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Elliott Sharp/Merzbow "Tranz"
Elliott Sharp may be a very unlikely collaborator for Merzbow's MasamiAkita, but that's part of this CD's interest... and ultimately itsfailure, though the meeting is intriguing, even when it falls on itsface. Tranz is structured in a way similar to many of Merzbow'sother collaborative albums: two tracks are composed by Merzbow usingSharp's sounds as source material, and two by Sharp using Merzbow'ssounds.
Caminate
The tracks alternate, though the package design is so obscurethat the only way to tell which tracks appear in which order is tomatch the times of each to a title and time listed on one of fourdifferent cards inserted in the front pocket of the digipack. The firstpiece is terrific: Merzbow's "Esrma 1" is based on a pattern ofalternating notes which twist subtly as layers of grainy synth-likesounds are added one at a time. It's a very linear and musical piece,with a straightforward upward spiral abruptly ending with what mustbe... a guitar through a flanger. (Uh-oh.) Here's where Tranzstarts to falter. Even without the knowledge of specific guitareffects' sounds, an obvious sound is recognizable, and Elliott Sharpseems incapable of providing much more than off-the-shelf guitar andeffect sounds for the remaining 3/4 of this album. Sharp's first turnat the wheel, "Mares 1," begins with a burbling, flatly-tensebackground bed of grainy noise, but gracelessly throws in suchchestnuts as: the outer-space phaser sound!; The guitar-shopfinger-tapping shred solo (these are cringe-inducing without David LeeRoth in the vicinity)!; The twisting the delay-knob up and down sound!;and so on,.... Sharp marches so blithely over the pleasingly crunchybackdrop that I tried to listen to his piece as if I was hearing tworadio stations at once, absorbing one while information from anotherwas irritatingly bleeding through. On track 3, Merzbow tries again, buthe does not match the focus he started out with, and the final track islittle more than a Max/MSP effect doing its thing uneventfully for afew minutes. If a person was involved in its composition, he appears tohave removed himself before the disc went to press. The asaforementioned intriguing appeal is rather like rubbernecking: peoplewere maimed in this car crash, but it's tough not to keep looking atthem. I have returned to this album four times since I first heard it.It's maybe a good textbook about how two very disparate artists mightforce themselves to work together across styles and methods. It mighteven have worked, had the artists not both phoned in their music. Ifthey'd arrived at a solid idea and explored it, maybe this could havebeen surprising music instead of merely an exercise. Still: ever hearda Merzbow album with finger-tapping on it?
Caminate
The tracks alternate, though the package design is so obscurethat the only way to tell which tracks appear in which order is tomatch the times of each to a title and time listed on one of fourdifferent cards inserted in the front pocket of the digipack. The firstpiece is terrific: Merzbow's "Esrma 1" is based on a pattern ofalternating notes which twist subtly as layers of grainy synth-likesounds are added one at a time. It's a very linear and musical piece,with a straightforward upward spiral abruptly ending with what mustbe... a guitar through a flanger. (Uh-oh.) Here's where Tranzstarts to falter. Even without the knowledge of specific guitareffects' sounds, an obvious sound is recognizable, and Elliott Sharpseems incapable of providing much more than off-the-shelf guitar andeffect sounds for the remaining 3/4 of this album. Sharp's first turnat the wheel, "Mares 1," begins with a burbling, flatly-tensebackground bed of grainy noise, but gracelessly throws in suchchestnuts as: the outer-space phaser sound!; The guitar-shopfinger-tapping shred solo (these are cringe-inducing without David LeeRoth in the vicinity)!; The twisting the delay-knob up and down sound!;and so on,.... Sharp marches so blithely over the pleasingly crunchybackdrop that I tried to listen to his piece as if I was hearing tworadio stations at once, absorbing one while information from anotherwas irritatingly bleeding through. On track 3, Merzbow tries again, buthe does not match the focus he started out with, and the final track islittle more than a Max/MSP effect doing its thing uneventfully for afew minutes. If a person was involved in its composition, he appears tohave removed himself before the disc went to press. The asaforementioned intriguing appeal is rather like rubbernecking: peoplewere maimed in this car crash, but it's tough not to keep looking atthem. I have returned to this album four times since I first heard it.It's maybe a good textbook about how two very disparate artists mightforce themselves to work together across styles and methods. It mighteven have worked, had the artists not both phoned in their music. Ifthey'd arrived at a solid idea and explored it, maybe this could havebeen surprising music instead of merely an exercise. Still: ever hearda Merzbow album with finger-tapping on it?
