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.
Green Wheels
Tip! *199 copies limited edition* Green Wheels is Merzbow in its most straightforward, most genuine, most uncontrolled and refined form. Originally released by the legendary US label Self Abuse Records in 1995 on CD and 5-inch vinyl record, both housed in a foil-lined cardboard box with the abstract and impressive art work created by the artist himself, which has become another of the fetishist objects of Merzbow and now incredibly hard to find. Like all of his work since the early nineties, Gre…
Rainbow Electronics
Tip! *199 copies limited edition* Originally released on CD in 1990 by Alchemy Records as part of the Good Alchemy Series, Rainbow Electronics marks the pinnacle of Merzbow's late 80’s noise phase. Selected and transformed from about 21 hours tape of primitive raw material recorded during three years (1987-1990) in 14 fragments lasting about 74 minutes, this monumental work is an aural trip through a cold plotted universe of intergalactic space ships and golden celestial bodies. Remastered in De…
Amlux
** Limited edition of 300 ** Certainly Amlux is a very cohesive and well-constructed piece; starting more softly than usual, the record slowly builds into the chaotic harsh sound that Merzbow is well known for, but this time adding some actual recognizable music elements (like rhythms), and constructing various surprisingly well-texture soundscapes, that made of this album a more focused and immersive piece that effectively keeps engaged during 40+ music of primal noise. Records like this are t…
After Hours
"The Merzbow Archive Series from Slowdown Records is a collection of unreleased or unearthed Merzbow recordings. So far, fourteen series have been released, each series distinguished by recording period and musical theme. Each individual series consists of six albums. In its 15th series, six albums were released, "Purple Fish", "Janus Guitar", "Beetle", "Seven Sides", "White Bird", and "Persimmon Mask", containing material from 2014 to 2015. This box set "After Hours" is a compilation of those s…
Patterns and Mechanisms
** Edition of 300 ** "Patterns and Mechanisms", Eraldo Bernocchi and Merzbow's first album together, was written and recorded during the lockdown. Both artists exchanged audio files and ideas fascinated by the phenomenon of urban wildlife where wild animals decide to relocate, or establish home in our cities, the album is just two long pieces. Despite being dense and noisy, "Patterns and Mechanisms" has a 'melodic' approach to composition, with Merzbow's noise assault conjugating with Bernocchi'…
Material Action 2
First time on CD for this classic Merzbow duo album from 1983. Material Action is a favorite among early Merzbow free-music, junk-noise workouts. Psychedelic improvised instrumental energy abounds on this essential early recording that is Pure Merz. Masami Akita plays tapes, percussion, electro-acoustic noise, organKiyoshi Mizutani overdubs tapes, synthesizer, violin, machine noise
Merzbeat
*20th anniversary reissue!* Merzbow's Merzbeat is one the most unique and legendary titles in the artist's vast archive. This 20th anniversary reissue is being issued at the same time as CD reissue of his 1983 album Material Action 2 and a brand new collaboration with Arcane Device, all on Important Records. Originally released in 2002, Merzbeat contains over 50 minutes of aggressive, psychedelic, organic, analog beat oriented Merzbow compositions. Drummed rhythms, massive looping samples, a pun…
s/t
Japan's leading noise luminary Merzbow meets American electro-feedback artist Arcane Device as they mix and manipulate each other's work.
