Music from Japan

Merzbow's unpublished/excavated archive series by Slowdown Records began to be released in 2018, and so far 10 chapters have been published. This 60CD box contains all those 10 chapters. They have been published in chronological order starting from 1979, you can trace the changes of the various styles of Merzbow by listening to all of them in the correct order.

A fantastic percussive album performed by the Osuwa Daiko Preservation Society and veteran jazz pianist Masahiko Sato. A great blend of avant garde and traditional music recorded at Osuwa Daiko's dojo in Okaya City, Nagano, Japan. The Suwa Daiko is a tradition of Kagura (sacred music and dance) and drums of the Suwa Taisha Shrine that enshrines the life of the Takeminakata (one of god in Japanese mythology). It is a folk performing art that is recorded in an ancient document of the "Koshin-etsu-…

** Deluxe vinyl LP version. Limited edition to 299 copies ** Cascades of electronic noise, a psychedelic touch and vocal belching mixed together constitute the ingredients of Mademoiselle Anne Sanglante Ou Notre Nymphomanie Auréolé, the double-barreled name for Masonna. Maso Yamazaki founded his project in 1987, with a charismatic and glamorous personality who become a cult figure in “Japanoise” scene. Masonna’s abundant productions on his own legendary and astonishing label Coquette were presen…

** Deluxe vinyl LP version. Limited edition to 199 copies ** MSBR (Molten Salt Breeder Reactor), aka Koji Tano, was one of the most respected noise artists to arise from Japan's exciting noise/experimental music scene of the 1990s. Much of his material was self-released on his own label, the astounding MSBR Records, which was dedicated to the production of limited-edition releases with incredible artwork. MSBR present a music elaborated with previously chosen source of sounds, whose origins are …

** Deluxe double vinyl LP version in gatefold sleeve. Limited edition to 299 copies ** Merzbow stands as the most important artist in noise music. The moniker of Japanese artist 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's pre-war architectural assemblage The Cathedral of Erotic Misery or Merzbau. Working in his home, he quickly gained notoriety as a purveyor of a musical genre composed solely…

** Picture disc LP. Ltd x 400 copies in a heavy PVC archive sleeve. ** Two giants of the Japanese Noise scene present exclusive material on a special limited vinyl release. Controlled Death is the nom de plume of Maso Yamazaki (Masonna), who unleashed his claustrophobic Death Industrial / Blackened Electronics debut for Cold Spring last autumn (the sold out split LP with Rudolf Eb.er). "Devil's Sacrifice" (in 6 parts) continues Maso's obsession with heavy, Korg MS-20 drones. Deranged vocals chok…

** 2021 Stock ** Hōryū-ji or else Learning Temple of the Flourishing Law is one of the powerful Seven Great Buddhist Temples in Japan. Horyu-ji has entasis, in architecture, the application of a convex curve to a surface for aesthetic purposes. It also serves an engineering function regarding strength, the key word of this collaboration that brought together Sakata, Yermenoglou, Di Domenico and Damianidis in a two days live concert meeting in Duende jazz club at Thessaloniki in May 2018. The rec…

** Barbed Wire Swimming Pool splatter vinyl. LP with super deluxe embossed cover with mini poster ** The skylines of Tokyo and New York City are impenetrable. On the streets it is cold - the ravens have blocked out the sun. The barbed chicken wire that surrounds the cities wave scraps of plastic shreds of circuit boards like surrender flags. Ravens have become the society, they are now the rulers. Black Crows Cyborg is the first collaboration from noise titans Merzbow and Prurient. With more tha…

Craftman Records presents Q by Hideto Kanai. Recorded at Aoi Studio, Tokyo on May 9 & 17, 1971. Artwork – Ben Nishizawa, Bass – Hideto Kanai, Engineer – Yoshihiko Kannari, Engineer [Assistant] – Kenji Kurota, Mastered By – Tohru Kotetsu, Producer – Takeshi "Tee" Fujii, Producer [Associate] – Kazumitsu Saga, Yoshiaki Uozu.

** In process of stocking ** Craftman records presents Maya by Shunzo Ohno Quintet. Recorded July 22 and 23, 1991. Alto Saxophone – Steve Wilson, Bass – James Genus, Drums – Billy Drummond, Engineer – Michael McDonald, Flugelhorn – Shunzo Ohno, Mastered By – Yoshio Kobayashi, Piano – Renee Rosnes, Producer, Liner Notes, Photography By – Takeshi "Tee" Fujii, Tabla – Ray Spiegel, Trumpet – Shunzo Ohno.

