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.
Le Cuisinier
This album consists of improvisations between Masami Akita and Kiyoshi Mizutani, who began his career working in Merzbow (when Merzbow wasn't just Masami Akita alone, but he began as the duo of Masami Akita and Kiyoshi Mizutani, who met Akita in high school It was recorded on July 3, 1983 at Music Studio Kichijoji, Tokyo and mixed at Merz-Bau. It was released by Stratosphere Music in 1983 on a cassette, and at some point was reissued on cassette re-released in few copies by Lowest Music & Arts /…
Alessandro Cortini and Merzbow
Alessandro Cortini (Nine Inch Nails) and Japanese noise legend Massami Akita (Merzbow) bask in their mutual love for the EMS Synthi, a British synthesizer from the early 70's notorious for it's patch matrix, portability and distinct tone. Astonishingly, these two disparate artists meld into a single sound as they flex the analog circuitry of the EMS Synthi in new ways; giving this classic synth a modern workout and proving that, in capable hands, a 40 year old analog synthesizer is a tool for th…
Storage
First ever vinyl re-issue of this classic Merzbow album. The first two track were originally published on LP on the ZSF label in 1988. Masami Akita creates in Storage a very experimental and atmospheric album with a masterful use of scraping sounds and metal percussions but also with a very effective use of silence. A strongly hypnotic and creepy sounding early analog Merzbow album. The third track was published as an extra track for the CD reissue issued in the Merzbox is re-issued here for the…
Remblandt Assemblage
Remblandt Assemblage was recorded and mixed at home in 1980 and originally released on cassette the following year on own label. For the recording of this tape Masami used wide range of instruments: tapes, prepared acoustic guitar, tabla, junk percussion, microphone, radio, egg cutter & noise. Also this is the very first Merzbow album to use tape manipulations
Only a few copies were made and distributed on cassette in 1981, but otherwise it was not widely available until being partially re…
Lowest Music n. 2
Merzbow stands as the most important artist in noise music. The moniker of Japanese Masami Akita was born in Tokyo in 1979. Inspired by Dadaism and Surrealism, Akita took the name for his project from German artist Kurt Schwitters' pre-war architectural assemblage "The Cathedral of Erotic Misery" or “Merzbau”. Just as Schwitters attacked the entrenched artistic traditions of his time with his revolutionary avant-garde collages, so too would Akita challenge the contemporary concept of what is cal…
Material Action 2 N·A·M
First ever re-issue Lp re-issue of this classic Merzbow recording originally released on Chaos. Originally issued in 1983 in Lp format by Chaos in Japan. Masami Akita is aided here by Kiyoshi Mizutani. Classic old school junk noise for an intense and quite psychedelic album! A must have.Cover and labels are a near exact replica of the originals. Includes a 30 cm x 30 cm cardboard insert with cover artwork. Clear / white / yellow splatter vinyl! Edition of 302 numbered copies.
Atsusaku
Atsusaku is the collaborative output of Gareth Davis (Oiseaux Tempete, Scanner, Elliott Sharp, Machinefabriek etc) and Japanese noise mastermind Masami Akita aka Merzbow. A massive wall of sound over two tracks that moves from the shifting low-end structures and the ricochet of howling reeds to the blistering haze of dense white noise and rapid-fire electronic tones. The title Atsusaku, suggests pressure or mechanical compression and it was from this starting point, the idea of Davis' reed sound…
Ecobondage
Originally released in 1987 and first reissued in the mid 1990s on CD, Ecobondage is one of Merzbow’s seminal works, and also one of my earliest experiences with his vast discography. Presented as a double LP reissue (with included CD), the album feels like an appropriately deluxe edition that captures a high point of Masami Akita's too often overlooked, but superior junk noise era. As I have surely mentioned in previous reviews of his albums, my first exposure to Akita's work was Venereology. L…
Flying Basket
Flying Basket is a double album of avant jazz, discord and deconstructed rock by five master practitioners. It also marks the debut collaboration by a pair of Japan's legendary transgressors -- saxophonist Akira Sakata and noise pioneer Masami Akita, aka Merzbow. For the past ten years Sakata has rededicated himself to fiery free jazz alongside guitarist Jim O’Rourke and the monstrous rhythm section that is Chikamorachi -- Chris Corsano (drums) and Darin Gray (double bass, percussion). Sakata's…
Antimonument
Antimonument was recorded in 1986 and shows a large use of loop based material and a great deal of harsh metal noise sounds in all its analogic greatness! Antimonument was originally issued by ZSF produkt in 1986 in an edition of 225 copies picture discs LP. Copies of the original are now very rare and very expensive. This re-issue was remastered in 2014 by Masami Akita and contains extra material for a total of 61:55 in lenght.
