5.


Noise induced headache.

         "...the fact that some noise music is unlistenable is the
         aesthetic victory the noise musician is striving for."
         Carlos M. Pozo 'Extended Noisehands:
                         the noise music of Merzbow'


I've been listening to a lot of Merzbow this week and I am far
from certain that this is a good thing. Much of Masami Akita's
music is indeed unlistenable...it hurts - especially if it is turned
past the first or second notch on the dial. Tracks like
'Electric Peekaboo' may be likened to
                   sticking one's head into the jet of a 747.

This is music for the modern city, far beyond the factory noises
of a futurist city...this is noise of massive assault in the darkest
sense...
                  sound thrown at the 'listener' in
                  harder/ faster/louder
                  style of the very late 20th century.

Merzbow throws things out, releasing many cd's a year, much like
Japanese noise musicians such as Aube and Haino. There's no
time to stop and listen, contemplate. (Up incoming is a
50 cd box set - it's hard enough to listen to a few seconds.)

This is dance music for the turn of the millennium. Within the
roar of noise can be heard bleeps and clicks - a sort of rhythm
appears. Underneath the stream of noise patterns and textures
fill up the gaps, slip between the cracks.
                 And when it finishes,
                 when the track stops,
                 the silence and space which is left...


p  f         e
Caleb K