name | Merzbow |
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background | non_vocal_instrumentalist |
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birth name | Masami Akita |
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alias | Merzbow |
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birth date | December 19, 1956 |
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origin | Tokyo, Japan |
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instrument | Magnetic tape, homemade guitars, synthesizer, effect pedals, percussion, laptop, drums |
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genre | Noise, experimental, dark ambient |
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years active | 1979–present |
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label | Important, Misanthropic Agenda, Relapse, Lowest Music & Arts, ZSF Produkt, among many others |
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associated acts | BorisSunn O)))Sonic Youth |
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website | merzbow.net |
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current members | Masami Akita |
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past members | Kiyoshi MizutaniReiko Azuma (aka Reiko A.)Tetsuo Sakaibara (aka Bara)
}} |
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is the main recording name of the
Japanese
noise musician , born in 1956. Since 1979 he has released in excess of 350 recordings.
The name "Merzbow" comes from German artist Kurt Schwitters' artwork, "Merzbau”. This was chosen to reflect Akita's dada influence and junk art aesthetic. In addition to this, Akita has cited a wide range of influences from progressive rock, free jazz, modern classical and musique concrète to BDSM and Japanese bondage. More recently he has been inspired by animals, animal rights and environmentalism.
As well as being a prolific musician, he has been a writer and editor for several books and magazines in Japan, and has written 17 books of his own. He has written about a variety of subjects, mostly about art, avant-garde and post-modern culture. His more renowned works have been on the topics of BDSM and fetish culture. Other art forms Akita has been interested in include painting, photography, filmmaking and Butoh dance.
In 2000, Extreme Records released the 50 CD box set known as the Merzbox. Akita's work has been the subject of several remix albums and at least one tribute album. This, among other achievements, has helped Merzbow to be regarded to some as the "most important artist in noise".
Life and career
Early life
Masami Akita was born in Tokyo in 1956. He listened to
psychedelic music,
progressive rock, and later
free jazz in his youth, all of which have influenced his noise. In high school he became the drummer of various high school bands which he left due to the other members being "
grass-smoking
Zappa freaks". By this time he and high school friend Kiyoshi Mizutani had started playing improvised rock at studio sessions which Akita describes as "long
jam sessions along the lines of
Ashra Tempel or
Can but we didn't have any psychedelic taste".
He later attended Tamagawa University to study fine art from which he majored in painting and art theory. While at university he became interested in the ideas of Dada and surrealism and also studied Butoh dance. This is where he learned of Kurt Schwitters' ''Merz'', or art made from rubbish, including Schwitters' ''Merzbau'', or "Merz building" which is the source of the name "Merzbow".
Lowest Music & Arts (1979–84)
Merzbow began as the duo of Masami Akita and Kiyoshi Mizutani who met Akita in high school. He started releasing noise recordings on
cassettes through his own
record label, Lowest Music & Arts, which was founded in 1979 in order to trade cassette tapes with other underground artists. The first tape made for the label was''
Metal Acoustic Music'' and was sold exclusively by mail order. Various other releases were made before the first real release which included ''Collection 001'' and a very limited release of ''
Remblandt Assemblage''. The Collection series was originally ten cassettes that were going to be distributed through an independent label called YLEM, but when it became defunct and cancelled the series, Akita decided to release them through Lowest Music & Arts.
His earliest music was made with tape loops and creatively recorded percussion and metal.
Early methods included what he referred to as "material action", in which he would closely amplify small sounds so as to distort them through the microphone. The early releases were photocopies of collages made out of manga and porn magazines he found in trash cans in the Tokyo subway. Akita explained this as trying to "create the same feeling as the secret porn customer for the people buying my cassettes in the early '80s". In 1984 he founded a second record label called ZSF Produkt.
ZSF Produkt (1984–90)
ZSF Produkt was founded in 1984 to release music by similar artists within the
industrial movement but eventually became the successor to Lowest Music & Arts. Numerous releases were made in the ZSF Produkt studio with ''Mechanization Takes Command'' being the first. The studio continued to be used until 2001 when Akita started producing home recordings from his bedroom studio.
