Merzbow / Genesis P-Orridge "A Perfect Pain" Cold Spring csr23cd 1998 (56:46)
A Perfect Restraint (3:22)
Flowering Pain Give Space (10:55)
Source Are Rare (25:02)
Kreeme Horne (5:14)
All Beauty is Our Enemy (12:13)
Genesis P-Orridge - voice. Masami Akita - noise electronics, bias electric drum unit, tr606, filters, ring
Overall impression: very good. This is a long overdue collaboration from these two "living legends" of "experimental" music. Genesis P-Orridge and Masami Akita have 25+ years of experience apiece: Genesis with pioneering 70's industrial group Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV, Splinter Test and Thee Majesty; Masami as Merzbow, the foremost "noise" artist to date. "A Perfect Pain" pairs Genesis' spoken word with the noise/music of Merzbow. In comparison to the handful of Merzbow cds I've heard, "A Perfect Pain" is nowhere near as harsh. Instead of a solid wall of fast cut-up noise throughout, Akita's sounds seem a bit toned down and carefully shaped to work with the words rather than drown them out. The primary sounds used are electronic drones and pulses, static, effects, washes of white noise and the occasional percussion from an old analogue drum machine. It gets real ugly on every track, in particular: the last 16 or so minutes of "Source Are Rare", the last 5 or so minutes of "Flowering.." and chunks of "All Beauty is Our Enemy" contain extreme earsplitting sections of pure Merzbow. Genesis calmly delivers hypnotic spoken pieces which are then folded within the noise of each track. His voice, unaltered, is entrancing enough on it's own, but it is also often transformed into an ominous Satanic or humorous elf on helium tone via delays and pitch shifting. It's a bit difficult to understand him at times audibly and literally, Genesis' rants being rather cryptic, but all of the words are thoughtfully included in the insert so you too can follow along and interpret for yourself. This disc will scare the shit out of most people, but it really works for me when I'm in the mood ... it's almost a modern day take on the simultaneous beauty/brutality aesthetic of Throbbing Gristle. The artwork/insert is very nicely done: a 4 panel double sided textured cardstock with all the words and one exclusive picture each of Masami and Genesis, the latter sporting his recent feminine look ...
Cold Spring
Records
Next New Way
On
a Psychic TV Discography
Merzbow
at Brainwashed
Where did I get this cd? - mail order via Riouxs Records.