Masami Akita has been the name most people reach for when they say "Japanese noise". He started Merzbow in Tokyo in 1979, taking the name from Kurt Schwitters's Merzbau, the collage that slowly filled his house, and treated sound the same way: layers of feedback, tape, junk metal and later laptops piled up until only density is left. Since then he has released well over four hundred records, including the fifty CD Merzbox of 2000.
'We kick-off 2010 with possibly the most essential Merzbow release for many years. This 3CD set is culled from appearances on various compilations, ranging from the most obscure cassette releases, to long out of print gems on labels such as Blast First and Susan Lawly. This material spans an entire decade from 1991 to 2001 and as such, tells its own story of the development and sonic chicanery that is the Merzbow sound during this time. If you only own one Merzbow work, this is the one to…
Merzbow's 13 Japanese Birds is a 13 month series of releases inspired by Olivier Messaien's Catalogue D'Oiseaux. Beginning in January 2009 one volume of 13 Japanese Birds will be released each month. The 13th and final volume will be released January 2010. Each volume will be a one time pressing of 1000 copies.
'MERZBOW's 13 Japanese Birds is a 13 month series of releases inspired by Olivier Messaien's Catalogue D'Oiseaux. Beginning in January 2009 one volume of 13 Japanese Birds will be released each month. The 13th and final volume will be released January 2010. Cover art by Jenny Akita.'
Merzbow's 13 Japanese Birds is a 13 month series of releases inspired by Olivier Messaien's Catalogue D'Oiseaux. Beginning in January 2009 one volume of 13 Japanese Birds will be released each month. The 13th and final volume will be released January 2010. Cover art by Jenny Akita.
The 10th installent in Merzbow's ambitious 13 Japanese Birds series is devoted to the Japanese word for "chicken." One composition, "Niwatori Obsession," divided up into three parts. Inspired by Olivier Messiaen's Catalogue D'Oiseaux.
Merzbow's 13 Japanese Birds is a 13 month series of releases inspired by Olivier Messaien's Catalogue D'Oiseaux. Beginning in January 2009 one volume of 13 Japanese Birds will be released each month. The 13th and final volume will be released January 2010. Cover art by Jenny Akita.
Merzbow's 13 Japanese Birds is a 13 month series of releases inspired by Olivier Messaien's Catalogue D'Oiseaux. Beginning in January 2009 one volume of 13 Japanese Birds will be released each month. The 13th and final volume will be released January 2010. Each volume will be a one time pressing of 1000 copies. Available from Important Records is a deluxe hand made numbered bamboo box to hold the 13 cd collection.Cover art by Jenny Akita.
Merzbow's 13 Japanese Birds is a 13 month series of releases inspired by Olivier Messaien's Catalogue D'Oiseaux. Beginning in January 2009 one volume of 13 Japanese Birds will be released each month. The 13th and final volume will be released January 2010. Each volume will be a one time pressing of 1000 copies. Available from Important Records is a deluxe hand made numbered bamboo box to hold the 13 cd collection.Cover art by Jenny Akita. Author, activist, painter and sound artist Masami Akita …
Merzbow's 13 Japanese Birds is a 13 month series of releases inspired by Olivier Messaien's Catalogue D'Oiseaux. Beginning in January 2009 one volume of 13 Japanese Birds will be released each month. The 13th and final volume will be released January 2010. Each volume will be a one time pressing of 1000 copies. Available from Important Records is a deluxe hand made numbered bamboo box to hold the 13 cd collection.Cover art by Jenny Akita.
Merzbow's 13 Japanese Birds is a 13 month series of releases inspired by Olivier Messiaen's Catalogue D'Oiseaux. Beginning in January 2009 one volume of 13 Japanese Birds will be released each month. The 13th and final volume will be released January 2010.
Chances are that most of Smegma's fans are already familiar with Merzbow's music. This collaboration, occasionally referred to as Smegma Plays Merzbow Plays Smegma or even Plays, features two 20-minute tracks. In "Electro Smegmacoustic Music," Masami Akita plays Smegma tapes, an audio generator, a teleband tranceiver, and a mixer. In "Smegma Plays Merzbow," Smegma use Merzbow tapes, tape loops, record players, and a few acoustic instruments. The result is surprisingly homogeneous -- enough to ma…
This album finds Merzbow in full-on, harsh-noise mode, at least at first listen. The more one becomes acclimated to the sound, the more layers of activity emerge: electric groans and roars, bird-call-like feedback, moog sirens, percussive analog static, thousands of pots and pans falling down a hill, even the occasional vocal. It's this artful layering of sound (among other things) that separates Merzbow from some jag-off that just turns on a noise generator and walks away. 1 copy available
Volume three of Merzbow's 13 Japanese Birds series. Limited edition of 1000. Merzbow's 13 Japanese Birds is a 13 month series of releases inspired by Olivier Messiaen's Catalogue D'Oiseaux. Beginning in January 2009 one volume of 13 Japanese Birds will be released each month. The 13th and final volume will be released January 2010.
Merzbow's 13 Japanese Birds is a 13 month-13 CD set that begins January 2009 and ends February 2010. These are pressed in a limited edition of 1000 and once they are sold out they will not be repressed. This series was inspired by Olivier Messiaen's Catalogue D'Oiseaux.
Masami Akita serves up a cacophony of high tension frequencies and blasting rhythms in his newest evolution, Senmaida. Housed in a digipak featuring cover art by Val Denham and photos by Jenny Akita.
