Merzbow
Masami Akita was born in 1956 in Tokyo, Japan. Akita is a graduate of Tamagawa University, Art Department, and majored in Painting & Art Theory. Akita formed the premier Japanese Noise group Merzbow in 1979. Merzbow have released over 300 recordings, on tape, LP and CD, to date, working with many different media such as video, film and CD-ROM, both in the directorial and soundtrack role.
Masami Akita was born in 1956 in Tokyo, Japan. Akita is a graduate of Tamagawa University, Art Department, and majored in Painting & Art Theory. Akita formed the premier Japanese Noise group Merzbow in 1979. Merzbow have released over 300 recordings, on tape, LP and CD, to date, working with many different media such as video, film and CD-ROM, both in the directorial and soundtrack role.
Agni Hotra (2nd Mix)
Agni Hotra" references the ancient Vedic fire ritual - one of Hinduism's oldest ceremonies, performed at sunrise and sunset to purify the environment and establish cosmic harmony. By invoking this concept, Akita suggests that Merzbow's harsh frequencies might serve purifying rather than merely destructive functions. The fire ritual burns away impurities, leaving clarity and renewal in its wake.
This alternate mix reveals how studio decisions shape ostensibly "raw" noise - the fire ritual metapho…
Age Of 369
By the mid-1980s, Merzbow had established itself as a defining voice in the emerging global noise underground. International cassette-trading networks carried Akita's recordings across borders, connecting Tokyo's experimental scene with kindred spirits worldwide. Age Of 369 documents this confident period - the numerological title invites esoteric interpretation, as 369 appears in various mystical traditions, most notably Nikola Tesla's theories about universal patterns.
The number 369 held part…
Le Sang Et La Rose
The French subtitle - "Blood and Rose" - evokes the surrealist and decadent literary traditions that have long influenced Masami Akita's aesthetic sensibility. From its inception, Merzbow has drawn on European avant-garde movements: Dadaism, Surrealism, Fluxus, and the transgressive literature of Georges Bataille and the Marquis de Sade. The lotus flower itself carries rich symbolic weight across Asian traditions - representing purity emerging from muddy waters, spiritual enlightenment rising fr…
Musick For Screen
The evocative title hints at Merzbow's engagement with visual media- Masami Akita has consistently maintained interests in film, photography, and visual art alongside his sonic practice. Musick For Screen suggests soundtracks for films that may never have existed - or perhaps for films of the mind. The archaic spelling "Musick" connects this work to pre-modern musical traditions, when sound, magic, and spiritual practice remained intertwined.
Expanded Musik 2
Expanded Musik (2) reflects the duo's growing ambition to push beyond conventional noise parameters into territories where sound becomes sculptural, architectural, almost tactile. The title references Gene Youngblood's concept of "Expanded Cinema"—the idea that film could transcend traditional constraints to become a total sensory experience. By extension, Akita's "Expanded Musik" suggests sound freed from musical conventions, operating on purely phenomenological terms.
Yantra Material Action
Yantra Material Action stands among the most significant documents of early Merzbow. Recorded during 1981—a watershed year that also produced Collection 010—this album captures the project at a moment of intense creative ferment. The "Yantra" concept, drawn from Hindu and Buddhist traditions, refers to geometric diagrams used as meditation aids. By invoking this concept, Akita signals his early interest in spiritual and philosophical frameworks as organizing principles for sonic chaos.
This reco…
Collection: 010
The "Collection" series holds legendary status in Merzbow historiography—a cornerstone of the project's early catalog that established methodologies Akita would refine for decades. Between 1981 and 1982, he released ten volumes on his own Lowest Music & Arts label, each created by mixing multiple tapes into dense sonic collages. Collection 010 represents the culmination of this early methodology.
Originally recorded on October 26, 1981—the same fertile year that produced Yantra Material Action—t…
Telecom Live
Another excavation from Merzbow's formative period, Telecom Live preserves the raw energy and experimental spirit that characterized the duo's earliest explorations. The "Telecom" title suggests communication systems—appropriate for recordings that document Akita and Mizutani developing their own sonic language, transmitting signals across the boundaries of conventional music.
The recordings crackle with the excitement of artists discovering a new sonic language in real-time. Unlike later Merzbo…
Cretin Merz
Cretin Merz emerges from the earliest Merzbow sessions, when the project existed as an improvisational duo exploring the boundaries between music, noise, and performance art. The provocative title—merging "cretin" with "Merz" (the Dadaist concept developed by Kurt Schwitters)—announces the irreverent spirit that has characterized Akita's work from its inception.
