Merz

Heard Grönland’s recent signing, Merz, in a Huddersfield pub the other night. This guy standing up to the mike with just his guitar and some backing off his ipod is a fine musician and a great performer. There are those Oh yes! moments when he he catches the shadow of a displaced beat with a perfect percussive twang, a grimace and a dip on the long shanks, or hits an emotional pitch on a harsh and lonely high note. I find the soulful mid-life boy-songs less convincing, but then maybe I’m an old rocker and I’m not so keen on the genre. Also, whereas guitar rock is out on its own, lyrical stuff has competition from all recorded times and places, so it can come across as banal if it’s not near perfect.
The other thing - why is the sound equipment, balance &c so crap, so utterly crap at live performances. I’m sure it didn’t used to be - I mean I’ve head Cras at earsplitting levels at the back of beyond in Cleator Moor with only intentional distortion - but the Battle of the Bands before Merz was so buried in high decibel fundamental resonances, the sonic equivalent to uniform low cloud in the weather, that little else comes across. Merz was better because he’s clearly a professional and set up the sound as best he could, but compared to the CD Loveheart it was still pretty undifferentiated. High decibels are fine, but not if the equipment can’t distinguish one bass note from another.
Anyway Merz, at his best, one of the musicians of the moment, and look forward to Loveheart, a great album.