I really enjoy the remixes by Merzbow I've heard on bands like Agraphobic Nosebleed and I know a bit about him by reputation but I find the enormous back catalogue and extreme noise rather daunting.
Where should a noob start? I have emusic and I know there's a lot of his stuff on there.
*brings forward an
opinion on which Merzbow record to start with*
Impossible to say really,
as noone will have heard enough of his stuff to make fair judgment.
Most start with Venereology or Demon I guess.If you can find an mp3 of a 3inch CD he did called Artificial Invagination, that's pretty good.
Whatever you do, don't get Merzdub.
Start
with Merzdub :)
See above post: DO NOT START WITH MERZZDUB.
or Merzdub.
I know
that's why i said it. LOlTIMES
Merzdub is good
you fat babies. Probably not the place to start, but I only have two Merzbow albums so dunno really.
I started with Pulse Demon
It'll give you a pretty good idea of what he does. Venereology is also worth getting hold of. Avoid Maldaror (collaboration with Mike Patton), it looks better on paper than what it actually sounds like.
HUZZAH, SNAP!
Also...
...go see him live. He's playing the ULU (cringe) in April, with Sutcliffe Jugend supporting. You really should go.
Do any of his records involve any percussion / beats
The only snippets I've heard so far off veneralogy so far are pretty bpm less - has he collaborated with a drummer or anything? I'm sure I heard something described to me once as a Merzbow record with drums - or was that a dream?
FACT OF THE DAY
Merzbow once drummer for Alec Empire.
MrScagden- Merzbeat has drum tracks that eventually dissolve into white noise, but alot of his records do have a rhythms buried beneath all the noise. I always find myself rocking back and forth to Pulse Demon, there's definitely a beat there somewhere.
*drummed
I tried to watch him
at ATP one year. My friend made me stand right by the amp. I left after ten minutes as I wanted to be sick.
Sick with joy, yes?
His live sets can make you feel quite uneasy. Still worth seeing though.
I'm liking the sound of the beats dissolving into the white noise.
And the sound of the standing next to the amp induced sickness.
I'm definitely going to get myself some of this (but not merzdub?) although I think I may be limited to headphones as the wife tends to find Fugazi a bit challenging...
Yeah, he has played with a drummer
under the name Horse Vomit.
www.myspace.com/horsevomitnoise
I was feeling rather fragile
I'd have liked to watch more but my poor body couldn't handle it. See also sunn 0)))
what ive
heard of 'music for a bondage peformance' is pretty good, but ive not heard anywhere near the amount of merzbow material i should have
i was in the same boat not so long ago
and I bought blind, well based on rock a rolla reviews, and I got merzbear and coma berenices. Both are great and I imagine as good a place to start as any.
I was the same with sunn o))) too, but having seen them live (briefly) they made much more sense.
i have the merzbox
that is all.
who
did you rob to get that?
Snap
Hurt My Wallet Almost As Much As My Ears
choice cuts
pulse demon is definitely the best place to start. i have soft spots from early listens of 1930 and tauromachine but neither stand up as well.
also, dharma is fucking beautiful. no really, it is.
I love Mirzbird...
but maybe start with stuff he did with Boris...like the cover of I Am the Walrus if you're going to be a pussy about it.