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Post by andypandy380 on Nov 25, 2019 5:00:52 GMT -5
The new year kicks off with the announcement of a seventh series of archive albums - starting with 'Cat Of Shell' volumes 1 and 2. The series contains works from 1996-1998 and these first two are thought to be source material (in a similar vein to the Merzmorphosis box) that led to the creation of the album '1930'.
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Post by andypandy380 on Dec 2, 2019 16:07:39 GMT -5
There is to be a new Gareth Davis and Merzbow album released in January. 'Broken Landscapes' is the follow up to their 2016 album 'Atsusaku' and is available as a regular LP, download or as an Atsusaku/Broken Landscapes 2LP set limited to a very slim 14 copies. I think Atsusaku was one of Merzbow's better collaborative efforts in recent years, never thought they'd do another one but it's a nice surprise to hear from them again, the one track available for listening on Bandcamp sounds promising. movingfurniturerecords.bandcamp.com/album/broken-landscapes
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Post by davebowman on Jan 8, 2020 19:49:48 GMT -5
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Post by acsenger on Jan 9, 2020 8:28:06 GMT -5
There will also be 2 CDs on Slowdown Records in February with raw materials for "Tauromachine". I think I'll get them as that album is amazing.
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Post by andypandy380 on Jan 22, 2020 15:25:05 GMT -5
The following two Slowdown albums for March will be Medamaya-O and Springharp-O. Outtakes from the albums included in Last Of The Analogue Sessions. It'll be interesting to hear these ones, the way the Medamaya album starts always puts a smile on my face, it's especially harsh!
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Post by acsenger on Jan 22, 2020 16:22:20 GMT -5
I’ve listened to the “Last of the Analogue Sessions” box set several times and it’s never clicked with me. I just didn’t hear anything interesting in those 3 albums (the Terry Bozzio samples on one of them were, I think, used a lot more creatively on “Maschinenstil”). By the way, I recently got “Antimony”, one of the CDs put out by Slowdown Records. It’s great. The first track especially is pretty crushing loop-based industrial noise.
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Post by andypandy380 on Jan 23, 2020 11:39:51 GMT -5
The whole Loop And Collage box that includes Antimony is fantastic. I've only really given it one proper listen through but was surprised by how dynamic and listenable it is. The First two box sets are especially minimal and abstract, but it's clear that by the time Antimony came out there was a greater emphasis on the composition of each album. On an entirely different note...I didn't know where to post this, but Akita picked an hour of favourites from his record collection for NTS radio. I hoped there might be an interview of some sort in a 'Desert Island Discs' kind of a format, but it's just a playlist/mix of the songs he chose. May be worth a flick through. www.nts.live/shows/guests/episodes/merzbow-21st-january-2020
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Post by davebowman on Jan 28, 2020 1:18:34 GMT -5
Very little info on this as of yet, but RareNoise Records have announced a new Merzbow, Mats Gustafsson, Balázs Pándi album (title TBD) coming on April 24th.
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Post by acsenger on Jan 28, 2020 13:59:37 GMT -5
On an entirely different note...I didn't know where to post this, but Akita picked an hour of favourites from his record collection for NTS radio. I hoped there might be an interview of some sort in a 'Desert Island Discs' kind of a format, but it's just a playlist/mix of the songs he chose. May be worth a flick through. www.nts.live/shows/guests/episodes/merzbow-21st-january-2020Thanks for that link. I've just listened to it. The selection is quite diverse: jazz, sound poetry, experimental electronic music, blues rock, indie pop/rock from Japan... A few songs were a bit hard for me to get through and most of the others were not my cup of tea, but it was interesting to get an idea of what Akita listens to. I wonder if there'll be more radio programs like this, seeing as he has plenty of records in his collection to choose from.
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Post by andypandy380 on Jan 30, 2020 13:51:51 GMT -5
I've been listening to that new Merzbow/Gareth Davis a little bit. It's okay, I like the first track a lot, it feels like a logical progression from the first album and has that same moody kind of sound to it. The other two tracks though feel a bit like outtakes from completely unrelated Merzbow albums 'Yabata Frog' is clearly drawn from the same sessions as Kaerutope and Indigo Dada, it sounds almost identical, except for some muffled layers on top - which I guess was Davis' contribution. 'Inland Empire' has the exact same synth sound that appeared on 'Kikoezu Mori (0303)' from the Kibako album, in fact the track feels like a bit of a throwback to 2011/12 with albums like LopLop. It's not awful, but it feels sort of rushed and brings very little in terms of new ideas.
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Post by davebowman on Feb 15, 2020 7:22:21 GMT -5
My CD of 'StereoAkuma' arrived today, so it's obviously come out slightly earlier than expected. It wasn't made entirely clear on the Bandcamp release page, but it turns out it's actually a live recording from 2019. Sounds pretty cool, though.
