"ALRIGHT...straight from some foreign country...MASONNNAAA!"
With that, "A Serious Night Of Noise" begins. "Serious Night" is a compilation out on Statutory Tape, a sub-label of Massachusetts noise & experimental label RRRecords. Recorded live at the now-defunct Mama Kin Music Hall (named after Aerosmith's song of the same name by the band) 14 October 1996, the 2-cassette box set release has a pretty heavy set of contributers.
Masonna shares the A-side with Emil Beaulieau, aka Ron Lessard (founder of RRRecords), with a Beaulieau track and a Japanese Torture Comedy Hour track sharing the B side. Nightstick and Skin Creme come next, with the final side featuring an extended Merzbow set.
There are a pretty wide range of sonic stylings on this album, from the crunchy, psychedelic-tinged Night Stick track to perfectly orchestrated electrical storm of the closing Merzbow track.
Emil Beaulieau, "Untitled (B1)"
Merzbow, "Untitled (D)" (excerpt)
Preserving all the applauses, "woooo-hooooo"'ings, and interjections from the audience, the comp (referred to on the box back as a "Souvenir Recording") keeps the loose feel of actually being front and center at a show. The Masonna set has a few pauses, in which whoops and cheers fill the silence. From that particularly strong start, the comp is incredibly fast-paced and exciting.
The fun continues, through the piercing back-to-back Emil B. tracks and the Japanese Torture Comedy Hour one. The tone changes with the sludgy rock feel of Nightstick, then the Skin Creme track. Merzbow's 25 minute track closes the comp, and shows Masami Akita at his finest. Recorded 15 years ago this Friday, "A Serious Night of Noise" is still seriously fun.
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