| Project Name: |
Merzbow |
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| Album: |
New Takamagahara |
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| Record Company: |
Ohm Records / Jazzassin Records |
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| Catalog Number: |
0.2ohm/JAZZ013 |
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| Year: |
1998 |
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| Categories: |
analog, dense, harsh, drone, psychadelic |
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| Line-up: |
Masami Akita |
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| Collaborators: |
none |
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| Track List: |
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| Related Albums: |
Akasha Gulva, Space Metalizer, Hybrid Noisebloom, Pinkream, Puroland, Tamago |
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| Comments: |
All Composed & Recorded By Masami Akita So I have something of a soft spot for Merzbow's output in 1998. It is after all the final year of the analog era. Albums recorded in this year include 1930, Aqua Necromancer, Medamaya, Maschinenstil, and Tauromachine, which are two absolute masterpieces, two great disc, and one ok disc. So I had pretty high hopes when I ordered this disc recently. So I was a bit disappointed on my first couple listens that it didn't really click with me. Luckily, it has grown on me a lot. The opening track features a persistent droning processed low pitched feedback that takes centerstage, and at first I thought this record was another Akasha Gulva, an attempt at copying the dense low-dynamic noise style of Incapacitants, but on further listens the psychadelic analog nature of the sounds revealed itself to me, and the pacing became clear. Both The Tapestry of Lights and Red Sea Fruits are mid-90's style Merzbow in extreme slow motion. This definitely best played loud and loses a lot of punch at quieter volumes thanks to the somewhat questionable mix down that leaves certain sounds cutting through the mix too cleanly. Lots of analog synths, theremin sounds, and crunchy distortion. The concluding track, Moonface, kicks the tempo up a notch and really does sound like it could be an Incapacitants track, with it's high density and high frequencies filtering through the mix. Intense with a touch of feedback drones and psychadelic analog pulsing that slowly becomes the focus of the track over the 15 minute duration. The metals and noise-electronics are also clearly present. In the final 15 seconds, the harsh noise drops away and pulsing synth loops are all that is left. All in all, a great albeit slow moving cd. |
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