V is the concert (a world premiere)
Merzbow and
Pan sonic played at the 2002 Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville. A highlight of that edition, the performance has been reviewed by many music critics, and it's funny to see how they split between two groups: those who think that
Merzbow was maximizing
Pan sonic's input and those who think
Pan sonic were filtering
Merzbow's harsh sound material. But on listening to the CD, it becomes obvious that it was wrong to try to find such a simple chain of action. It was also wrong to think that
Merzbow had to be the one providing the concrete walls of noise and that
Pan sonic had to be responsible for the more staccato glitches. In fact, the Finnish duo's collaboration with
Peaches and
Ilpo Väisänen's involvement with
Schneider TM as Angel prove that they can get very noisy and brutal on their own. There is too much diversity, too wide a dynamic range unfolding on V to say anything specific about individual contributions. Despite the two-headed billing as
Merzbow &
Pan sonic, this continuous 68-minute improvisation features a genuine group sound that transcends either artist's persona, although one could say that fans of
Pan sonic's more delicately pulsing works might feel a bit lost. The performance includes some very harsh passages but also some fascinating interplay at lower volumes. Recommended as a highlight in both artists' lists of collaborations. ~ François Couture