An Instagram Reel that looks like an 80s coming-of-age movie pops up on your feed. It’s four teenage boys in an American-style basement – comfy sofas, guitars, ping pong table – jeering and laughing. But they aren’t secretly drinking beer or planning on sneaking out.
They’re brandishing a vinyl copy of Pulse Demon, the most popular album from the cult Japanese noise artist Merzbow, and subjecting themselves to its brutally harsh sound in full, for fun. Merzbow, real name Masami Akita, is the world’s most renowned noise artist. Since 1979, Akita has released more than 400 recordings, which range from a 10-hour long album misleadingly titled Merzbient (it’s anything but ambient) to a free-noise supergroup called Flying Testicle.
Since February, Sam Andrews, the video’s 18-year-old creator, has been attempting to listen to every one, and is documenting his progress online each day. More than just a stunt, they are also prompting conversation about how listeners engage with challenging music in an age of streaming services, algorithms and short-form content always pushing us towards the next thing. Aside from the penchant for harsh noise and a love for experimental bands such as Swans and Godspeed You!
Black Emperor, Andrews is a pretty regular teenager. His messy bedroom is blurred behind him on our video call. He lives in Georgia, wears a T-shirt from summer camp, is passionate about his Christian faith and tells me he works part-time at a cinema in between mainlining Merzbow and applying for college.
He keeps a colour-coded spreadsheet documenting his Merzbow listening and rates every release on Instagram and RYM. His favourite so far is 1990’s Rainbow Electronics, which he gives an 8/10 for how intentional it feels. The worst: 1996’s Merzbow Loves Emil Beaulieau.
That was my breaking point. I was like, what am I getting here as the listener?” Andrews’ videos are absurd in character, a testament to how music criticism is changing online and a nod towards Akita’s own unpredictable ethos: his commitment to animal rights and veganism, sparked after raising four pet bantam chickens in 2002; more recently, a strange and unpopular choice to use AI art in his onstage backdrops. Despite his age, Andrews comes from an older school of music lovers that values full albums and discographies, rarely individual songs or playlists.
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