Merzbow — Another Merzbow Records
The discs collect together material from between 1991 and 2001 in a rather lose chronological manner for example we have tracks appearing from 1991 to 1997 on disc one then 1992 to 1997 on disc two, with only the 3rd disc making blanced sense chronological as it runs from 1999 to 2001- quite the reason for this jump about the years is unclear but maybe it’s down to better sonic sequence from track to track.
Anyway enough of my moaning on the whole this is a very rewarding & highly worthwhile collection for those who have got tired with Merzbow’s recent obsession with live drum improv attacked noise making. As this set covers a fair bit of different Merz based composition & sound we go from: rapid, manic & texturally varied junk metal attacks & noise bombardments. Onto juddering analogue electronic phaser chopping & caustic drone work-outs, Through to textured, screaming, noisily & lengthy fifteen plus psychedelic noise work-outs with jack-knife electro rytmic back drops. Onto pulsing & grainy extreme elctroinca meets noise slamming attacks, over to Merzbeat like construction with fuzzed out & textured noise toppings. Through to burn ‘n’ turning Merz-guitar seared & swirling sound worlds. Each disc offers up quite a blanced & mixed selection of track type & on the whole there’s nothing really low grade or uninspired here which is more than can be said for a lot of simlar odd ‘n’ sods collections.
There’s an awful lot to like and ultimately love on this three disc collection for both your long time Merz fanatic & also those who are new to Merzbow- as this works as a nice showcase for the different types of noise making & caustic sound scaping he’s tried over the years.