on this, their third full-length andfirst for Merge, sounding familiar but not like they're copyingsomeone, and making the most of their slight sound. Keyboards are addedfor effect, guitars fuzz and wail, and all while the music just lopesalong. They do manage to be pretty chilling here, as well, as at leasttwo songs deal with murder or savage killing: "They've been missing fora week/but here the weapon looks clean/too bad the older sisters aretaking it home" on 'Sisters' and "for you are still evil in my swordyou'll be caught" on 'Still Evil'. It's very cohesive, mostly quaint,and beautifully executed music from a band that has no business beingbased in Los Angeles. It is worth your time, I assure you.
Some of you may have Merzbow fans pegged as masochists. Sure, serfsloyal to the noise king may find his prodigious output hard on both theeardrums and the wallet. And true, he has played with S&M themes onseveral of his releases — the 18 CD Merzbox is wrapped in kinky blackrubber, for crying out loud. But the pleasure of Merzbow is not justthe extreme volume and frequency with which he attacks—but the varietyof sounds he sets his cat o' nine tails to. To the casual listener, thecollective work of Merzbow may sound like a solid block of steel wool.I admit there are a couple of Brillo's in the pile, but no singleMerzbow release can represent the whole catalog. Take Amlux, forexample. While the trademark violent squall is still here, much of thisalbum has a more gradual pace, built heavily on samples and loops."Takemitsu" starts off as a ride inside a phonograph needle across ascratchy jackhammer lock-groove, while someone shovels snow in thebackground. It ultimately gets sucked through a jumbo jet engine, whichproceeds to jam up and disintegrate. The warm tar guitar lines of"Looping Jane" get whipped by sharp digital wires into a driving rockfrenzy. "Cow Cow" is Satan on CB Radio squelch through a teapotwhistle. The final track, "Luxurious Automobile," pits swirling loopsagainst chain rhythms, crickets, Star Trek consoles and Asteroids fuzz.It's almost danceable. If I had to pick out a good starting point forthe uninitiated, I might very well recommend Amlux.
Merzbow's split release with Kouhei Matsunaga finds Masami Akita takingup a slightly more aggressive posture than on Amlux. Pensive piano on"Nakasendow" is repeatedly interrupted as the man in charge tears metalphone books in half with his bare hands, then decides to start blowingnew pockmarks into the moon with his laser cannon. The poor piano hasno choice but to turn into a dot matrix printer. "Earth Nazareth"mangles a death metal riff with phased drum beats into an oompah band.Screechy violin joins in at about repetition 2000, just as a washingmachine starts pumping through the wah wah pedal. The sub-bass swellsand drums of "Shadow Barbalian" find a staticky midpoint between therhythms of Tortoise and Brise Glace, with an abundance ofstrangled-tape samples popping up and getting punished. Very fun andquite catchy, if such can be said for Merzbow. A good counterpoint,Matsunaga's half of the disc spans many locations and elevations. Atriptych entitled "Garden of Earthly Delights," the sounds here take onan almost spiritual feel. From quiet studies of steam-powered robotinsects, to plodding machine bursts, to dramatic swelling drones andclipped sighs. Both pure sound and musical themes are explored andsuperimposed, and the three pieces work as one in an easily flowingseries of movements. Certain moments here could be compared to the workof Merzbow, Christoph Heemann, Tetsuo Furudate, and others. But it'sthe successful marriage of such diverse elements into a cohesive workthat makes it uniquely Matsunaga's. I will be keeping my eye out formore of this man's work in the future. A solid listen the whole waythrough, this disc will definitely enjoy more time in my stereo.