Brooding harsh malevolence packed into a 4 disc box-set with luxurious foil stamped slip cover & photos of the in-flight bomber taken by Jenny Akita. Abrasive analog and digital wings give Tumeric flight as an altogether different bird. Limited edition of 900.
Opening up Merzbow's new 13-disc series of monthly releases themed around Japanese birds, Suzume gets underway with even more of a bang than the usual Merzbow fare, combining those familiar, expertly wrought noise emissions with wild, flailing drums. The first track, 'Red Bird Of Summer Part 1' lasts some twenty minutes, dishing out aural punishment at every conceivable frequency. After a while it becomes apparent that for better or worse, the drumming somehow detracts from the intensity of the …
The first track on Merzbow's latest opus was recorded at Tin Pan Alley studios, London, on 20th April 2008 - the day after his momentous performance at ULU. Akita created an astounding and very unique 20-minute track, playing freestyle drums over his trademark noise. The final two tracks were created at Munemi House in Tokyo. Another fine example of why Merzbow is the undisputed King of Japanese Noise! 58 minutes in total.
Recorded live at Victoriaville, 5/20/02; one 68-minute piece performed by Masami Akita, Mika Vaino & Ilpo Vaisanen. The festival's closing act, Pan Sonic vs Merzbow, was worth the long wait. Their complete absence of stage presence notwithstanding, the trio orchestrated glorious cascades of white noise that sporadically collapsed into fat dirty beats -- a gut rumbling excursion into the inner depths of sound and an indication of where the true spirit of improv lives in 2002.
Author, activist, painter and sound artist Masami Akita had been at the foreground of experimental music for over 25 years. Inspired by psycedelic rock, free jazz, early electronic composition as well the physical arts, especial Kurt Schwitters' Merzbau, Masami Akita has created a musical language all his own. Dolphin Sonar is Merzbow's full length protest album against the annual brutal slaughtering of some 2,500 dolphins in Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture Japan. This is an angry album full of beats…
1996 release on Jim O'Rourke's old label, surprisingly repressed for 2008. First non-reissue on this label - an unreleased companion to the 1990 Alchemy label masterpiece. The designation 'Rainbow' contrasts with the odd colorlessness of the many noise records. Like Voice Crack, this is power electronics at its most detailed, most subtly varied, and most exhaustively kinetic. It doesn't stop. It's a thrill every two seconds, for seventy-five minutes... It splits into halves, quarters, and more u…
An incredible collaboration that sweeps across the generations of electronic music. Richard Pinhas is internationally recognized as one of France's major experimental musicians: the 'father' of French electronic music. He was the founder of Heldon, a band whose violent fusion of electronics and guitar in the 70s rivalled the German electronic school. As a guitar player he has been compared to Robert Fripp. Cited as an influence by many electronic musicians, Richard Pinhas has helped to define th…
Andre Sider Af Sonic Youth is an album by Sonic Youth with Mats Gustafsson and Merzbow. It is the eighth release in the SYR series. It was released on July 28, 2008. It will not be released on vinyl. The album is recorded the first July 2005 on the Roskilde Festival. The album title is in Danish and means "Other sides of Sonic Youth".
An awesome CD resulting from mail collaboration between experimental two noise legends. A dynamic mix of whirr, crystalline drones, and staticky noise abstractions.1-26: Electro Smegmacousic Music Merzbow used Smegma tapes. All composed by Masami Akita using MA-tape, audio generatior, teleband tranceiver & mixer. 27-50: Smegma Plays Merzbow Composed 1996 at Smegma Studios using Merzbow tape, tape loops, record players, wood flute, vocals, optigan, mussette & frequency analyzer. Recorded & mi…
Introducing Masami Akita's homage to free-jazz. Door Open at 8am is one of the most adventurous outings made by Merzbow. Recorded during the same era as Aqua Necromancer, this new recording also incorporates the use of sampled sounds. However, this time Akita is paying homage to his love of free jazz, free-jazz drummers to be precise. It includes tracks such as Tony Williams 'Deathspace', 'Lyons Wake', 'Metro and Bus' and an unbelievable cover of John Coltrane's 'The Africa Brass Session, Vol 2'…
CD1 : 'Batztoutai with material gadgets'. Re-create version of 'Batztoutai with memorial gadgets' Previously released on RRR-04. CD2 : 'Loop panic limited'.
Over 60 minutes of total analog destruction by noise king Merzbow and Brooklyn noise boss Carlos Giffoni, this live collaboration was recorded during Giffoni's Synth Destruction Japan tour in September of 2006. This is Sound Totalism and is as heavy as it comes: totally brutal, totally ugly, totally beautiful, totally intense, totally classic, totally analog, total synth and total destruction. Intense artwork by Jenny Akita. Author, activist, painter and sound artist Masami Akita had been at the…
As can be gleaned from the title, this is a recording of Merzbow live in Switzerland. Abrasive noise, big rhythms and (to be expected) and onslaught of noise. Recorded at Cave 12 on 10th March 2005, there is apparently no editing involved on this release.
Author, activist, painter, and sound artist Masami Akita has been at the foreground of experimental music for over twenty-five years. Inspired by psychedelic rock, free jazz, and early electronic composition as well the physical arts (especially Kurt Schwitters's Merzbau), Masami Akita has created a musical language all his own. Merzbear, the sixth Merzbow release in his utterly essential Merz series for Important Records, pulses and pounds with distorted droning guitar feedback, pulsing noise b…
Japan's king of noise returns with Zophorus. Speaker massaging pulsations of psychic skree & frequency abuse housed in a deluxe 5 color digipak designed by Masami Akita, in february of 2007.