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Post by Offering on Mar 20, 2008 9:11:38 GMT -5
Finally bagged Space Metalizer, arrived today....
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Post by Halcyon on Mar 20, 2008 10:16:57 GMT -5
Hope you like Space Metalizer! It's one of my favourite analog works, as it contains many great moments with the EMS Synthi A. Plus it always brings back nice memories of my shopping trip to the Los Apson? store in Shinjuku. For some reason I think of Psychorazer as somehow related to Tentacle, though they're from totally diff years/eras (maybe cos they were both hard to obtain. then i picked up tentacle and that's a weird disc, just like outtakes, or like a forerunner to a proper album, like an early run of computers) Personally I always associated Tentacle with the Maschinenstil album, though I definitely prefer the latter. I agree that Tentacle sounds like outtakes. Normally I'm a big fan of Akitas so-called laptop works, but Tentacle sounded pretty flat and uninspired to me. what discs do u like halcyon? Hm, some of my current favourites are 1930, Animal Magnetism, Artificial Invagination, Coma Berenices, Cycle, Door Open at 8am, Electro Magnetic Unit, Fantail, Frog+, Hybrid Noisebloom, Merzbear, Merzbeat, Merzbuddha, Merzbuta, Music for Bondage Performance, Offering, Puroland, Sha Mo 3000, Space Metalizer and Sphere. I have a special place in my heart for Cycle, it's such an epic work. I just can't get enough of it. My Merzbox favourites are Remblandt Assemblage, Dying Mapa Tapes 1-2, the Pornoise discs, Vratya Southward, Live In Khabarovsk, Storage, Scum/Severances, Cloud Cock OO Grand, Stacy Q Hi Fi Sweet Leaf, Brain Ticket Death, Exotic Apple and Space Mix Traveling Band. I also think that Music For True Romance Vol.1 was a memorable disc, but I guess it would have been more interesting as a multimedia disc with video footage of those True Romance performances.
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Post by guneral on Mar 21, 2008 6:24:51 GMT -5
goodness halcyon, a nice range of albums in there.. but i'm surprised about EMU - i found nothing in that cd.., seems in a way like tentacle, a kind of half-assed album. would be interested to know what you like about it.. also, you mention all the 'merz' albums aside from merzbird.. any particular reason there? i never enjoyed merzbeat, merzbird wasn't too bad, but does suffer from the dry looping syndrome. i had cycle on the other day, what a great disc! And w Frog + do you mean disc 2 as well? i couldn't get into that one.. sure, tentacle is v maschinenstil without the warmth and fun of the latter, but yes, it's like a maschinenstil worship album. i must admit one track of it is the FASTEST sounding Merzbow track, the speed of the sound/noise is incredible! i think it's track 5 or 6.. blows me away..
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Post by thrench on Mar 21, 2008 12:00:51 GMT -5
I'm waiting for Tentacle to turn up. I think I'll stop reading these posts until it get's here. I don't really want to hear that it's not that good. I also ordered Uterus and Human which is another Masami collaboration, should be interesting.
Veg
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Post by Halcyon on Mar 21, 2008 14:05:32 GMT -5
goodness halcyon, a nice range of albums in there.. but i'm surprised about EMU - i found nothing in that cd.., seems in a way like tentacle, a kind of half-assed album. would be interested to know what you like about it.. Similar to Merzbuddha, EMU has a very relaxing and soothing feeling to me (mainly due to its loopy and melodic nature). So I often use it as background music when I do other things or want to relax. The exception is the last track, which certainly doesn't help me if I want to chill. Well, almost all Merz releases have some sort of special element, which makes me come back to them over and over again. For example, I absolutely love the rhythms on Merzbuta, while Merzbuddha has a very calm atmosphere. Merzbird, on the other hand, wasn't very memorable for me. I don't think it's bad per se, but it just feels kinda stiff to me. As you mentioned, the looping is pretty dry and I felt that most of the tracks didn't have much progress. Maybe I'll give it another try - I didn't listen to it very often. When I first heard Merzbeat, I also didn't like it at all. But it slowly grew on me, and now I think it's a very special record. I especially like the second and the fourth track - Tadpole always puts a smile on my face! Yeah, although I prefer disc 1. But I still think there were some neat parts on disc 2, especially on Black Frog and Frog Variation No.2 (I was dissapointed that the latter was recycled on the Frog remix disc, though). I guess I just love it when MA works with guitar loops or rhythms. But I see disc 2 mainly as a nice bonus. I mean, the first disc feels more like a conceptual "whole", if you know what I mean. I'm currently thinking about buying the Day of Seals set. What do you think about it, and which other Merz albums is it comparable to? Thrench, please tell us what you think about the Uterus & Human disc. I also considered buying it. Oh, and who knows, maybe you'll like Tentacle.
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Post by Offering on Mar 21, 2008 15:51:15 GMT -5
Buy it if you can get it Hal. Its a great set. Im sure Thrench or Guneral can elaborate in further detail, but it kinda has everything in there, but the most memorable aspect is the drone - esque guitar excursions featured.....( not sure of titles off hand, but discs one and two in particular )
Definitely well worth picking up!