During this era, Merzbow found much wider recognition and began making recordings for various international labels. He also started touring abroad with the help of various collaborators. Merzbow performed in USSR in 1988, toured USA in 1990, Korea in 1991 and Europe in 1989 and 1992. For most of the late 1980s through the 1990s, Merzbow live was a trio including Reiko A. on electronics and Bara on voice and dance. Around this time he started crediting the name "Abtechtonics" (or variations of this) on his recordings under artwork. He explained in the Merzbook that this name is used for him publishing his own artwork which he attempts to do as much as possible.
Digital era (1990–2000)
Nick Cain of ''
The Wire'' argues that
Merzbow's first
digital recording was the CD release ''
Cloud Cock OO Grand'' in 1990. With a higher international profile in the 90's, Merzbow started working on more ambitious projects such as the ''Noisembryo'', which was a Merzbow album sealed in a car released in a limited edition of one copy. The disc was sealed in the CD player of a BMW Sedan which was rewired to play the CD whenever the car was started. The CD was also released normally on the same label. Recordings from the mid-1990s onwards are mostly of extreme volume, some mastered at levels far beyond standard (Noisembryo, Pulse Demon). From 1996, plans were made to release a "10 (or maybe 12)" CD box set on
Extreme Records. In 2000,
Extreme Records released the ''
Merzbox'', a fifty CD set of Merzbow records, twenty of them not previously released.
Laptop era (2000–2010)
Since 2000, Akita began to use computers more in his recordings. At live performances, Akita has produced noise music from either two laptop computers or combination of a laptop and analog synthesizers. Reiko A. and Bara left Merzbow during this time, Reiko Azuma now has a solo career. Since 2001, Jenny Akita (formerly Kawabata) started being credited for artwork on various releases.
Since 2001, Akita started utilising samples of animal sounds in various releases starting with ''Frog''. Around 2002, Akita became a vegan, he stated how it began:
During this period, Akita also became a supporter of PETA which is reflected in his animal-themed releases. An example of this is ''Minazo Vol. 1'' and ''Vol. 2'', dedicated to an elephant seal he visited often at the zoo and ''Bloody Sea'', a protest against Japanese whaling. He has also produced several works centered around recordings of his pet chickens (notably ''Animal Magnetism'' and ''Turmeric'').
Also in 2002, Akita released ''Merzbeat'', which was seen as a significant departure from his trademark abstract style in that it contains beat-oriented pieces. This has sparked some controversy among fans, though some reviewers pointed out that it sounded very similar to ''Aqua Necromancer'' (1998) which features samples of progressive rock drumming. ''Merzbird'' (2004) and ''Merzbuddha'' (2005) followed in a similar vein with sampled beats combined with Merzbow's signature harsh noise.
Through 2009, Akita released a 13 CD box-set called ''13 Japanese Birds'', a set which was released monthly (one album a month). This release features the return of Akita to the usage of analog sounds and also the use of drum kits. Also in that year Merzbow cancelled his tour over United States and Canada due to the swine flu outbreak.
Current era (2010–present)
Beginning in November 2009, Akita started releasing archival recordings from the 80s – early 90s, including several on
cassette.
Blossoming Noise has reissued cassettes like ''
E-Study'', ''
Normal Music'', ''
Flesh Metal Orgasm'', and two volumes from the ''Collection'' series. Also on the same label he began the ''
Microkosmos'' series, which are new recordings with visual collages created in 1982–83. ''
Merzbient'', a 12 CD boxset of unreleased recordings from 1987–90 was released by
Soleilmoon. Other cassettes of unreleased material include ''
Untitled Nov 1989'', ''
9888A'', ''
April 1992'', and
Variations for Electric Fan.
Musical style
Merzbow's sounds employ the use of distortion, feedback, and noises from synthesizers, machinery, and home-made noisemakers. While much of Merzbow's output is intensely harsh in character, Akita does occasionally make forays into
ambient music. Vocals are employed sometimes, but never in a lyrical sense. Contrary to most harsh
noise music, Akita also occasionally uses elements of melody and rhythm.
