Merzbow

"The Merzbow Archive Series from Slowdown Records is a collection of unreleased or unearthed Merzbow recordings. So far, fifteen series have been released, each series distinguished by recording period and musical theme. Each individual series consists of six albums. This "New Ear Control" is the 16th in the series and is comprised of six albums: "Nil Cluster," "Lacrima," "Bluedron," "Orthogenesis," "450Q," and "Noise 5706". This archive series by Slowdown Records began in 2018 and has compiled the material chronologically, starting with recordings from 1979, when Merzbow started. Now, with the 16th series, the archived years will be connected to 2017, the time of Merzbow's original album "Kaoscitron" (2017), released on the same label, creating a connected chronology. Therefore, this is the last time the archive will be created. During this period, "Merzbau" has released "Aodron" (Automation Records, 2017), "Eureka Moment" (Black Smoker Records, 2017), "Hyakki Echo" (Dirter Promotions, 2017), and "Strange City" (Cold Spring, 2016), which uses Sun Ra's sound sources as material. This box includes performances that sound similar to these works. In the mid-00s, Merzbow reintroduced analog equipment, and in the 2010s, he further expanded his style by incorporating various gadget synths, and combining multi-layered drones and sequenced phrases with Merz-Sound = Noise. In 2016-2017, the boundary between noise and the newly incorporated techniques and sounds has been dissolved, and a new Merz-Sound has been established, in which every sound with a burst coarsely texture resonates as noise. 

Details of each piece are as follows:

Disc 1: "Nil Cluster" was recorded at the same time as "Starange City," which is based on Sun Ra material.
Disc 2: "Lacrima" was recorded at the same time as "Hyakki Echo". It was produced using Granular Synthesis computer software.
Disc 3: "Bluedron" was recorded at the same time as "Aodron" and "Eureka Moment".
Disc 4: "Orthogenesis" is a live rehearsal of several patterns.
Disc 5: "450Q" is a study of a new effects pedal.
Disc 6: "Noise 5706" is a study of a new effects pedal.

All of the recordings were done as one-shot recordings without any editing or overdubs, and only the volume, localization, and other balance adjustments were made in the mixing process." - Yorosz