Ranked only on my enjoyment, I know some opinions here might be horrible for most merz fans

Fonctionnarisation is one of the many "lost" Merzbow albums from the early 80s. During a recent afternoon of scouring the internet for releases that are missing from my collection i found a defunct blogspot that archived college radio broadcasts. A radio station in Chicago peaked my interest because they played quite a lot of experimental music. While looking through their broadcasts I suddenly spotted something unexpected in the tracklist: they played a short excerpt of Fonctionnarisation!

I wrote to the radio station in question and they're gonna check their cassete inventory to see if they still have the full tape. Fingers crossed :)

https://youtu.be/7BYJezXspdQ

So today I took a shot at Pia-Noise by Merzbow and Nicolas Horvath while walking to school and that is what made me truly understand futurism and brutalism, we in the current era live in dissonance, with noise from trucks, cars and construction, to chemical and industrial smells, I never really was this aware of my surroundings, the cold noise filled city, with no emotions but noise. If you have any recommendations that sound similar to this album I'll happily listen to them, thanks for reading.

I have gradually been listening to all the Merzbow in chronological recording order and am currently on 2007. Obviously I'm a big fan. A lot of his output recorded in 2006-2007, however, honestly borders on or is unlistenable to me personally. Lots of piercing frequencies without much payoff, and it's like there's this compression in the mastering during this era that puts a lot of the would-be interesting textures in a washed-out pocket of frequency in the mix. It's too bad because this era started with Turmeric, which is one of my favorites from him. Hoping things start to improve in 2008. I know by 2011 we'll be back in business because I really like Lop Lop and Kamadhenu.

So far my favorites from this era have been F.I.D., Minazo Volume 1, and Eucalypse. Based on my list below, I've only made it through Bloodour so far.

Here's my roughly chronological list of his 06-07 recordings. Which of these do you like the most?

2006

-F.I.D.

-Minazo Volume 1

-Minazo Volume 2

-Metamorphism

-Celebration of the Lizard

-15 August 2006

-27 August 2006

-Synth Destruction

-Electric Dress

-Merzbear

-Rock Dream

-...And The Devil Makes Three

2007

-Eucalypse

-Coma Test

-Coma Berenices

-Live Destruction

-Zophorus

-((Vibra))

-Bloodour

-Yono's Journey

-Peace For Animals

-Here

-Camouflage

-Feedback Yellow Purple

-Higanbana

-Keio Line

I wanted to start with more ambient like music, I know that Merzbient exists but I like to discorver more music with ambiente feel.

import numpy as np from scipy.io import wavfile import scipy.signal as signal

def generate_harsh_noise(duration=10, sample_rate=44100, intensity=1.0, complexity=1.0, pulse_rate=10): # Generate base noise samples = np.random.normal(0, intensity, int(duration * sample_rate))

# Add harsh overtones
for i in range(1, int(5 * complexity)):
    freq = np.random.uniform(100, 10000)
    overtone = np.sin(2 * np.pi * freq * np.arange(len(samples)) / sample_rate)
    samples += intensity * overtone / i

# Add pulsating effect
pulse = (signal.square(2 * np.pi * pulse_rate * np.arange(len(samples)) / sample_rate) + 1) / 2
samples *= pulse

# Distort the signal
samples = np.tanh(complexity * samples)

# Normalize
samples = samples / np.max(np.abs(samples))

return (samples * 32767).astype(np.int16)

Generate 30 seconds of harsh noise

duration = 30 sample_rate = 44100 intensity = 2.0 # Increase for harsher sound complexity = 3.0 # Increase for more layered noise pulse_rate = 15 # Adjust for different pulsating effects

harsh_noise = generate_harsh_noise(duration, sample_rate, intensity, complexity, pulse_rate)

Save as WAV file

wavfile.write('extreme_harsh_noise.wav', sample_rate, harsh_noise)

print("Extreme harsh noise generated and saved as 'extreme_harsh_noise.wav'")

Got around to listening to this one for the first time. This is a studio-quality recording of a live performance done pretty much right after recording albums like Metamorphism, F.I.D., Minazo, and Turmeric. There's a sketchbook vibe to this (and to a lot of the extended listening albums released as part of Slowdown Record's archival Merzbow series).

While it doesn't resolve quite into anything as tightly satisfying as Minazo Volume 1 or Turmeric before it, it may be worth a listen for you if you like albums like Pinkream and Tauromachine. His EMS synth is full force in this one. Given that this was the era where he began a new hybridization of analog and computer noise, each sound element has a little more room in the mix so all the different instruments can fit together. The 90s intensity is present, but in a more measured sort of way (and not, at least in terms of the dynamics of sound, to this piece's detriment).

I find the beauty of this is you can up the volume a little more compared to some of his peak 90s work and get more dynamics in some cases without being overwhelmed by the volume. The first half has a pretty steady synth pulse anchored to it, with flares of sound flowering within its roundness. At about the halfway point the pulse is derailed and there is more chaos: this is where the recording really shines to my ears. In about the last 10 minutes a surprise rhythm emerges in the mix that reminds me of Rice from Houjoue. Enjoy!

https://slowdown-merzbow.bandcamp.com/album/15-august-2006

I didn't know I needed it until I heard Woodpecker no. 1. It's such a relief. I need more. I'm open to suggestion. If you guys can recommend anything that's as strong as Merzbow or better, let me know. This is precisely what I needed in my life.

I'm probably in the "honeymoon phase", but I just needed someone to talk to about this. Aphex Twin was as noisy as I got. I thought I would have stumbled upon something else by now, but no. I can't seem to find Grey, the band Basqiat was in, and youtube seems to recommend stuff that's pretty weak in comparison.

My favorite so far is Dolphin Sonar. I must sound pretty dumb to you guys, because he's been out for so long. He's got a treasure trove out there and I need to listen to them all. I may try making something of my own, but when I have in the past, I default to old musical ideas. It's a little upsetting.

I'm thinking about making a painting. I sound like one of the circlejerk guys, I'm sure. Whatever. I'm just happy to have finally stumbled upon it. It's the only music that gives me hope.

Many years ago when was heavily into noise music, I came across a track of Japanese female vocalizations, I'm pretty sure, but not guaranteed, that it was a Merzbow project. it wasn't noise, however, it was quite beautiful. I know Merzbow has had hundreds of releases and much experimentation with different styles.Is anybody familiar with this work?

https://open.spotify.com/album/3xMfGUXtv3J4tPNsDkcIDl?si=XrYbZ_RoSjK6-iOrgaXZeg

I've been wandering and found a merzbow cassette online, but I've heard that they're not great, I've already got some vinyls and a cd so I tought I'd go and pick up a cassette, it's a limited run so it's expensive, does cassette really degrade that fast?

I remember there was a discogs page with all the limited editions and the number of how many got pressed. How many units was this (Custom Quad with Splatter EDITION)

Do y'all still have the album? If so, please send me the link so I can listen to it!

It's the 2023 reissue CD of pulse demon