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T
New member
Posts: 10
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Post by T on Mar 21, 2008 22:10:53 GMT -5
I think Day of Seals is killer. One of my most favorites. Totally essential! All 4 discs are great, it never really loses steam for me. The droney/grungy guitar textures are delicious. Unlike some of the others, I actually like both EMU and Tentacle. Tentacle's a bit inconsistent, but it has some pretty amazing moments, like the suction cup bit and the light-speed section that was previously mentioned. EMU just has that droney mood that appeals to me every once in a while, but it's not that essential, especially given how hard it is to get a hold of. It's a bit TOO consistent, tending to drag a bit if I'm not in the mood for it. I do love the artwork on that one, though.
I think Merzbeat absolutely sucks. My least favorite release, sounds like a watered down Merz take on Muslimgauze. The Jack Dangers turd at the end is a fucking abomination. *shrug* To each his own, I guess...
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Post by thrench on Mar 22, 2008 18:01:44 GMT -5
One of the CD's that never seems to get a mention is Hard Lovin' Man. I'm not gonna comment on it (yet), however, what do other people make of it? Is it a thumbs up or thumbs down.
Thrench
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Post by Offering on Mar 23, 2008 0:27:44 GMT -5
I like Hard Lovin Man. I have to honest though, I havent checked it out in ages.
I seem to remember the second, shorter track being the more enjoyable of the two, but it definitely needs a revisit....
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Post by guneral on Mar 23, 2008 9:07:08 GMT -5
hard lovin man is nothing special, i mean track 2 is ok, but one listen, or two is really enough w its simple structure, then on the shelf it goes. uterus and human is nothing to get too excited about.. there's a cpl of mins of nice early laptop merzbow albeit in a v toned down mix while the porn star girl speaks fairly softly over it (though the mix matches her soft voice w the noise of merzbow). i've never really enjoyed jojo's stuff or hijokaidan, though i've seen jojo live which was quite cool (though nothing on haino live). day of seals.. disc 2 is the go for me, fantastic, disc 1 is sorta fun rhythmically/loop speaking, nothing that profound tho, disc 4 is good, relating to other laptop albums i think timehunter and animal mag from memory tho it's been a while. disc 3 kinda gives me the shits, though the sleeping white whales track has it's own appeal perhaps programatically, despite its inherent boredom
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Post by Halcyon on Mar 23, 2008 15:51:52 GMT -5
Thanks for all the comments on Day of Seals. It seems to be exactly what I'm looking for and I just bought a copy for 36$. Yesterday I also finally received Akita's book "Cruelty Free Life". So far it's a very nice read about his vegan lifestyle, which also talks about some of Akita's albums (e.g. Merzbeat and Sha Mo 3000) and their relation to Akita's love for animals. I'm planning to write a translation this summer... One of the CD's that never seems to get a mention is Hard Lovin' Man. I think it's a nice CD. No masterpiece, but I remember it as quite mellow and enjoyable. But as Pappa, I haven't listened to it in a very long time.
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Post by Offering on Mar 24, 2008 12:09:19 GMT -5
I think Merzbeat absolutely sucks. My least favorite release, sounds like a watered down Merz take on Muslimgauze. The Jack Dangers turd at the end is a fucking abomination. *shrug* To each his own, I guess... I love Merzbeat. I find it a refreshing Merzbow album, in the sense that he is / was taking risks for it. Its unique, in his catalogue and in the world of music in general, without wanting to sound too melodramatic.... The thought of Merz thinking outside his usual territory, reminds me of a discussion on the old Yahoo! Merzbow group - Who would make a great collaboration with Merzbow? There are alot that would be interesting, but personally Id love to hear MA with Douglas P, Public Enemy( gotta admit, it would kill! ), or Derek Bailey ( if he was still with us of course )....
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Post by guneral on Mar 27, 2008 11:08:18 GMT -5
well i'd love for merzbow and haino to release something, it's been a long time coming and for fuck's sake they've had a duo project that tours and plays live, beginning in 2004 i believe, kikuri. i'd love to see that go ahead - the machinic merzbow thing w the emotional overdrive of haino could enhance that saturation in noise that i guess we all enjoy. bjork and merzbow could be cool - to give the merzbow some stronger pop compositional value, and she flirts w the idea of new electronics technology. merzbow remixing more classical stuff like say xenakis ferneyhough etc would be good, not as loopy as before, but more extended interaction w complex classical stuff, though the minutae of merzbow aren't as complex as the notational information of that stuff (merzbow relies on the complexity of distorted timbre rather than v complex arrangement of events). actually merzbow w the scottish composer james dillon would be great, or horatio radulescu from romania/france - they're quite suited to his epic approach. merz and public enemy could've been good at one stage long ago, merzbow and acid mothers temple would be great! like imagine a pumping amt track w full on merzbow onslaught competing w kawabata solos.. that would be cool..
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Post by guneral on Mar 27, 2008 11:10:01 GMT -5
so halcyon, i take it you can read japanese.. are you from japan? good luck w the translation, that would be fantastic to read, or even some excerpts that are pertinent to his world view..
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Post by Halcyon on Mar 31, 2008 10:57:58 GMT -5
I agree, a Kikuri CD would be great. I'm quite surprised Akita and Haino haven't record one so far. so halcyon, i take it you can read japanese.. are you from japan? good luck w the translation, that would be fantastic to read, or even some excerpts that are pertinent to his world view.. Actually, I'm German, not Japanese (Though I'm planning to migrate to Japan in a few years). I'm learning Japanese since a few years now and it's a wonderful (and sometimes pretty difficult) language. Like I said, I plan to translate the book this summer. But if it takes too long, I'll post some interesting excerpts on this board.
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