SOUNDTRACK: BORIS with MERZBOW-Gensho (Disc Two: Merzbow) (2016).
In 2016, Boris teamed with Merzbow to create Gensho, a 2 CD package that was designed to have both CDs played at the same time. Not the easiest thing for many people, but with the advent of digital recordings it’s now pretty easy to play both discs at the same time (this release is on Spotify).
Disc 1 was all Boris. Disc 2 was all Merzbow.
Merzbow is a real challenge for me. I’m not really sure how anyone can listen to his music for pleasure. It’s harsh, electronic sounds, with high pitched squeals and low staticy distortions. As an exercise in noise, it’s fairly interesting, but never enjoyable.
This disc includes four songs.
“Planet of the Cows” is over 18 minutes long. It’s high pitched squealing and a low distortion. There’s a thumping that works almost like a rhythm. After ten minutes it sounds like a space alarm is sounding.
“Goloka Pt. 1” is 20 minutes long. It feels bigger and more metallic. The noises seem to coalesce into a distant screaming sound.
“Goloka Pt. 2” is 19:30. It’s got a slightly lower tone, with slower movement among the noises. Although sirens and pulsing sounds are present. Then at 12 minutes all the sirens drop out to just a quiet robotic pulsing with thumping that sound like a heartbeat. The track ends in what sounds like mechanical breathing.
“Prelude to a Broken Arm” is the shortest song at only 16 minutes. It is quieter with a low crunching and bug-like sounds. At 6 and half minutes the distortion comes in really loud with a mechanical drum/broken engine sound and then a looping siren with the kind of static noise that sounds like more screaming.
It is an unsettling and challenging listen and not for the squeamish.
[READ: February 10, 2021] “Our House”
Irish writers are often known for their humorous storytelling. But wow, can Irish writers really hit hard with the tragedy, too.
This is one of the darkest stories I’ve read in a long time.
The story begins with the narrator saying that his father always told him to never buy a house on a corner. But the narrator and his wife did anyway. It was in bad shape and needed a lot of work, but they fell in love with the place and felt they were up to the task.
The story sets up the spouses as opposites in love. She is a non-practicing Protestant with a Catholic name (Ursula) and he is a non-practicing Catholic with a Protestant name. She thinks he is funny and he never dares to admit that she rarely gets the jokes.
The previous owner died three years ago and they are the first people to check out the place. The more they clean the more work they see needs to get done. Although there are some nice surprises (like the five hundred pounds in cash they find under the carpet).
But it’s the neighborhood that proves to be more hostile to them than they could ever have imagined. Children began gathering at the corner every day. They get up to mischief right away–ringing the doorbell and running, bouncing a ball off the house. But there is an underlying air of menace behind all of this. (more…)
