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Underground > Radio & Music >

Merzbow Marathon and Japanese Noise

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09:32 / 13.12.02

Who likes noise? I mean proper ear-shattering horrible noise Japanese-style? Stuff like Merzbow and Masonna. I'm not sure whether this has been discussed before, but I've found WREK's Merzbow Marathon recently, so it seems a good time to bring it up again.

Basically WREK will be playing the Merzbow box set, back to back, starting on December the 18th at 7PM their time. Merzbow is a bit of a mentalist who makes atonal, dischordant, completely unrhythmic noise. At it's best it sounds like rattling cutlery and broken televisions, at it's worst it's painful white noise. And the box set is 50 CDs long...

So, is anyone hard enough to attempt the noise and sleep deprivation marathon?

What are the virtues of noise as an art form? Is it simply to stand as anti-music, at right angles to musical forms? Or is there something musical about noise? Is it the ultimate form of punk extremism? Are there sub-genres to noise (like synthetic noise, organic noise)? And is there something in the Japanese mentality that makes them more susceptible to the charms of noise.

Phex: Dorset Doom

19:47 / 13.12.02

Who likes noise? I like noise... though maybe two whole days is a little much.
Incidentally, Merzbow has just collaborated with Russell Haswell, from Coventry, on his record "Satanstornade", and possibly played drums on Alec Empire's new record, so Noise isn't just isolated way out east.

And is there something in the Japanese mentality that makes them more susceptible to the charms of noise?

Well... If you look on the Ultra-violent films thread in the Film and TV section you'll see that the most violent films are (pretty much without exception) all Japanese made (Story of Ricky, Men behind the Sun etc.) Maybe it's something in the water, like liquid crack and acid.

19:56 / 13.12.02

to my Western ears Japanese music sounds like noise anyway, which may make them predisposed to liking, and making, stuff like Merzbow. to Whitehouse i think making noise was a more-than-punk statement, but with Merzbow i get the impression that it is more of an art thing and an exploration of sound collage. i read something where he made the point that the music he doesn't like is noise to him, so what Merzbow does can be considered music. and i think it is. what is music but sound, and what is noise but sound?
Throbbing Gristle were more than punk in their extremism, but with alot more intelligence in their performance. what noise music does is challenge the accepted and traditional forms of music. it is anti-music in the way Dada was anti-art. it fucks everything that has gone before like cultural vomit. i love it!!
i will definately try to catch some of that broad cast. thanks.

20:52 / 13.12.02

Merzbow is a god. You have to respect a man who started off giving away tapes with porno mags. Its complete insanity but when you're in the mood for it its great. I think any music that just make people look so confused is great for the 2 to 3 minutes you're allowed to play it. Anybody ever hear the Atari teenage Riot live in Brixton album? I think there might be about 3 guitar riffs and maybe 2 lines of vocals in the whole 90 minutes.
Noise is nice

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16:43 / 14.12.02

And to think that the critics hated that ATR album...

Merzbow alledgedly made the most expensive album (to purchase) ever- a one-off CD sealed in the CD player of a brand new top of the range Mercedes. Somewhere in Japan there is a luxury car that can play nothing but Merzbow. I so want that to be true!

So I've recently been listening to the new Acid Mothers Temple CD, and it's quite something... Imagine some terrible sixties psychedelic freakout session, but totally distorted and without rhythm at all. Is there something masochistic about noise as a genre? I recall that there was a compilation out a few years ago called something like Music Hurts.

17:16 / 14.12.02

Well... If you look on the Ultra-violent films thread in the Film and TV section you'll see that the most violent films are (pretty much without exception) all Japanese made (Story of Ricky, Men behind the Sun etc.)

Actually, those are Chinese films, though the latter is about Japanese treatment of Chinese prisoners in WWII.

That's not to say that Japan doesn't produce some incredibly violent films, but the output of China and Korea certainly rivals the stuff from Japan.

As to why Japan is the home of noise, a personal theory has always been that it's a natural outgrowth of having a society with very regimented politeness.

14:43 / 15.12.02

I'm glad Merzbow exists, but despite my liking for musical extremity I don't really want to listen to his music (except maybe in the background of some fucked up film about terminator-esque robot genocide or something).. what's that quote? "less like 'music', more like a room clearence device".

I remember the 50 hour Merxbow box was played in it's entirety at an event in the Colchester Arts Centre, and generous prizes and free medical treatment were offered to anyone who stayed through the whole thing..

Nic Endo's 'White Heat' is along similar lines, but more fun. In that it has screams and other unusual sounds and changes more frequently.

I tend to prefer noise stuff that's ever-so-slightly rooted in a more traditional musical form (as in, has a drumbeat or somebody singing in it somewhere), but gets so overblown and distorted and deranged that it becomes white noise.. yeeaahh..

14:53 / 15.12.02

I'd love to hear some Merzbow, but there aren't any Southampton shops that stock it. Which releases would you recommend, how much is the boxed set, and is anyone willing to CDR or mini-disc any for me?

15:06 / 15.12.02

There seem to be loads of Merzbow records available, and predictably they're all pretty expensive.. I guess his audience in the UK is pretty, um, 'specialist'..

15:25 / 15.12.02

For what's perhaps a more affordable introduction to Merzbow, look for the Maldaror disc, out on Ipecac. That's Merzbow and Mike Patton together. Haven't heard it, so can't comment, but it should be cheaper than some of the Japanese imports. And Soulseek should have plenty of Merzbow.

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10:18 / 16.12.02

I've heard good things about Merzbow's Door Open at 8pm which is his "free jazz" based album, and is supposed to be the mentalist at his most accessible and listenable. It really says something when an artist's work is made easier on the ear by the addition of free jazz... Aside from that, there are so many Merzbow records out there (after all, who else can boast a 50 CD box set?) who knows where to start??

12:14 / 16.12.02

after all, who else can boast a 50 CD box set

Muslimgauze could do it, though the Box of Silk and Dogs was only nine discs. But a good thirty releases have come out since Bryn Jones died, so that's an accomplishment in itself.