"2017-2020 is a box set of five original albums by Merzbow released on Slowdown Records. Since 2018, Merzbow has been running an archive series on the same label that contains mainly unreleased and unearthed material from the past, and while each series is organized according to production period and musical concept, this box is a collection of original albums produced individually. However, this box is a collection of original albums produced individually, and each one has a very different musical style.
The five albums include "kaoscitron" released in 2017, "Kaerutope" and "Indigo Dada" released simultaneously in 2019, and "Janshoku 1" and "Janshoku 2" released simultaneously in 2020. In addition to "622" and "flamingo cloud," in which Merzbow-esque noise cuts through the bubbling torrent of electronic sounds, "kaoscitron" includes the suite "kaoscitron part1~3," in which muffled beats and flexing, swaying synth sounds form harmonies that shift dramatically. Kaoscitron part1~3" is included. In "Kaerutope", he showed a new world of coarse, bit-dropped sounds mixed with cut-up edits, and in "Indigo Dada", he changed his style and showed a variety of styles reminiscent of sampling existing sounds from the 80s and bursting noises over undulating electronic pulses from the 90s. In "Sparrow Color 1" and "Sparrow Color 2", he used a synthesizer (EMS SYNTHI 'A', Moog Mother 32, Behringer Model D) controlled by a keyboard (KorgMonologue), a very rare approach for Merzbow. This is a very rare approach for Merzbow to use a keyboard (KorgMonologue) to manipulate a Moog Mother 32 (Behringer Model D), and he has developed a style that gives feedback from his recent collaborations with various artists of different musical styles.
As in any previous period of his long career, his work between 2017 and 2020 shows a different balance between established performance methods and new equipment and approaches. The comprehensiveness and specificity of each of the pieces in this box, "kaoscitron", "Kaerutope" and "Indigo Dada", as well as "Sparrow Color 1" and "Sparrow Color 2", will be the key to capturing the Merzbow of the late 2010s." - Yorozu
