Tauro-O1
The "Tauro" albums contain outtakes from the 1998 masterpiece Tauromachine (Relapse/Release) and unused material from the same period - the "O" in the title standing for "Outtakes." While the 10CD box Merzmorphosis (Youth Inc., 2012) previously compiled much unreleased 1996-97 material, it excluded recordings related to 1930 and Tauromachine. This "Tauro" material appears here for the first time.
The equipment list reveals Akita's expanding palette: Moog Rogue, Theremin, Novation Bass Station, T…
Cat Of Shell Vol.2
Volume 2. Cat Of Shell was recorded in 1996 and originally intended for release under the same title, but remained unreleased until now. According to Akita's notes, the DAT master index lists both "Cat Of Shell" and "1930" - indicating these recordings relate to the celebrated 1930 album (Tzadik). The repetitive sounds playing in clever, ear-catching balance suggest techno influences, while cracked sounds reminiscent of metal pronunciation and tremendous sonic depth characterize the sessions.
At…
Cat Of Shell Vol.1
Cat Of Shell was recorded in 1996 and originally intended for release under the same title, but remained unreleased until now. According to Akita's notes, the DAT master index lists both "Cat Of Shell" and "1930" - indicating these recordings relate to the celebrated 1930 album (Tzadik). The repetitive sounds playing in clever, ear-catching balance suggest techno influences, while cracked sounds reminiscent of metal pronunciation and tremendous sonic depth characterize the sessions.
At the time,…
Chameleon Body
Chameleon Body suggests shape-shifting, adaptation, camouflage - apt metaphors for Merzbow's endlessly mutating sonic identity. The chameleon changes appearance while remaining essentially itself; similarly, Akita's work transforms constantly while maintaining recognizable characteristics. The "body" element grounds these transformations in physicality.
This golden-period document captures the project at peak flexibility, demonstrating Akita's ability to shift between approaches without losing c…
Live at Doushisha University
This live recording from Doshisha University captures Merzbow in performance during the Pulse Demon era - a unique document of how golden-period studio work translated to live contexts. The academic setting creates intriguing tension: extreme noise in an institution of learning, challenging assumptions about appropriate sound.
Akita's live performances during this period were legendary - intense, confrontational experiences testing audiences' physical and psychological limits. University perform…
小品集 (Selected Small Works) Vol.2
Volume 2. Unlike earlier Archive installments sourced from cassette masters, this series was remastered from original DAT tapes, ensuring superior audio quality. These volumes collect shorter pieces - concentrated bursts of Akita's most celebrated period. The decision to release "small works" separately reflects curatorial sensitivity; these pieces might otherwise be lost as bonus tracks.
They demonstrate that Merzbow's genius operates at any duration - brevity concentrates rather than diminishe…
小品集 (Selected Small Works) Vol.1
Unlike earlier Archive installments sourced from cassette masters, this series was remastered from original DAT tapes, ensuring superior audio quality. These volumes collect shorter pieces - concentrated bursts of Akita's most celebrated period. The decision to release "small works" separately reflects curatorial sensitivity; these pieces might otherwise be lost as bonus tracks.
They demonstrate that Merzbow's genius operates at any duration - brevity concentrates rather than diminishes impact. …
Untitled 1991 Vol. 3
Volume 3. The fifth chapter focuses intensively on 1991 - a transformative year for Merzbow. New sampling delay effects from Next and Digitech enabled more rhythmic, cut-up approaches, marking decisive evolution from previous decade's collage techniques. These sessions were originally produced by mixing multiple 4-channel cassettes, but for this release appear largely unedited - raw material preserved without typical layering and processing.
New mixes were created using a TASCAM MFP-01 to replac…
Untitled 1991 Vol. 2
Volume 2. The fifth chapter focuses intensively on 1991 - a transformative year for Merzbow. New sampling delay effects from Next and Digitech enabled more rhythmic, cut-up approaches, marking decisive evolution from previous decade's collage techniques. These sessions were originally produced by mixing multiple 4-channel cassettes, but for this release appear largely unedited - raw material preserved without typical layering and processing.
New mixes were created using a TASCAM MFP-01 to replac…
Phillo Jazz
Phillo Jazz winks at improvisational traditions Akita has always both honored and subverted. Jazz's spontaneity finds its noise equivalent - though the relationship is more conceptual than sonic. Where jazz improvisation operates within harmonic frameworks, Merzbow improvisation occurs in texture and density, shape and duration.
