MIND INVERSION

Noise music is such a very different type of beast to review. The absolute lack of structure and conventional “song” characteristics can make it impossible for some listeners to digest while other listeners may thoroughly enjoy the instrumental experimentations and interesting nuances that are laced throughout most releases of this nature. Do I attempt to review the music of a noise CD as “good” or “bad” in the context of accepted opinions, or should I simply try to describe the nature of the sounds that I heard and let my reader make up their own mind about the value of those sounds? When talking about one of the genre’s legends, Japan’s Merzbow, I think that I’ll choose the latter…

THE preeminent noise musician to come from Japan, the insanely prolific and universally respected Merzbow, is back in 2009 with Camouflage, the first in a string of planned forthcoming releases. Over an hour of sprawling laptop-directed electronic madness is divided into three tracks that tie together many common themes throughout their meandering journeys. To an uninitiated listener of electronic music, many of the tonal qualities are reminiscent of artists such as Aphex Twin or Autuchre, but his heavily effected beats often reverberate with an overwhelming sense of distortion that touches into drone and sludge. At times, throughout the mix I’m also hearing sounds reminiscent of the 80s industrial and noise renaissance, and “natural” computer and worldly sound effects form the basis of some of Camouflage‘s most interesting aural treats. Despite the long song lengths (avg. around 20 minutes), they actually don’t seem to drag on, as experimental instrumentation and sparse droney, ambient sections segue into trance and electronica in an ebb-and-flow manner that’s quite meditative. Conventional fans of electronic music and rock fans might be turned off by this release, but I think anyone who’s interested in psychedelic music would be very satisfied by the many brilliant noise experiments and sounds that were created on this release. It’s a very cerebral listen and a very rewarding piece of art for anyone who was worried that the world was running out of sounds manipulate into music.

Dig Deeper: Buy Camouflage – Official – Blog – Wikipedia