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Post by andypandy380 on Feb 16, 2020 15:47:45 GMT -5
Got my copy too and really quite pleasantly surprised by it. One long continual track but with a lot of finer details, and a bonus shorter track at the end. The feedback sounds on this release are quite interesting, I don't know to what extent it's made using synthesizers but it seems to shift seamlessly between analogue and digital sounds, really quite unique. There is a really jittery/drilling and glitchy kind of sound to much it that reminds me of the way programmers of early Atari video games would synthesise explosion sounds with very limited sound chips. There are some very bold samples that pop up here and there too, from the metallic clanging in the intro, to the acoustic string sounds later in the composition. It's a really strong live album, perhaps one of his best for some time. I never gave MonoAkuma a great deal of attention at the time, I recall thinking it wasn't particularly good, which is maybe why I didn't initially have particularly high hopes for this one, but I might have to revisit it again.
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Post by rustam on Feb 24, 2020 6:19:21 GMT -5
Hi everyone. Does anybody know will be continuing of issuing new releases on Slow Down Records? I mean 2 new albums in April, 2 new albums in May, etc.
I was on Slow Down Records site there was no new information about it.
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Post by andypandy380 on Feb 24, 2020 11:29:19 GMT -5
Haven't heard anything just yet. These things do seem to surface on the 'Forthcoming' section of the wiki page before an actual update on the website. At this rate, I really wouldn't be surprised to see more albums way into the future, but who knows. I guess, theoretically, the next six would be outtakes of albums like Frog, Amlux, Animal Magnetism etc...
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Post by andypandy380 on Mar 2, 2020 8:35:01 GMT -5
So, in reference to the above question. Series number 8 has been announced, starting with the albums 'Wa' and 'Mighty Ace'. They explore Akita's earliest experiments with purely digital sounds in 1999/2000.
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Post by andypandy380 on Mar 6, 2020 8:57:30 GMT -5
3RENSA (Merzbow, Duenn, Nyantora) have a new live CD with Matsuo Ohno coming out in April.
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Post by andypandy380 on Mar 7, 2020 10:10:08 GMT -5
Just spotted the news of another new 3RENSA album 'Another World' via Room 40. Currently only a preorder of the digital album is available via bandcamp, would be a shame if a physical edition wasn't available.
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Post by andypandy380 on Apr 24, 2020 8:30:24 GMT -5
Urashima have confirmed that Dadarottenvator will be reissued next month as an LP and digital download. As per the original release, the new LP will be housed inside a wooden box. I havent so much as even heard samples of the album until now, but having had a very quick flick through the album on Bandcamp it's wildly different to how I imagined with lots of quick changing cut-ups and jazz samples.
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Post by acsenger on Apr 25, 2020 1:48:11 GMT -5
I’ve heard Dadarottenvator on Youtube before and it’s a surprising and great album. Not typical of that period (‘94-‘95) at all. I’ll definitely pick up a copy. Slowdown Records are continuing with their archive series and they’re releasing early laptop works now, including the first mix of Tentacle and the original long version of a track on Early Computer Works. I believe they’re going to release two newly recorded albums too.
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Post by andypandy380 on Apr 25, 2020 8:34:54 GMT -5
I had completely skipped over the fact that those two albums were new recordings, didn't read/translate the page this time so simply assumed they were parts 5 and 6 of the current series. That's great though, it'll be good to hear some new stuff among all the archival albums. The samples don't sound the most promising in total honesty, but I'll definitely try track them down and have a listen.
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emgee
New Member
Posts: 54
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Post by emgee on May 21, 2020 1:36:18 GMT -5
I’ve received the new edition of Dadarottenvator from Urashima. Obviously the wooden box packaging is amazing. It is sealed with a Merzbow related image, which I can’t bring myself to cut open at the moment.
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Post by acsenger on May 22, 2020 15:16:45 GMT -5
I’m looking forward to getting “Dadarottenvator”. Hopefully I’ll have my copy in a couple months. One of the next archival CDs Slowdown Records is putting out soon is “Necro 2000”, which includes the track from the split 7” with Statik that was an edition of 100 copies. The info about this new CD appeared on Slowdown’s website a week or so after I finally found a copy of said split and paid through the nose for it... I could’ve gotten the CD cheaper instead if I’d known about it. Oh well, at least I can also listen to the Statik track, which is actually pretty good. Now the only Merzbow 7” I still need is “Wakantanka”, which is obscenely expensive.
