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Post by Bucketfel on May 25, 2011 2:29:40 GMT -5
I was pondering. Everytime i see something about Merzbow that isnt copy/paste from wikipedia (or even when it is) its usually something realting him to the Merzbox. As impressive as that release might be, why is it that everything from Merzbow ends up relaed to the Merzbox?? I know that its a frickn big set but music-wise, is it good at all?? or is it just becuase its big?? My personal oppinion is that i dont like Merzbow be defined by what the Merzbox is. He has released far more complex music that what the Merzbox has and yet, since its not tied up to the legend that is that release, no one will ever hear it.
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Post by ashessehsa on May 25, 2011 17:55:39 GMT -5
I've listened to the Merzbox, and it definitely isn't entirely representative of his work. It contains more of his early work that people are likely to hear, and does provide sizable chronology of his work. However, it ends before his digital era; many of the works in his digital era are my favorite.
Not to mention all of the great works not on the Merzbox. Honestly, most of the Merzbox discs fall rather flatly on my ears. I love Pornoise, Dying Mapa Tapes, and Agni Hotra, but those are, for me, the only real highlights of the Merzbox aside from a few other tracks.
I think that most people just get really hung up on the fact that Merzbow released a 50 disc boxset. Good and representative or no, no other artist has done anything like it. People remember Merzbow because of it. People remember things if there is something out of the ordinary associated with it, and a 50 disc boxset is just that.
The thing is, not many people have listened to enough Merzbow to really be able to consider it representative or not. It's just that the Merzbox is the first thing many people think of when they hear "Merzbow."
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Post by christabel on May 26, 2011 23:15:25 GMT -5
I think the Merzbox covers so much ground, and his best ground.
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Post by Bucketfel on May 26, 2011 23:26:53 GMT -5
I think the Merzbox covers so much ground, and his best ground. but, since we are more into Merzbow, when you think of his music, do you do immediately think Merzbox??
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Post by madein on Jun 9, 2013 19:26:55 GMT -5
Well, the merzbox is defining at least the merzbow from the time from 1979 to 1998 I think, the merzbox is interesting in that way, that you can see a contnious line of the works from this time period. You would be able to see, how his works have changed through the years. I do not own the merzbox and I have never listened to samples of it. And I'm pretty sure, that I would never get this. Just because of one reason: It is too much. 50 hours... who can listen to that? This is so much, that I couldn't buy other albums for the next 3 years or so?! I don't own many merzbow albums (something about 10 at the moment), but the pleasure of getting a new album for me is, that I am occupied with it, for nearly three weeks. And I'm no completist, so I sell every album that is not good enough. So, I have always (in my eyes) an excellent music collection. It is like in the nature, there is no space for the weak, and only the superior can remain. But the superior can stay only so long, until something better appears. And what should I do when there is an album from the merzbox that i dislike? When it's about my CD collection, i can't think democratic.
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Post by andypandy380 on Mar 10, 2016 19:31:28 GMT -5
I bought a Merzbox a few years ago at a relatively budget price, Listened to roughly half of it in order at the time, but have only just recently ripped some choice cuts to Itunes for a proper listen... mostly the 'complete' albums from the late 80s and the unreleased 90's stuff, was even sad enough to create album art for each of those using the images in the book.... but anyway, I basically came here to say that SCUM's 'Steel CUM' is absolutely terrific!, I don't know how I've only just got round to listening to it. The live album 'Live In Khabarovsk, Cccp - I'm Proud By Rank Of The Workers' is also a surprising listen, I think much of (if not all of it) was made with 'actual' instruments, ends up sounding like a freestyle jazz album in many ways. The drumming is great, holds quite a solid groove... really quite musical for something with the Merzbow name on it. Both are enjoyable and remarkably easy to listen to, comparatively speaking. Maybe I'll post some more thoughts here as I listen to more...
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Post by qweasd on Mar 12, 2016 18:09:43 GMT -5
Keep the Merzbox comments coming - I'll check out SCUM again, has been a while. Any other highlights from among the earlier 35 or so discs welcome to hear of
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Post by davebowman on Mar 19, 2016 16:09:06 GMT -5
I love the Merzbox. I break out and listen to mine once every couple of years. It normally takes me a couple of weeks to work through all 52 CDs, but it's a great journey.
I actually think that, rather than 'defining' Merzbow, this set is underappreciated amongst the more casual (if there is such a thing) Merzbow fans. Sure, a lot of people have heard of the immensity of the boxset, but how many people have actually listened to the whole thing? As far as I can tell, most people's knowledge of Merzbow seems to be drawn from the more high-profile single Relapse releases like 'Venerology' or 'Pulse Demon'. As such, a lot of people get a vague impression that Merzbow is just wall to wall harsh noise, and the sonic variety and inventiveness of a lot of the early less-harsh noise on the Merzbox would completely blow them away.
