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Post by Bucketfel on Jun 15, 2011 4:01:13 GMT -5
hi guys, i was having a mental bedate with myself regarding the general label of noise as a genre. It bothered me that everytime i make a wikipedia page about some upcoming album of Merzbow (or maybe some past album) i always put on genre the label "noise". That wouldnt have mettered a couple of years ago, but since im swimming on Merzbow information and soundscapes i started to think that maybe the genre of noise is far to vague for what Merzbow has donde over so much time. With that in mind, myself and me started arguing about how to clasify Merzbow's music. And what i thought was the same as when i hear Buckethead. the guy ranges on too many areas to consider every release as "noise", it would be like calling everything "rock" or "metal", thats far too vague. Now, from the little ive listened i can only think of some ways to call certain Merzbow albums. i thought of classifying Merzbow as: Beat Noise (noise that is more beat oriented or more composed, like mainstream songs are) -> Merzbeat, Puroland Harsh Noise (self explanatory) -> 1930, Venereology, and early albums Ambient Noise (calmed noises, looking to create a more calmed and toned down noise) -> Merzbient What about you, am i beign far too tight (meaning that im classifying everything into too specific areas)?? You have your own classification??? any thoughts?? ;D
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Post by bariken on Jun 15, 2011 14:22:33 GMT -5
So where does Dust of Dreams fit in? Sub genre are limiting and counterproductive.1930 and Venereology are very different. The rate of change of the former making it one of the most satisfying Merzbow releases whilst Venerology like Pulse Demon is unrelenting. There are tinges of dub, jazz, grindcore, power electronics, Digital electronica, field recordings, metal, industrial even blues and trance. I always consider his records based on rates of change and recognisable forms and whether he managed to make it work into a satisfying track but listening to Merzbow records are very personal moments and opinions will always be based on interpretation, imagination and dissection of the layers.
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Post by ashessehsa on Jun 15, 2011 15:37:32 GMT -5
I have mixed feelings regarding genres at all, personally.
There is part of me that wants to say "who cares?" and just listen to the stuff. I generally don't get too concerned over what genre what I'm listening to is, unless maybe the artist is making a point of bending or mixing disparate genres or something.
Also, though, genres can be helpful. If I find I like something quite a bit, I can look for other works in the same genre as it. It can help sort and indicate what the listener might be getting into before listening. I know what you're saying about Merzbow's works, and you're genre categories are representative of good chunks of his work, not too narrow, although I do think that "harsh noise" is still pretty vague within Merzbow's catalogue.
On a more general level, things simply don't fit perfectly into our categorization of things. At one point I was considering making a separate "noise" folder for my music collection, but quickly realized that the line between noise and music is incredibly blurry, and trying to divide them up would be pointless. Coming up with subgenres is kind of a dubious project, in my opinion. At the same time, I see what you're trying to do. He does have harsher works, more ambient works, and more beat-oriented works, although they certainly overlap at times, and these things can mean different things to different people. Any subgenres you come up with will work best for yourself, I think.
That being said, what would you call the rest? I can think of certain tape releases, such as Remblandt Assemblage, which aren't quite ambient, certainly aren't beat oriented, and aren't "harsh" either.
I personally classify Merzbow's work in 5 year periods, loosely. Early/late 80s, early/late 90s, early late 00s... There is variation within each, but each five years seems to have its own qualities.
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Post by Bucketfel on Jun 15, 2011 23:29:55 GMT -5
i like the opinions. I personally dont jusge music by its genre but for organizational purposes i like to label them.
I have noise, barroque pop (Jonsi from sigur ros), experimental music, avant garde, and so on.
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