2017-2020
"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 musi…
Double Beat Sequencer
"The fourteenth series of the Merzbow archive series, which began in 2018 and focuses on unreleased and unearthed material, is a collection of unreleased recordings from 2014 that were performed with a sequencer in the background: Double Beat Sequencer Vol. 1, Double Beat Sequencer Vol.2", "Double Beat Sequencer Vol.3", "Double Beat Sequencer Vol.4", "Double Beat Sequencer Vol.5" and "Double Beat Sequencer Vol.6". Double Beat Sequencer" is a boxed set of all six of these works. The sequencer use…
Horizon
"The thirteenth series of Merzbow's archival series, which began in 2018 and focuses on unreleased and unearthed material, includes six albums recorded between 2011 and 2012: Insect 801, Kumo No Zettaichi, Sugamo Flower, Bit Blues", "Kotorhizome", and "Gman+". Horizon" is a boxed set of these works. In 2011, Merzbow released "Dead Zone" on the Ukrainian label Quasi Pop Records, which focused on the radioactive contamination caused by the nuclear accidents in Fukushima and Chernobyl, and also rel…
Drum & Noise
"The 12th series of the archive series, which started in 2018 and focuses on Merzbow's unreleased and unearthed recordings, includes "Drumorph", "Ensemble Drums", and "Arijigoku (Test Mix)", which contain recordings from 2008-2009, when Merzbow developed a style that incorporated drum performance. Arijigoku (Test Mix)", "Red Brick", "Groon Lesson", and "Pi-Eggplant". The boxed version of these albums is called "Drum & Noise".Masami Akita was originally a drummer who was greatly influenced by psy…
Arrangement
"This is the eleventh release in the Merzbow Archive series by Slowdown Records, which began in 2018. This box (Arrangement) contains six albums from 2004 to 2005: "15 August 2006", "27 August 2006", "Bloodour", "Coma Test", "Yono's Journey", "Feedback", and "Purple Yellow". Other Merzbow's works during this period include "Minazo" (Important Records, 2006), "F.I.D. (Fur Is Dead)" (Fourth Dimension Records, 2006), "Bloody Sea" (Vivo, 2007), "Merzbear" ( Important Records, 2007), and Peace For An…
Collection 008
* Numbered edition of 200 copies in a folder cover. * Recorded and Mixed at Lowest Music & Arts, Telecom Studio 1981 - 1982. Percussion, Recorder, Effects, Artwork – Masami Akita (Merzbow) violin – Kiyoshi Mizutani. Remastered from Original Cassette Tape in Feb 2018 at Munemihouse, Tokyo. Originally Released on Cassette by Lowest Music & Arts in 1982.
Collection 006
* Numbered edition of 200 copies in a folder cover. * Recorded and Mixed at Lowest Music & Arts, Telecom Studio 1981 - 1982. Percussion, Recorder, Effects, Artwork – Masami Akita (Merzbow) violin – Kiyoshi Mizutani. Remastered from Original Cassette Tape in Feb 2018 at Munemihouse, Tokyo. Originally Released on Cassette by Lowest Music & Arts in 1982.
Milanese Bestiality / Drunk on Decay
**300 copies** "Milanese Bestiality / Drunk On Decay first came out in 1997 as a vinyl-only release limited to 470 copies. This long time sold-out album is now re-released for the very first time into digital format with the addition of 2 unreleased bonus tracks (one for each artist). Those two exclusive additional tracks was recorded back in 1997, in same recording sessions done for the release of the album. A tribute album by those 2 primer world famous noise artists to the Italian first "Indu…
Marmo
"After two vinyl releases finally a digital album by the master of Japan-Noise on OEC. This album is entitled Marmo (Marble for Italian) and is devoted to the Italian and particularly the Venetian marble. Masami was visiting and playing in this magic Italian city several times and was impressed by all the marbles used in the Venetian buildings and paintings... The 3 tracks composing this album are entitled Merzbotanica-parallela. "Botanica parallela" is a book written by the Italian author Leo L…
StereoAkuma
In June 2019, Masami Akita, better known as Merzbow travelled to Australia to take part in Room40’s Open Frame festival. Across a week he delivered a series of performances to sold out audiences in Sydney and Melbourne. The performances were viscerally explosive, a channeling of intensities of frequency and volume - the kind of trademarked bodily affective noise Merzbow has become renowned for. Between the concerts, Akita spent his days visiting a variety of forests, spending time with legenda…
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…
Eucalypse
The Tasmanian Blue Gum tree, Eucalyptus globulus, is native to Tasmania and southern Australia. Eucalyptus trees are uniquely suited to the varied ecologies of Australia, and there is no other continent more closely associated with one genus of tree. Its leaves are the food of choice of the koala, and its flowers attract bees and hummingbirds. Out of approximately 300 identified species, Blue Gums are now the eucalyptus most frequently found in other parts of the world. Throughout the tro…