The "Phillo" prefix remains mysterious - perhaps referencing philosophy, philology, or simply playing with sounds. These recordings demonstrate fluidity at its best: not…
Bluedelic+
The playful title suggests psychedelic blue - chromatic synesthesia rendered in noise. Akita has always been interested in the intersection of sound and color, titles throughout his catalog evoking visual qualities. These 1992 sessions capture Merzbow in experimental mode, the psychedelic reference connecting to traditions of consciousness expansion through intense sensory experience.
Blue carries particular associations: melancholy, depth, the infinite sky and sea. "Bluedelic" suggests psychede…
Untitled 1991 Vol. 1
The fifth chapter focuses intensively on 1991 - a transformative year for Merzbow. New sampling delay effects from Next and Digitech enabled more rhythmic, cut-up approaches, marking decisive evolution from previous decade's collage techniques. These sessions were originally produced by mixing multiple 4-channel cassettes, but for this release appear largely unedited - raw material preserved without typical layering and processing.
New mixes were created using a TASCAM MFP-01 to replace the unav…
Travelling
Travelling suggests movement through sonic landscapes - each passage a journey into unknown territory. The title invites traveler's mindset: openness to unfamiliar sounds, acceptance of discomfort, willingness to be transformed by the journey. This 1990 recording captures Merzbow testing new configurations in preparation for the decade's major works.
The traveler enters foreign territories without expectation of comfort or comprehension. Similarly, listeners approaching Travelling should abandon…
Crash For Hi-Fi Tapes
A wry commentary on audiophile culture, Crash For Hi-Fi Tapes revels in deliberate destruction of fidelity. While enthusiasts pursue ever-more-transparent reproduction, Merzbow embraces distortion, clipping, and overload as expressive tools. The title suggests violence directed at the medium itself - tapes crashed, pushed beyond design parameters.
High-fidelity recording promised perfect reproduction; Akita responds by demonstrating that imperfection and degradation carry their own aesthetic val…
Cloud Cock OO Grand (Another Mix)
This alternate version of legendary Cloud Cock OO Grand material offers fresh perspective on one of Merzbow's most celebrated early-90s works. The title's surrealist absurdity reflects Akita's Dadaist engagement - language pushed beyond sense into pure sonic evocation. "Cloud," "Cock," "Grand" - the words resist logical combination, instead creating irrational poetry.
The existence of multiple mixes raises questions about identity and authenticity in experimental music. If noise is supposed to b…
Ecobondage (Another Mix)
The provocative title merges ecological and fetishistic imagery - characteristic Merzbow juxtaposition refusing easy interpretation. "Ecobondage" suggests nature constrained by human activity while carrying erotic connotations connecting to Akita's longtime engagement with transgressive sexuality through his Pornoise label and BDSM-influenced imagery.
Ecological themes would become increasingly central following his veganism adoption, but even here, years earlier, Akita demonstrates awareness of…
Material H2
Material H2 strips Merzbow's sound to elemental components - pure sonic matter awaiting transformation. The "H2" designation evokes hydrogen, the simplest element, suggesting return to first principles. Just as hydrogen combines to form more complex molecules, these basic sonic elements combine to create Merzbow's elaborate constructions.
Akita works with sonic substance like a sculptor with clay - shaping, texturing, building structures from raw matter. The "Material" series title acknowledges …
Crocidura Dsi Nezumi
The title references the Japanese white-toothed shrew (Crocidura dsinezumi) - an early indication of animal themes that would become prominent following Akita's veganism adoption in 2003. The shrew exists in perpetual urgency, eating constantly or dying - a quality resonating with Merzbow's relentless intensity. These tiny creatures live at the edge of metabolic possibility, their hearts beating impossibly fast.
This prescient animal reference - predating Akita's formal commitment to animal righ…
Environmental Percussion Vol. 2
Continuing the percussive investigations begun in Volume 1, this installment pushes further into the liminal space between rhythm and chaos. Where the first volume established the conceptual framework, Environmental Percussion Vol. 2 explores its implications more deeply, finding increasingly complex rhythmic patterns within seemingly formless noise.
Together, the Environmental Percussion volumes document Merzbow's engagement with rhythm and pulse - dimensions often overlooked in discussions of …
Environmental Percussion Vol. 1
The "Environmental Percussion" series finds Akita exploring the rhythmic potential of non-traditional sound sources - objects, spaces, and acoustic phenomena pressed into service as percussion instruments. These experiments anticipate the more overtly beat-driven work of later periods while connecting to musique concrète traditions of treating all sounds as potential musical material.
Akita transforms everyday acoustic phenomena into percussion, finding rhythm where conventional listeners percei…