Search - Masami (aka Merzbow) Akita :: Sphere

Superb.

Michael Stack | North Chelmsford, MA USA | 06/28/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Wow.



This CD is my first heavy exposure to Merzbow-- when I was in college I borrowed a CD from someone but wasn't quite ready to hear it. A new release on Tzadik seemed the ideal place to start, I've found the material on that label to be of consistently high quality. I certainly wasn't disappointed.



The CD is divided into two parts-- the roughly 37 minute three part "Sphere" and the half hour long "Untitled for Vasteras".



The title suite starts off with an opening percussion line, aggressive, pounding tribal rhythms, with electronics and patterned noise growing in the background until it takes over the piece altogether and the drums are barely perceptible (around 6min). As this climaxes, the second movement starts with a bass loop, sometimes accompanied by drums, often with noise on top. Curiously (for a Zorn fan), around 12min into the piece, what sounds like a sample of the breaking glass from "Never Again" on Zorn's "Kristnaacht" shows up on top of the bass loop. Around 14min into the piece, the bass loop all but evaporated, the drums suddenly slow down in rhythm before dropping out altogether for the third part-- an exercise in industrial noise. The rhythmic, almost "angry ambient" sound, pounds relentlessly in rhythm until it is joined by a feeding back guitar (about 5min) which duels aggressively with it. Largely this is the highlight for me, the sheer level of sound this generates is fairly impressive. About a minute before wrapping up, suddenly the drums return, although they are so well buried in there that they feel implied rather than actually stated.



The second half, "Untitled for Vasteras" is a bit different-- there's less sort of familiarity to the sound, with no bass, guitar, drums, or any sort of instrument sounds, just samples and noise. Largely the pattern is driven by what sounds like crushing leaves, but layer upon layer of sound, from the same sort of breaking glass effects to looped explosions to readily unidentifiable noises creep in. Remarkably, I've found this piece bizarrely relaxing, almost trance-like, though I can't speak as to why.



This is not music for the feint of heart, thats to be certain, and at around 70 minutes for the disc, it can be a tough listen-- "noise" is an adequate genre for this. But don't think of this as a criticism, its really quite a well structured and defined recording, and its clear, at least to me, that Merzbow isn't just twiddling dials and randomly generating noise. And for those of us who can digest this kind of stuff (and most people can't), its the kind of thing that should be heard. I'm glad I did, and I'm looking forward to checking out more of his work.



Now I've just got to start saving for that Merzbox..."

Merzbow is an interesting thing.

Cameron Davis | Sonora, CA | 07/12/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As most fans know; thousands, even millions of people around this world would simply give you a disgusted look If you used the word "noise" and "music" in the same sentence. For fans however, the constant tearing of the eardrum via "Noise" is pleasant, almost soothing. This particular work of Merz's Isn't that harsh (venerology... *cringe* don't get me wrong. I like it...but...ouch) but it definitely needs to be heard. The price tag is a touch high but don't worry. It's worth it. This is also a very good first Merzbow album to own. Plus Amazon Proper has it, unlike most Merzbow. Now onto the actual content.



The first song starts sounding like less noise than rock/pop but you can hear something strange approaching. Around 5-6 min. in, everything dissolves and the normal merzbow comes in. "Untitled for Vasteras" is just a commonplace Merzbow piece. Static and other various unrecognizable noises. This album is over a hour of noise, so some people might find it hard to get far into the album unless you just listen to it in one sitting. All in all, though, It's an amazing album. So buy it. So Merzbow can make more amazing albums!





By the way: The second I hear ANY Merzbow, I immediately think of Silent Hill. Does anyone else share this strange automatic assosiation?

Let me know if you do."