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・・・Meteor Circuit のレビュー・・・・ |
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NERVE NET NOISE: Meteor Circuit Intransitive Recordings | INT020 | CD Nerve Net Noise is the duo Tsuyoshi Nakamaru (aka Tagomago) and Hiroshi Kumakiri. Their previous releases (on Meme, Zero Gravity and Hronir labels) have each been unique excursions into hitherto undiscovered territories lying somewhere between noise and techno, yet without falling onto the trappings of either. Meteor Circuit is no exception. Using handmade analogue synthesizers, they create a sort of rhythmic music that relies as much on human intervention as the unmediated behaviours of the synths' circuitry itself. I say "rhythmic" but I don't mean to imply that you will feel inclined to dance or tap your toes to this music. These strange beats shift, alternate sounds, slow down and speed up, become more or less complex with each measure. Listening, I become completely mesmerized by this music; I simply can't tear myself away, listening to these tracks for hours on end, bewitched by these cheerful oscillations. And they are cheerful; not funny or frivolous, but light on the mind; I never feel that the sounds are grating, impersonal or oppressive. Rather, Nerve Net Noise make a music that invites the listener to come closer, to become immersed in its alluring incongruities. In his liner notes, Hiroshi Kumakiri speaks of creating new life with their machines; I can't attest to whether these sounds are indeed alive, but I can say that this music is without a doubt quite unlike anything you've ever heard before. Highly recommended. [Richard di Santo] |
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Nerve Net Noise Meteor Circuit Intransitive INT 020 2002 04 Meteor Circuit is the Japanese duo Nerve Net Noise1s fifth album, but its first domestic US release. Their music is unclassifiable analog electronica and if anything, this CD pushes things deeper into the world of weird. Why? Because it seems Kumakiri Hiroshi and Tsuyoshi Nakamura (aka {Tagomago) have decided to think their music as avatars of pop instead of sound art. With anyone else it would result in music more easy to grasp. With them it just makes things more impossible to describe. As usual, the body and spirit of {Nerve Net Noise} is found in Hiroshi1s home-made synthesizers. Equipped with multiple oscillators that cross-modulate themselves, these machines can be set on their own courses and that1s exactly what happened during this recording session. Knobs were turned until something judged interesting was happening; the 3record2 button was depressed and the synthesizers were allowed to stretch their phases, Hiroshi turning a knob or moving a lever from time to time to create changes. Tagomago edited, mixed and added effects afterwards (although his interventions are very difficult to pinpoint). The result is a set of six pieces of crude, raw, harsh electronics. Pulses sketch beats, repeating patterns evoke melodies, intersecting waveforms and hazardous circuitry produce glitches and other unexpected developments. #1 has a cute kitsch flavor, but that may be simply because it is the first track. The 18-minute #5 surprisingly ranks among the more gentle pieces, its evolving cycles dragging the listener into a clumsy, sickening mantra. The closer #6 goes the other way, diving into orgiastic noise akin to early Merzbow. Meteor Circuit is one strange, unique experience that will probably appeal only to fans of the Serge modular, the Buchla box and the VCS-3. Francois Couture |
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NERVE NET NOISE Meteor Circuit (Intransitive Recordings) cd 14.98 Japanese duo Nerve Net Noise, with previous releases on Meme, Zero Gravity, and Hronir, make the sort of experimental electronic "music" that really separates the men from the boys (or, shall we say, the insane noise geeks from everyone else). But while Tsuyoshi "Tagomago" Nakamaru (who handles the mix and effects) and Hiroshi Kumakiri (who builds NNN's unique synthesizers) are from Japan, this *isn't* howling vacuum cleaner grinding shrieking death noise in the tradition of Merzbow/Hijokaidan/Masonna/etc. Rather, it's closer in style to the clicks n' cuts of Ryoki Ikeda and the "empty" sine wave pulses of Sachiko M. Some call it "onkyo" music. How about we call it squeaky toy, modem on the fritz, annoying buzzer going off music? Yep, it's still room-clearing stuf f, y'know. Indeed, it was hard to review, 'cause my co-workers kept yelling at me to turn it off!! But to NNN's ears, this is beautiful music. From Kumakiri's liner notes: "At first, Nerve Net Noise enjoyed pure sound. These days, we try to think about music. We aspire to create music that is between played and not-played, between controlled and uncontrolled. We feel that consciously performed music can have too much evidence of human planning. But we also dislike random music that displays no evidence of human planning at all. We try to find a satisfying middle area with our albums." Well, that's an uncommon idea of "music", now isn't it!? But it explains a lot about how this album sounds. Basically, Kumakiri's array of homemade synths are switched on and allowed to make the noises they want to make, while the NNN duo tweak the volume and so forth, affecting the sounds and rhythms. When they're happy with what they're hearing, they record the results. It's kind of a Metal Machine Music concept. Imagine a nest of robotic birds, mechanically, repetitively chirping at one another, slowly building into patterns and rhythms that will drill themselves into your brain, causing either the euphoria of a trepanation (if you're into it) or simply the pain of such. But it's clear that the former is the intention. These guys aren't trying to make assaultive music for masochists -- they just hear things differently from most folks. For instance, we suspect they'd hear the beauty inherent in a malfunctioning car alarm. If you want to open *yourself* up to this realm of sound-appreciation, then "Meteor Circuit" wouldn't be a bad place to start -- just don't expect your co-workers, housemates, family, etc. to enjoy it! (Is it perverse to like this stuff? 'Cause some of us here have more than one NNN cd in our collections...) |
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There's an art movement orginated in Japan called "Superflat". It was largely established by artist Takashi Murakami and most often deals with two-dimensional pop art characters. Occasionally engaged involved in an act of plush sexuality. The work, allegedly, reflects a culture that bases transcendental notions on simple icons, yet for some reason keeps them unspoken. Is that a bit vague? Take a look at Murakami's art. A collection of anime figures, big wide eyes, frozen and motionless, without any context. Blank, yet familiar symbols loaded with nostalgia and retaining complete subjectivity. Maybe it's still a little hard to describe. Let me try another angle. I grew up in Pittsburgh, so I had the privilege of being able to visit the Andy Warhol Museum, where they would screen collections of his films on a weekly basis. This allowed me to see "Chelsea Girls" at a fairly young age. I don't mean to be pretentious here. I know I've talked about trendy art for about two paragraphs in a music review, I promise I'll get to the point soon. "Chelsea Girls" is a pretty special film. It's four hours long, and two cameras are projecting different reels at the same time. The cast is very stoned, and they're all incredibly honest and hungry for the spotlight. You'll see them shoot heroin, play S&M games, demean each other, and praise themselves. They're completely straight-forward, and yet there's something missing. Eric, the young man who imbibed some LSD prior to his segment in the film, and has become since immortalized in indie chic culture on Sonic Youth's "Daydream Nation" album, summed it up lucidly. Almost completely naked and ranting, he talks about how he can show the audience everything, but it doesn't matter, no one will ever be able to really touch him or really know what he's thinking. Or something to that extent. It's been awhile since I've seen it. I can't quote verbatim. We get satisfaction from a hidden sense of something greater, a metaphor or parable, and when someone like Eric or Murakami presents something as honest as they possibly can, we can't help but be ravenous for more. The new Nerve Net Noise release, "Meteor Circuit" is a musical equivalent. On it, you'll hear the sounds of level, repetitive analog synthesizers, at their most honest. No string section, no backing chords, just thorny rhythms with no production gloss. The rhythms change, nearly imperceptibly, oblivious and discreet. The machines apparently do most of the work. Nerve Net Noise, a duo, monitor the inexplicable rhythms created by their homemade synthesizers' failures. They simply stop the recording when they feel the piece has ended. There is music derived from algorithms, surface electricity of plants, natural mathematical processes. Some of it falls on its face, some of it fills in the face of nature at work. Nerve Net Noise is flat music that infers the world. |
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