Marqido — Democritus III

The Japanese noisemusician Marqido should ring familiar to the readers of this webzine as I reviewed his project 10, which he runs with South-Korean Itta.

I haven't heard the first two Democritus releases so I can't comment on the progression, but the four pieces on Democritus III are a mix of noise and abstract computer music, so for his solowork he does take a slightly different route, without suddenly becoming a singer-songwriter. The noises coming from his laptop are more varied, ranging from electro-acoustic cracklings to heavy noisebursts. When the going gets tough the sounds scrape and soar painfully against your eardrums but Marqido allows you to recover from such outbursts regularly. Many events have an uneven sense of rhythm to them as well, like a broken wheel on a humpy road. High frequencies, like in Solvalou, get accompaniment by such a confusing unrhythm like a toydrummer with an empty battery. Mavros is much more subtle and reminds of early tapemusic as well as Aube's Aqua Syndrome but also brings to mind the work of Bernard Parmegiani, although less subtle and refined.

As with 10 the visual image is harsh and strong, also with black and red. The music has as much contrast and powerful. It's noise and it's harsh at times, but not a relentless attack like the Merzbows and Marhaugs of this world. By this mercy on Marqido's behalf you get an album that is also quite listenable and not just physical.