These recordings, previously recycled as raw material for other releases, appear here in their original unedited form for the first tim…
Por#1&2 Vol. 2
The second chapter documents Merzbow's genesis—the formative years when Masami Akita and Kiyoshi Mizutani were developing the sonic language that would reshape global underground music.
Por#1&2 Vol. 1
The first chapter documents Merzbow's genesis—the formative years when Masami Akita and Kiyoshi Mizutani were developing the sonic language that would reshape global underground music.
雀色 2 Sparrow Color 2
The companion volume to Sparrow Color 1 continues Merzbow's exploration of keyboard-driven synthesis, pushing the methodology established in its predecessor into bolder territory. Where the first installment introduced the parameters of this unusual approach, Sparrow Color 2 expands upon them with increased confidence and complexity, demonstrating that Masami Akita's creative restlessness knows no bounds.
The continued use of the EMS SYNTHI 'A', Moog Mother 32, and Behringer Model D creates a so…
Kaerutope
The title Kaerutope fuses "kaeru" (frog) with "biotope," creating a neologism meaning "frog habitat"—a characteristically poetic gesture from an artist whose veganism and animal rights advocacy have profoundly shaped his work since 2003. For Masami Akita, sound itself becomes ecosystem, a living environment where listeners immerse themselves in complex, interacting sonic organisms.
This album showcases Merzbow at his most texturally adventurous. Bit-crushed noise collides with sampled instrument…
雀色 1 Sparrow Color 1
Sparrow Color 1 marks a significant departure in Merzbow's methodology - a rare instance of Masami Akita returning to keyboard-controlled synthesis after decades of predominantly laptop-based and analog noise production. Here, he employs a carefully curated arsenal of classic instruments: the legendary EMS SYNTHI 'A' (beloved by everyone from Brian Eno to Pink Floyd), the Moog Mother 32, and Behringer Model D, all manipulated via a Korg Monologue keyboard controller.
This configuration yields re…
Indigo Dada
Celebrating four decades of uncompromising sonic exploration, Merzbow marks the 40th anniversary of his artistic journey with Indigo Dada—released simultaneously with its companion piece Kaerutope in 2019. This twin release strategy itself constitutes a statement: even at this career milestone, Masami Akita refuses to rest on a single achievement, instead offering parallel visions that illuminate different facets of his current practice.
The album pays homage to the centennial of Dadaism with "D…
Kaoscitron
Masami Akita, the relentless force behind Merzbow, delivers a crystalline distillation of his sonic universe with Kaoscitron. This album represents a remarkable synthesis—a deliberate reset that channels decades of noise experimentation into something startlingly fresh yet unmistakably essential. After more than four decades of relentless sonic exploration, Akita proves that reinvention remains not just possible but inevitable.
The album unfolds as a triptych of sonic approaches. Opening track "…
Nocturnal Rainforest
The first collaboration between Japanese noise titan Masami Akita, aka Merzbow, iconic Brazilian drummer and producer Iggor Cavalera and forward-thinking Italian guitarist and sound designer Eraldo Bernocchi, 'Nocturnal Rainforest' terraforms a sonic landscape that's almost overpoweringly dense and disorienting, but never aggressive or chaotic. It's a fully immersive experience that re-contextualizes the trio's years of work in extreme experimental music by concentrating on texture, atmosphere a…
Akashaplexia
Akashaplexia is the culmination of Merzbow and John Wiese’s decades-long partnership, offering over three hours of new music across four CDs. Recorded together in Tokyo, the album balances Merzbow’s psychedelic intensity and Wiese’s meticulous sonic architecture, presenting a vast and intricately detailed landscape of noise, improvisation, and unpredictable dynamic shifts.
Paulownia
Paulownia by Merzbow is a 2025 full-length statement comprising two lengthy compositions that fuse intense electronic manipulation with Merzbow’s enduring fascination for natural phenomena. Across both pieces, the album merges organic inspiration and harsh digital process, producing a hypnotic yet confrontational experience.
Ideal Secret Circle (11CD Bundle)
Mega tip! *80 copies limited edition bundle.* Ideal Secret Circle It's an 11 CD limited-edition set of albums packaged in digi packs designed by Philip Marshall. The series is curated by Joachim Nordwall.1. Sins For Beginners - We Don’T Need No Music (For Pita)2. Susana Santos Silva - The Fabrication Of Time 3. Merzbow - Gareki No Niwa4. Jim O’Rourke - Subtracted5. Spykes - Memoirs Of Pogonophores Vol. 2.6. A. Bolus - Evil Moisture Plays Music In The Style Of Organ Of Corti7. Eternities - Foreve…