Merzbow - Collection 4 & Collection 5 (Blossoming Noise - 2010)

This time I will review two tapes at the same time. Why? Because I can. No, it is because you can see this almost as one release. Released together with ‘Normal Music’ and ‘Flesh Metal Orgasm’ on the great label Blossoming Noise.

Masima is currently (re-)releasing old stuff from the 1980’s and 90’s. A lot of them on cassette. But these tapes are not a real re-release of old music by Masima, but a remix of the old Remblandt Assemblage cassette, that was also featured in the Merzbox as cd3.

Anybody in the experimental/noise scene who hasn’t heard of Merzbow must have been living under a rock for some time. This prolific man has released hundreds of recordings. It are so many that I think he doesn’t even know what he has released in all those years. From extreme noise walls to the more experimental, alone or with others (Sonic Youth, Nordvargr and Alec Empire to name some), live or in his bedroom studio.

The packaging is a form of Dadaistic art. Merzbow has lend his name from Merzbau, a construction of waste in the house of Dadaist Kurt Schwitters. So the packaging really suits the content.

The music on the cassettes are definitely of the not-so-noisy type. As said before, it are remixes of the ‘songs’ on the old Remblandt Assemblage cassette. At a first listen it sounds like some child is playing on a broken piano and a cat is scratching its claws on a sheet of metal. But these tapes really need to grow on you and you have to be in an Merzy mood to feel how great this actually is. Remixing incoherent sounds into something new is really a challenge on its own. But this is what Masima does best. Creating such an atmosphere in his tracks that you have to keep listening to them to figure out what sounds are used in creating the tracks. Even if it is a HNW or something easier listening like these tapes, they all have deep structures.

So these are just two little tapes in the vast pool of Merzbow releases. But if you are not in a noisewall state of mind, they might just be the good ones to be listening to.

3/5 blips for the hips

Alain Jans - Après Moi, Le Déluge (Tape Fiend - 2008)

The nice thing about tape releases is that artists really have to try their best to have both sides of the tape filled. This gives them the restriction of not creating enormous long drones consisting of only one tone that go for hours on end. On the other hand, you can just as easily buy a C1 cassette with only 30 seconds of playing time at each side as you can C122 tapes with just over one hour on each side. Nevertheless, many tapes are fully loaded with sounds.

This release is featured on a C60 tape, so only 30 minutes on each side. Made by Alain Jans and released on Tape Fiend from the US of A. The cover art follows all other releases on Tape Fiend, consisting of a picture on the front and all other information on the J-Card.

I, personally, have never heard of Alain Jans, except for this release. So I am not able to tell much about him, maybe you are able to tell me? Leave a comment if you have some information.

Now for the music itself! Analog style drones piercing into your brain.The A side (1e Partie: Nous Sommes Vivants) starts off with bell like sounds sequenced in a pattern that reminds me of an old modem starting to dial-up. Slowly, but certainly, more and more distorted low drones are starting to come in. Halfway through, this almost half an hour track, little blobs occur and mix very well with all the low drones and distortion. After this semi hour track it feels like you have been inside a water tank getting sounds played through underwater speakers.

The B side (2e Partie: Chant De L'Ombre) has a more eerie feeling about it. It feels like being hunted down by a witch (watching The Blair Witch Project again) or being in an industrial plate cutting facility. The cutting is followed by a low drone drum. All of this is accompanied by nice atmospheric sounds that give the track more atmosphere (that is very logical, isn’t it).

As a con of this release, I can think of only one. But it is a big one. The tracks are too long. It could have easily been two tracks of about 10 minutes. Then everything would have been explored. But atleast he filled both sides.Maybe if I knew Alain better and knew his Equipment and the reason for this release he would get higher points. But whats the use of subjective points anyway.

3/5 blips for the hips