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.
Japanese Avant-Garde
2002 release ** "Most music in Japan has little to recommend it; it is a sonic equivalent of those brutal concrete towers or the transitory chaos of multi-storey teen-fashion emporia in Aoyama. But a sonic underground thrives, creatively if not financially, and perhaps it should be compared with the shabby Golden-gai drinking dens of Shinjuku, faint reminders of a lost time when desire and transgression shared endless cups of sake with political and artistic radicalism... How is it possible to l…
The Prosperity Of Vice, The Misfortune Of Virtue
Matte laminate and embossed sleeve, with insert card and fold out poster + vinyl sticker (20cm long). Recorded in 1996, Merzbow's The Prosperity Of Vice, The Misfortune Of Virtue is one of a series of unique editions from his vast catalogue that reveals a side of his practice often under represented. During the late 1980s and into the 1990s, Masami Akita was sometimes working on film and theatre music. In this space he created a series of recordings that capture the full scope of his sound world…
Collection 001-010
Carrying on their longstanding dedication to the seminal output of Merzbow, Urashima returns with what is unquestionably their most ambitious release to date: “Collection 001-010”, a deluxe, 10 LP vinyl box set limited to 299 copies, gathering together the entirety of the project’s first ten releases, originally released in 1981. Encountering the band in its early incarnation of the duo of Masami Akita and Kiyoshi Mizutani, raw, exposed and bristling with energy, foreshadowing numerous trajector…
Mercurated
*Limited Edition of 99 copies. Gold vinyl, Soundohm exclusive * We are excited to announce the eagerly awaited reissue of Merzbow's seminal album 'Mercurated' on double vinyl, originally released on CD in 1996 by Alchemy Records. This milestone in the noise genre captures the essence of Masami Akita's innovative approach to sound, an exploration of the boundaries of auditory experience that continues to resonate with artists and listeners alike. The new vinyl edition features a remaster by James…
Batztoutai with Memorial Gadgets
Merzbow’s Batztoutai with Memorial Gadgets finally restored in its original 1985 form. A sprawling 3LP of raw tape collage, political subtext, and proto-noise abstraction—essential listening from the dawn of Japanoise.
Yantra Material Action
*199 copies limited edition* Originally named „Merz“, this album should have been Merzbow's first vinyl release, but never came out on vinyl. So actually "Yantra Material Action" is „Material Action 1“, recorded in 1981 - with sticker and insert
Noise Forest
Tip! A classic compilation that emanated out of Osaka, "Noise Forest" brings together a powerhouse of early 90's Japanese noise stalwarts: Merzbow, C.C.C.C., Solmania, Dislocation, Monde Bruits, Masonna, Violent Onsen Geisha, and Incapacitants. The ultimate Japanoise collection, originally released in 1992 on the cult Les Disques Du Soleil label / record store on CD-only, and now impossible to find. Remastered and presented here on deluxe 2LP in matt-laminate gatefold sleeve (first time on vinyl…
Circular Reference
Masami Akita continues his work as the world's premiere extreme dynamicist on 'Circular Reference,' his latest full-length and first for No Holiday. It's a torrent of synthesized tones colliding against punishing layers of feedback and midrange noise. But there are also snatches of lurching rhythms to be found, as well as moments of relative uneasy calm. More than anything, it's distinctly Merzbow. Released on 2xLP and CD formats, the latest from this titan of noise is sure to please longtime li…
Inside Richard Serra Sculptures
Pedro Vian and Merzbow release their first joint work, an unbounded expression of creativity and experimentation. Over the album's forty-minute duration, listeners can experience a blend of field recordings made by Pedro Vian at the DIA Bacon Foundation, specifically inside Richard Serra's sculptures. These recordings are interwoven with the ambient percussion and melodies characteristic of Vian's work, alongside the piercing and sharp frequencies produced by Merzbow, one of the most acclaimed a…
PiaNoise
