Noise ~ Japanoise (Merzbow, Keiji Haino, etc)

[Reznor2112]

I didn't see a thread about noise artists and specifically nothing about Merzbow here. I recently discovered Merzbow and attempted to listen to his album Pulse Demon and after 15 seconds... turned it off.

Fast forward a few weeks and I now own multiple releases by Merzbow and collabs and have become OBSESSED with this genre. I really is a different type of ambient. VERY mind clearing for me, someone that has major anxiety and ADHD.

Good stuff here if you are willing to give it a shot. Anyone else a fan?

SEIZURE WARNING





Simultaneously while discovering Merzbow, I was doing a deep dive into 70s Japanese jazz as well as modern Japanese free form jazz/music and discovered Keiji Haino (a frequent collaborator with Merzbow) and have since found so many great albums that he himself has worked on including some great ones with Sumac.



Being in a place where I am bored to death with modern music, I am so stoked to have discovered these artists and these genres.

[thefragile_jake]

I adore Merzbow. I have Pulse Demon and Venereology on vinyl and it's some of my favorites in my collection.

His stuff is all over the place, but Prurient is another one of my favorites. This was his magnum opus in 2015.

[seasonsinthesky]

Good call on Frozen Niagara Falls. A fantastic record. Dragonflies to Sew You Up and Christ Among the Broken Glass are two of the best things ever. Quite different from Merzbow, though... although they did release a split.

I've tried a lot of Merz – hardly enough to dent in his catalog really, though – and the ones I've come back to are:

• Antimonument
• Venereology
• Pulse Demon
• Hybrid Noisebloom
• 1930
• Aqua Necromancer
• Door Open at 8am
• Sphere

And Frog Remixed, but that doesn't really count as a Merzbow album.

His work with Boris is the crown jewel to me. The way he weaves in and out or just entirely overwhelms is usually totally appropriate and works. Maybe the best example is his work with them on Rock Dream, and also probably 2R0I2P0; both have examples where he sinks into background texture at the right time.