Metal Acoustic Music (1980)

So I'm giving this one yet another listen. Perhaps the most surprising thing I've noticed over the past few days is that it's quite different from the first one. You'd think the whole box might just be 50 discs of the same shit, but no, the Merz already sounds pretty diverse after just two albums.

Not that he's in any danger of being called musical, mind you. It's still just a bunch of noise, but it's different sounds from obviously different sources.

Ironically given their respective titles, this disc sounds more electric than the last one. While the first had audible drums being played on more than one track, this one is basically just varieties of static, without an acoustic instrument to be heard. Some other notes:

• Way more stereo separation on this one, to the point where it sounds as though the left and right channels consist of two completely unrelated tracks for several minutes at a time. What's interesting is the way they seem to drift back together, rather than synching up abruptly. It's one of the many subtle details that remind you this isn't just random noise; there's a conscious design at work here.
• The whole album consists of one 46+ minute track entitled "Balance of Neurosis". If that's the only track, why not call the album that?
• This album works at any volume. You can hear subtle details in the layers of noise if you crank it, but at a lower volume it almost functions as one of those background-noise machines that just play ocean waves or whatever. I actually put this on when I was going to sleep yesterday, and it was... well not soothing necessarily, but pleasant and interesting.

This is definitely a more challenging listen than the first one for a couple of reasons. For one thing, the all-one-track thing requires a little more focus on the part of the listener. For another, it kind of drifts from sound to sound, whereas the individual tracks on the first CD seem to have a clearer sense of purpose.

I've actually found myself wanting to go back and listen to the first one at various times this week, like I miss it. Am I becoming a Merzbow fan? If so it's happening more quickly than I expected. That's certainly a positive development, or else it's gonna be a long year.