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Post by acsenger on Mar 24, 2016 23:00:41 GMT -5
I agree that the Merzbox is a great collection.
I'm sure the cost of it is one reason more people haven't heard it, but also you have to be really interested in Merzbow to buy it, or even download and actually listen to it. At the same time, it seems inevitable that many bands/musicians are more well known for a particular style or particular releases in their discography and only the dedicated fans explore everything they've done.
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Post by davebowman on Mar 26, 2016 7:39:03 GMT -5
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Post by acsenger on Apr 8, 2016 8:26:22 GMT -5
I decided to resume listening to the Merzbox again, so I picked up where I left off a few months ago, with Mechanization Takes Command (disc 14). It's a great release, sometimes reminding me of the Collection series and at other times (where there's an electronic rhythm in the background) of the Aka Meme tape (which is almost like disco in parts, in Merzbow terms). I like the sampled speeches too that were probably lifted from radio or TV programs and blend in with the other sounds nicely.
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Post by acsenger on May 8, 2016 9:21:26 GMT -5
I'm 36 CDs into the Merzbox (currently listening to Cloud Cock OO Grand) and I thought I'd share some thoughts.
It's been quite interesting to discover general patterns in Merzbow's '80s output (as far as the Merzbox is concerned anyway). The way I see it, there are 4 main styles that encompass a number of recordings (I'll mention the main ones):
- 1981-82 (Collection Era, Material Action for 2 Microphones, to an extent Dying Mapa Tapes): it's hard to describe these quite bizarre but overall very good recordings. It sounds like there are many small and not so small sounds happening in a continuous flow. They are basically unrelated but manage to form a coherent (in a surrealistic way) sound environment.
- 1984-85 (Agni Hotra, Pornoise, Life Performance (the recent CD reissue on Cold Spring)): works based on tape loops. Lots of distortion. The music is much harsher and heavier than the above mentioned era. Pieces are slow with no hectic changes. To be honest, I'm not too keen on a lot of this material as it often tends to be too monotonous for me. That said, some of this material is killer (the track Swamp Metal is an instant hit and I think it was track 1 on Pornoise/1 kg Vol. 1 that also made my jaw drop).
- 1986-88 (Enclosure/Libido Economy, Vratya Southward, Storage, plus the non-Merzbox albums Antimonument and Ecobondage): the harsh distortion is gone and the focus is mainly on scraping and hitting metals and other small sounds, with lots of reverb. I think Storage basically has no distortion at all. For the main part, the music of this era is quite soft and delicate (certainly by Merzbow standards). My favourites would probably be Enclosure and Antimonument (though the latter is a bit different as it has some music samples in one of the tracks).
- 1988-89 (SCUM – Scissors For Cutting Merzbow 2LP, Severances, Steel CUM): reworkings of past Merzbow recordings. Somehow I don’t really like these recordings, although the double LP is pretty good. I can’t really put my finger on what it is I don’t like, but these recordings have a fairly distinctive sound that just doesn’t appeal to me that much. I also have the Steel Cum 7” which I remember also not liking too much.
Of course, these 4 styles don’t encompass everything in the Merzbox up until 1990, as there is plenty of stuff that is different from them (e.g. Expanded Music and Live in Khabarovsk, CCCP (what a great album!), to name a few).
By the way, if anyone is willing to sell the Decomposition double CD that came with the more expensive version of the Merzbox, please get in touch.
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Post by venereologist on May 26, 2016 16:21:19 GMT -5
I have not read through all the replies yet, so I apologize if I am repeating someone else, but I can't say I've noticed the Merzbox mentioned much, though I also don't hear Merzbow mentioned much outside of noise forums, because most of my friends are not really interested in noise, and I don't read music publications/websites/"chans". Regardless, beyond it being mentioned for its size, I have personally never gotten the impression that Merzbow was "defined" by it.
If anything, I would say from my experiences on noise forums, it's more often people complaining that they feel he no longer lives up to the legacy of his 90's output, particularly the "trilogy" that constitutes his most recognized albums (as far as I can tell), Venereology, Pulse Demon and 1930, or how much they dislike his laptop material, especially from the early/mid-2000's.
Of course, there's always the cool individualists who have to point out how overrated PD is, too, but they're not exactly sticking up for the later material either, they're usually just trying to stir the pot. A lot of them are the type to say something approaching "Merzbow is too mainstream", either, again, to stir the pot or to feel interesting/edgy without trying very hard.
All that said, Merzbow isn't discussed much at all on the forums I browse... then again, all of the forums I browse have gone to pot, and no one talks much about anything productive or relevant, so I don't suppose it has anything to do with Merzbow in particular.
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