Merzbow meets M.B.
This strictly limited premiere release comprises a vibrantly coloured LP on green/blue/yellow splatter vinyl, plus an additional seven inch, the fuchsia coloured seven inch is a noisy split with a with a xeroxed cover, with a numbered insert included.
Partikel III
The third and final part of the Partikel trilogy is finally here! Another beautifully constructed collaboration from the two noise giants - Japanoise King Masami Akita (aka Merzbow) and Swedish Overlord Henrik Nordvargr Björkk (MZ.412, Folkstorm, Toroidh). The styles on ÔPartikel III' range from total noise barrages, to intelligent electronics, to subtle dark ambient pieces. Essential! Presented in a luxurious matt laminate digipak.
Grand Owl Habitat
For The Death Of Rave, Masami Akita aka Merzbow submits two petrifying pieces of psychedelic, technoid sturm und drang. Harking back to the feral attack and pulsing rhythmic disciplines of his early work (recently collected on V-o-D's excellent 'Lowest Music & Arts 1980- 1983' boxset), the howling 12 minute pummel of A-side 'Grand Owl Habitat' appears on vinyl after release on Handmade Birds' Dark Icons series. An ecstatically abusive, furious maelstrom of coloured noise is rail-eroded by…
Works 1987-1993
Both of these projects hardly need an introduction. Merzbow is since the late 70s the project of Masami Akita working in the field of noise music, having released a few hundred CDs/LPs/cassettes by now. In 1987 Kapotte Muziek was then the solo project of Frans de Waard, after Christian Nijs left the group early '87. De Waard concentrated on working with other musicians, and started trading tapes with a few musicians he was already in contact with, and one of them was Merzbow. The first release w…
Amniocentesi / Envoise 30 05 82
Two unreleased long tracks recorded in 1982. These tracks were originally submitted for the Mail Art Music Project compilation LP. Only one minute of each track was published on the now extremely rare compilation album.Remastered from original master tapes. Cover photo taken in 1982 in Milan. Numbered edition with paste-on cover.
Cuts
If jazz, as the eminent critic Whitney Balliet once wrote, is the “sound of surprise,†Cuts, an intensely cathartic, fiercely turbulent collaboration between Japanese noise purveyor Masami Akita (aka Merzbow), Hungarian drummer Balazs Pandi and Swedish saxophonist Mats Gustasfsson, is the “sound of shock and awe.†A sonic assault of epic proportions, it blends the bombast of Merzbow’s grinding white noise barrages with Pandi’s thunderous pulse on the kit and Gust…
Duo
Recordings from Masami Akita and Kiyoshi Mizutani. Kiyoshi was a member of Merzbow in the 80's and has made solo works since 1989, though main man Masami Akita has been the backbone of the band since 1979. These recordings are mainly from the '87-'89 era, but some of the earliest recordings were released in 1979. The first Merzbow tour abroad was in 1988 in Russia, featuring Masami Akita and Kiyoshi Mizutani. The second was in Europe (Holland, Germany, and France) in 1989 where Kiyoshi als…
Cat's Squirrel
"Cat's Squirrel is a live recording of Masami Akita and Oren Ambarchi's performance in Campbelltown, Australia in May 2012. Although Akita and Ambarchi have known one another since 1993 and performed together as part of larger ensembles, this was their first performance as a duo. Together they create a massive wall of sound that moves from the cavernous to the blisteringly psychedelic, laying down shifting low-end structures over which pointillist details ricochet across the stereo field. Akita …
Collection 009
This amazing early Merzbow work (reissued for the first time) comes from the legendary 10 tape set Merzbow - Collection. Originally self released as C46 cassette, Collection 009 contain some previous studio and live sessions & raw-material. This earliest music was made with recorded tapes, audio feedback, percussion, metal and other acoustic instruments as source. All sounds were mixed by Masami Akita at Lowest Music & Arts Studio, Machida, Tokyo in 1981 and Kiyoshi Mizutani played several instr…
Merzphysics
This 10xCD box set composed of previously unreleased recordings from 1993–95, it focuses on pure noise from before the introduction of synthesizers and other electronic instruments. The noise is described as being linked to grindcore, having a sense of speed, and was recorded live to cassette. Merzphysics can be considered to be a sequel to Merzbient, which also features unreleased vintage cassette recordings.As with some of the tracks on Merzbient, the titles are taken from cassette brands: AX…