Merzbow, whose real name is Masami Akita, is the world's most famous noise artist. Since 1979, he has released more than four hundred recordings, ranging from the deceptively named Merzbient — it is anything but ambient — to a work called Flying Testicle. The Guardian ↗
Since February, eighteen-year-old Sam Andrews has been attempting to listen to them all, and he documents his progress online every day. "I think about my day in album-sized portions," he says with a laugh. "It's a style of wake up at seven, have breakfast and then headphones in your ears: noise." The Guardian ↗
The video that brought him attention looks like a scene from an eighties coming-of-age film: four teenagers in an American-style basement — couches, guitars, a ping-pong table — laughing and shouting. They are not, however, secretly drinking beer or planning to run away from home. They are holding a vinyl copy of Merzbow's most popular album and for fun they expose themselves to its brutally harsh sound at full length. "I think this is the Book of Revelation: soundtrack," one of them blurts out with an expression of uncertain fear in his eyes. The Guardian ↗
Some of Andrews' videos have accumulated half a million views and attracted the attention of Akita himself. According to The Guardian, this is not just a piece for effect — it also opens up a discussion about how listeners approach challenging music in an era of streaming services, algorithms, and short formats that constantly push us toward the next piece of content. The Guardian ↗
In addition to his passion for harsh noise, Andrews has a weakness for experimental bands like Swans and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. The Guardian ↗
Merzbow is one of those names that are difficult to fit into a conventional music catalog. His discography is so extensive that even most specialized databases do not record it in its entirety.
Illustrative photo: Seth Tisue / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
An Eighteen-Year-Old Fan Set Himself the Goal of Listening to All 400 Albums by Merzbow. His Videos Have Been Watched by Hundreds of Thousands of People
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