** 2021 Stock. In process of stocking ** Craftman Records presents Concierto de Aranjuez by Hideto Kanai Quintet. Recorded November 2, 1978. Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Mikinori Fujiwara, Bass – Hideto Kanai, Drums – Michael Reznikoff, Piano – Yoshito Osawa, Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Toshihiko Inoue.

In process of stocking. Craftman presents a live concert by New Direction recorded at Jazzbed, Tokyo on September 27, 1970. The album includes 2 tracks performed by Masayuki Takayanagi - Guitar, Kaoru Abe - Alto Saxophone, Bass Clarinet, Performer, and Hiroshi Yamazaki - Drums, Percussion. Masayuki 'Jojo' Takayanagi was a Japanese jazz / free improvisational musician. He was active in the Japanese jazz scene from the late 1950s. Was one of the earliest noise guitar improvisers, and the first (wi…

Jinya Disc presents Dislocation (断層) by Masayuki Takayanagi. Recorded at Aketa no Mise, December 26, 1983. Produced by Jinya Disc. Artwork – Yoko Hase, Artwork, Design – Studio Zap Inc., Drums – Hiroshi Yamazaki, Guitar – Masayuki Takayanagi, Liner Notes – 斉藤安則, Mastered By – ALM Records, Piano – Fumio Yasuda.

Jinya Disc presents Masayuki Takayanagi Archive 1. The equivalent of the long-out-of-print box, reprinted in simple CDs on standard slimline cases,  without any booklet. Recording studios: Jean-Jean, Shibuya, Pulcinella, Shibuya. Bass – Nobuyoshi Ino (tracks: 5-1 to 5-4), Clarinet, Flute, Alto Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Kenji Mori (tracks: 5-1 to 5-4), Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar [Gut] – Akira Iijima, Masayuki Takayanagi, Engineer [整音] – 小島幸雄, Flute, Clarinet, Alto Saxophone, Soprano Sa…

Jinya Disc presents The complete works of Jojo, 2 DVD set, valuable footage of Action Direct and duo. This release contains 2 DVD: The Complete Works Of Jojo: Action Direct Masayuki Takayanagi: guitars, motors, tape recorders, ring modulators, analog effects, megaphone speakers, etc. Filmed by Yasunori Saito and Kyoko Saito at the New Direction for the Arts Regular Concert Vol. 69 (1, 2) and Vol. 70 (3, 4), at Jean Jean, Tokyo, August 4 and December 17, 1990. Recorded by Masaki Shimada (1, 2) an…

Originally released on CD-R by Tochnit Aleph in 2005, this CD reissue captures the full performance of Japanese noise legends C.C.C.C. at Broken Life Festival in 1995, with updated layout including photographs taken of the performance.

* long out of print, few copies back in stock * Akio Suzuki has been making earthy yet ethereal sounds for over four decades now, all quietly emanating from the Japanese countryside. Born in 1941, he's made outdoor sound the focus of his career, constructing installations that transcend space and time, turning the outside world into a lucid daydream. In 1997, Suzuki analyzed the French town Enghien-Les-Bains, precisely mapping out (with footsteps) areas where echoes were most resonant. He built …

Recorded live at UFO Club in Kōenji, Tokyo, on January 30, 1999. Incapacitants in their finest capacity, blending harsh electronic psychedelia, mayhemic screech and visceral ecstasy. Previously released by OR in 1999 on CDR, now available for posterity on CD in digipak. Also included in this reissue is a 22 minute live document, recorded at Shinsaibashi Club Quattro on February 10, 2001.

2026 stock, reduced price ** Original Single Sided, Numbered **  Solmania is the project of Masahiko Ohno, one of the key figures of the Osaka noise underground in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Alongside Masonna, Incapacitants, C.C.C.C., and others circulating through the Vanilla Records orbit, Solmania emerged from the same world of home-recording and ultra-limited cassette runs - noise made on homemade instruments and homemade systems, outside any commercial framework and mostly unknown beyo…

2026 stock, reduced price **Clear cassette case, 4-panel J-card stamped with the label info on the inner side. **  The most radical act of any art is the refusal to aestheticize. Incapacitants have held that refusal for over four decades, and Extreme Gospel Nights - a cassette recorded live at Gospel in Tokyo in 1993 and released on Vanilla Records the same year - remains one of the most uncompromising statements of that position. Toshiji Mikawa formed Incapacitants in Osaka in 1981 as a solo pr…