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Black Rome

by Merzbow

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1.
Rome Mix 1 20:44
2.
Rome Mix 2 16:09
3.

about

The Merzbow Archive series by Slowdown Records, which has released nine editions so far, enters its tenth edition. This edition contains recording material from 2004 to 2005. Merzbow was very busy during this period, releasing a huge number of works including "Merzbird", "Sphere", and "Turmeric", and performing overseas. As a result, there were not many sound sources that had been completed and unreleased, so this edition contains mainly edited rehearsal sound sources for live performances. The rehearsal sound sources were composed with live performances in mind, and included patterns that were used repeatedly in live performances at the time, but the overlapping parts were edited out to ensure the individuality of the work. Other than the live rehearsals, the album contains re-issues from the very few edition works at the time, long mixes of previously released songs, and outtakes. Merzbow started to use laptops as well as self-made instruments and analog equipment in his live performances around the latter half of 2005, so the period of this edition can be seen as the culmination of his laptop-only performances and productions that he have been attempting since 1999. In 2003, he became a Vegan in ideology, and the theme of his music production shifted toward Veganarchism (Vegan Anarchism), and many animal motifs appeared in his artwork and titles.
The material on "Black Rome" was recorded in the second half of 2005, when Merzbow began to use both laptop and analog equipment. The first two tracks are from rehearsals for the Romaeuropa Festival in Rome, Italy, and the third is a new mix of material released as a bonus disc on the 4CD "Turmeric" (2005). The third track is mostly made with analog equipment. The first and second tracks, where the sounds of different sources run side by side, have many groovy moments that continue from the laptop style, but the sound of the self-made instruments that cut through the space in many moments is still a powerful listening point. It is also interesting to note that compared to the laptop-only style, the mixture of multiple sounds can be heard in a much more three-dimensional way.

yorosz(aka Shuta Hiraki)

credits

released December 26, 2021

Composed, Mixed, Performed by – Masami Akita
Recorded at Bedroom, Tokyo Nov. 2005.
Mixed at Munemihouse, Tokyo 2020.
Mastered at Kentaro Hayashi, Osaka, Japan.
Yasuyuki Nakamura (slowdown records) : A&R

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Merzbow Tokyo, Japan

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