Search - Merzbow :: Tauromachine

Great! A great place to start.

Mike McAuley | Toronto, Canada | 05/23/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Merzbow is an acquired taste. Japanese improvised electronic noise. Like historic noise groups such as AMM ,MEV and even Borbetomagus getting used to pure noise and knowing the difference between say garbage and talent is a tricky thing. AMM were the very best and still going since 1966. MEV were a sixties oddity and Borbetomagus are hit and miss talent wise but all were acoustic. Merzbow is electronic and pure sonic distortion. His early stuff was cut up tape manipulation followed by electronic/keyboard shriek. Then to now lap top computer. This album was the first Merzbow album I liked and I became a fan afterwards. Here we can find a center and an understanding of what he is doing without being killed by nasty shriek. Pure electronic noise but not as distorted as previous releases. Lots of variations and as another reviewer said a beat which is quite right. A good starting place for the uninitiated."

Dear Diary...

almostambidextrous | Alberta | 12/09/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Today I listened to a CD by MERZBOW. In store, the cover art was a pleasing swirl of reds and black, and the back end vaguely psychedelic, so I bought it. I had a cup of coffee and read a nice book. Then I listened.It's not as though I'm unfamiliar to Merzbow, anything but. Still, let's try and be honest here, shall we? It doesn't really mean anything. According to Mister Akita himself (there's an interview... somewhere.. on the net), noise is but simple self-indulgence, and so it would seem, if you read some other reviews in praise of this sort of thing. Alternatively it's just nonsense, and you can spend much happy time reading through these and other conflicting views if you'll go and look at, say, Lou Reed's 'Metal Machine Music,' also on Amazon.This particular release. Another reviewer mentioned the titles: Indeed, "Cannibalism of Machine" sounds less like that and more like somebody's old Volkswagen Beetle trying to putt-putt-putt over a steep hill. For real Cannibalism of Machine, I would recommend a sound more like that of the last track of Aube's "Wired Trap." So, this starts out a bit slower than your average Akita release. It's also a bit more sensible overall, especially in comparison to the other (American label) Release releases ('Venereology' and 'Pulse Demon') insofar as it's not too long or too short, there aren't any half-hour long tracks as 'Venereology's "Ananga-Ranga," and nothing shiny, gory or offensive about the packaging. It just sort of putt-putt-putts and swish-swish-gargles through the first three or four tracks.I'm fond of track five. As the longest on the CD at just over twelve minutes, it also seems to cover more ground spacially, and in tandem with the tail half of track seven evokes, to me, some of the louder parts of the two "Music For Bondage" albums. Bother all that stuff about annoying your neighbours, this is a fine soundtrack to a quiet drink in a cozy room, something you can listen to without being tempted to sing along. Track six is probably my favourite overall to indulge in; though not overly horrific, it does play with a cute high pitch and cover some ground that way. Brisk, simple, relatively accessible.Track seven is promising at first and at least maintains the aforementioned shade of ambience throughout, but is basically anticlimactic. I suppose that represents the album as a whole.The three stars at the top of this review are essentially pointless. I can't say I'd ever actually recommend a noise album! You'll just have to let your own ideas guide you."

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Mike McAuley | 03/11/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Despite the lame cover, this is a highly recommendable Merzbow disc. It is just as intense as anything else he's ever done, but each track feels unique and seems to be exploring different qualities of sound. Certain tracks are incredibly treble-oriented and hissy, while others focus more on deep, gurgling, crunching bass. The noise is just about as overwhelming and non-stop as usual, but this is a notable release simply for the impressive display of diversity and the richness of the sound."