For decade, this collaboration was supposed to happen with Dapnom. Now, we enter a new dimension with my own piano ! We worked on this piece of crazy art last year, when the planet started to get wronger and wronger. This album is an ode to our ruin ! Even the most experienced ear will not come out of PiaNoise unscathed. Consecrating the meeting of two consummate artists, this release confronts their universe like a massive head-on shock in the eye of a sound storm by which we sometimes feel tot…
Oersted
*Limited Edition of 299 copies. Black vinyl * Masami Akita's exploration of noise as a musical form has influenced generations of artists and reshaped the way we perceive sound in the context of contemporary music. Oersted stands as a testament to Merzbow's ongoing artistic evolution and his unwavering commitment to pushing sonic boundaries. This limited vinyl reissue, expertly remastered by the wizard of mastering, James Plotkin, with 299 copies available on black vinyl, is a must-have for coll…
Ouroboros
2024 stock. Ouroboros is an ancient symbol dating back more than 4000 years. A snake or dragon eats its own tail, and represents eternity, or the circularity of life. A more modern interpretation might suggest that mankind will eventually consume itself once it finishes consuming all the life and resources on Earth. Snake species are in decline just about everywhere. Agriculture, pesticide use, roads that separate breeding populations, habitat loss, decreased food supply and predation by other a…
Noise Matrix
Tip! Noise Matrix unleashes material from the same sessions as noisembryo and counterpart 'hole' and selected recordings from the time period. Originally released as a bonus disc on the definitive ’Noisembryo' 2xcd edition noise matrix absolutely can’t be missed for fans of this period of noise deity Merzbow. When people ask where to start with merzbow or the entire 90’s noise movement in japan - this is an answer! Masami Akita’s surrealism of the past stands prominently relevant to this day co…
Mechanization Takes Command
"Mechanization Takes Command" was first released on Music-Cassette by Masami Akita on his own ZSF label back in 1983 and this, after 40 years, is the very first re-edition into CD format. A very special and historical album. The large part of sounds on this album have an analogue origin. Masami on this album plays Drums (?) and Guitar (?)... But also many other instruments and sound-surces such as TV ands Vocal samples. And of course Electronics, Loops, Effects, Drum-Machines... The overall is v…
Extinct
Cold Spring is proud to present a unique collaboration between Industrial Breakbeat pioneers Meat Beat Mamifesto (Jack Dangers) and the undisputed king of Japanese noise, Merzbow (Masami Akita).
Cafe OTO
A documentation of prolific Japanese noise master Merzbow's double show at London's Cafe OTO in October 2016.
Plays
Available for the first time as the artists originally intended!
Pulse Demon
*Holographic Cover* Pulse Demon probably is the most iconic, most representative and best known album in the japanoise scene and Merzbow discography. This is the edge of music and sound, here you enter a new dimension made of powerfull noise. Recorded in 1995 and first released in 1996 on the US label Relapse, this album was re-released several times in both, CD and Vinyl formats. This is first time in which album was completely re-mastered by Masami Akita for CD re-release with the addition of …
Cloud Cock OO Grand
**Limited Edition of 299 copies.** Merzbow came roaring onto the Tokyo scene in 1979. To this day, the project remains one of the most prolific and aggressively forward-thinking acts in experimental music. Initially a duo of Masami Akita and Kiyoshi Mizutani, before settling as the moniker of Akita alone, the project took its name from German artist Kurt Schwitters' pre-war architectural assemblage, The Cathedral of Erotic Misery or Merzbau, and quickly set out to challenge entrenched notions of…
Vibractance
*50 copies limited edition* Originally released in France in 1998, Vibractance is one of the most unique and haunting titles in Merzbow’s vast catalog. It’s unique drone, noise, almost ambient like qualities makes this a great starting point for adventurer ears but also an essential album for the initiated. A true journey into the unknown where pulsating sonar waves swim between a sea of eerie beauty and tangible dreams. Celebrating it’s 25th anniversary, Aurora Central Records proudly presents …