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Post by davebowman on May 22, 2020 16:24:06 GMT -5
All these archival and re-releases are to be applauded, but I can't help but think it's been fairly quiet recently in terms of new output. Take away a few live recording and collaborations, and I think the only new solo studio releases we've had over the past couple of years are Dead Lotus, Kaerutope, Inigo Dada and Hermerzaphrodites. Have I missed any other new studio albums amongst the glut of Slowdown releases? There are so many, it's tough to keep up with what's what!
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Post by andypandy380 on May 25, 2020 17:23:53 GMT -5
Slowdown have just put out Suzumeiro Parts 1 and 2 which are new albums, as far as I know, no distributor outside of Japan has them yet, but its normally a bit of a waiting game with those. Other than that, I think the ones you listed are the only ones. It's kind of strange how the majority of stuff seems to be coming out via slowdown now, I personally think Old Captain does a good job and it would be nice to see a label like that put out a decent run of albums. I've been looking forward to seeing that new Merzbow/Pandi/Gustafsson album appear via Rarenoise too but I suppose its been put on hold.
I think the best album we've had lately is StereoAkuma. It's pretty consistent and great sounding album even though it was recorded live.
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Post by andypandy380 on May 26, 2020 11:01:01 GMT -5
Old Europa Cafe are doing a cassette version of the incredibly rare lathe cut split LP 'Biorhythm' by Merzbow/Qdor that came out a few years ago. It should be out by the end of June.
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Post by andypandy380 on May 28, 2020 15:14:26 GMT -5
A ninth (!) set of archive albums is on it's way, with the first two 'Pig AY' and 'Material For Structure I' surfacing in July. They focus on digital sounds found on albums like 'A Taste Of...' and 'Dharma'. Apparently a track that appeared on the rare 'Split Ver 05' album with Struggle For Pride is also included.
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Post by andypandy380 on Jun 13, 2020 14:39:03 GMT -5
GH records have put out a second edition of the ((Vibra)) MMVII album, in a plastic-less fold over wallet type package rather than a digipak this time round. If any of you were upset about missing out on arguably one of the worst Merzbow albums, now is your chance.
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Post by davebowman on Jun 15, 2020 21:11:32 GMT -5
I’ve received the new edition of Dadarottenvator from Urashima. Obviously the wooden box packaging is amazing. It is sealed with a Merzbow related image, which I can’t bring myself to cut open at the moment. I just peeled one side away from the wooden box, then reseal it when I've finished listening. The slight loss of stickiness doesn't really matter, as the press of other records next to it in my collection keep it in place. Anyway - I hestitated a bit on this due to the price, as you are obviously paying mostly for the packaging, so I nearly broke the habit of a lifetime and just bought the download. I'm glad I decided on going for the physical version in the end though - as it's one of the best Merzbow releases I can remember hearing. Super busy and dynamic, so there is constantly stuff going on, but still with a decent level of harshness (great crackle-free pressing as well). Maybe this is part of why this era of Merzbow seems to be many folks 'golden period'? The early albums are interesting, but lack that key agressive distortion level for me- and whilst I still like the later albums, a lot of them don't seem to have so much variety and dynamics, being more a wall of distortion from beginning to end. This just seems to sit in that sweet spot in the middle.
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Post by acsenger on Jun 20, 2020 12:16:50 GMT -5
The early albums are interesting, but lack that key agressive distortion level for me- and whilst I still like the later albums, a lot of them don't seem to have so much variety and dynamics, being more a wall of distortion from beginning to end. This just seems to sit in that sweet spot in the middle. That's my opinion exactly. While I like a lot of his '80s stuff (which was definitely Akita's most varied period), the '90s is my favourite period too. This is partly because of the extreme harshness of this era's music (which I can't get enough of, haha), but also because the music is varied and dynamic at the same time. I like the laptop era overall too (as a matter of fact, I bought "Cycle" recently and I think it's an excellent album), but some (most?) of the albums from 2005 onwards that I've heard are like you described: not much variety or dynamics. Actually, yesterday I listened to some supposedly brand new recordings on the Merzbow Soundcloud site, "Gruppo Society No. 1" and half of "Stray Dove". While the beginning of the first track with the fast loop was quite good, after a while the track became a bit boring. There was nothing outstanding about it, nothing that would make me want to hear it again instead of countless other great Merzbow releases. The same goes for "Stray Dove". On the other hand, I just finished listening to about 10 CDs from the '90s from the "Merzbox", and while not every track is top notch, in general they're very good (some are quite surprising), and some of them are pure gold. The "golden era" indeed.
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Post by davebowman on Jun 22, 2020 16:29:13 GMT -5
Only just noticed this - there's a 23 minute sample of the upcoming Merzbow/Gustafsson/Pandi release from RareNoise at this link . Was supposed to come out in April, but has obviously been delayed.
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