Origami Replika – Kommerz: Merzbow in the Hands of Origami Replika
One-word review – unnecessary. I mean, it’s sweet that artists want to show their respect for their idols – it really is – I just don’t think it necessitates an official release. This is the kind of thing that new noiseheads do in their basement for a while before being struck by creativity. And for some, that creativity burst never happens and they release albums anyway, but that’s another rant. An album in which an artist (or, as the case is here, ‘artist collective’) takes bits and pieces of another artist’s material and combines them in new ways has a specific name – remix album. But don’t tell Origami Replika that, because apparently it’s ‘a solid chunk of the classic, living breathing Noise Object that some call religion’ (caps and punctuation are theirs). That’s not to say this release is bad – it’s not. But the world didn’t need it and it just makes me sad to think somebody spent a lot of time remastering this, then printing, promoting, and distributing it. If you want to listen to Merzbow, then buy some Merzbow. The guy’s released more than enough at this point. Taking apart and then reconstructing Merzbow just seems so redundant. – Christine Lett
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Worm Gear 