Akita's early work consisted of industrial noise music made from tape loops and conventional instruments. Similar to his present albums, he produced lengthy, disorientating pieces. He also became infamous for the sheer amount of releases in a short time frame.
Audiences in general, especially those of "closed societies", did not quite know what to make of his style. During his performances (with Kiyoshi Mizutani) in the USSR, at the Jazz-on-Amur '88 festival, what incorporated improvised, electroacoustic and experimental music that time (the fest's producer consciously obscured both the very type of Akita's music and the erotic trend of his art from Soviet officials), whereas the producer, rocky youth and Soviet improvised music guest stars were extremely pleased, the unprepared orthodox jazz and agier parts of the audience were severely frustrated, particularly, with loudness, to leave the site, and for the second performance, for another, 1000-place hall (of the Soviet Army Officers' House), and even much more conservative audience, he was asked to play "more musically" so he toned it down a bit. On that first stage, Merzbow used the finest example of "classical analogue live noisemaiking technologies" to display: untuned guitar, a drumset, various micro-objects, small springs centered in its shell baffles, large aluminium boxes with strings inside to be attacked with a fiddlestick, etc. along with multi- piezo-pickuping and close-miking techniques, live processing through vintage US fuzz, ring modulator etc. boxes, and quite vivid and spontaneous approach, backed by slide and light shows. This live recording was re-processed and released as ''Live in Khabarovsk, CCCP (I'm Proud by Rank of the Workers)'' LP - and as the CD 26 of the Merzbox later on.
During the 90s Akita's work became much harsher and were generally mastered at a louder volume than usual. These were heavily influenced by death metal and grindcore bands of the time (a prime example is the ''Venereology'' album). The mid-90's saw Akita being heavily influenced by psychedelic bands and this was reflected in various albums.
After 2000, Akita started making vague concept albums and experimented with sampling rhythms. He also began to use laptops.
Side projects
In addition to Merzbow, Akita has been involved in a number of
side projects and groups.
Side projects
SCUM was a project where Akita made new releases out of previous Merzbow recordings. SCUM is an
acronym for "Society for Cutting Up Merzbow" (a reference to the
SCUM Manifesto), "Scissors for CUtting Merzbow" or "Steel CUM" among others.
True Romance was a performance art project in the early 90s with Tetsuo Sakaibara (who later joined Merzbow live) and Toshiyuki Seido.
Right Brain Audile is co-credited on the two Music for Bondage Performance albums, as they're soundtracks he did for several bondage films produced by Right Brain. "RBA" reappears on ''Merzbient'', which features recordings from this era.
Zecken was used for two solo performances in 1996.
Groups
Merzbow Null was a collaboration between Masami Akita's Merzbow and
Kazuyuki Kishino's Null, including Kiyoshi Mizutani and Asami Hayashi among others.
Tibeta Ubik was Akita and Kishino duo. Both groups made several cassettes of live improv performances.
Bustmonster was a "conceptual death metal" (because they couldn't play death metal) group with Tetsuo Sakaibara, Fumio Kosakai, Masahiko Ohno, Shohei Iwasaki, Maso Yamazaki and Zev Asher. Flying Testicle was just with Yamazaki and Asher.
Sponge was an anonymous group whose personnel are named after prominent Japanese businessmen/doctors, the actual performers are believed to be Jojo and Junko Hiroshige, Masami Akita and Maso Yamazaki.
Other groups include: Merz-Banana with Melt-Banana; Melting Lips with Hanayo; Muscats with Hanayo and Masaya Nakahara; Commando Bruno Sanmartino with Incapacitants and Violent Onsen Geisha; Shalon Kelly King with Fumio Kosakai; Maldoror with Mike Patton; MAZK with Zbigniew Karkowski; Satanstornade with Russell Haswell (they later released an album entitled Satanstornade under their real names); Boris with Merzbow; Kikuri with Keiji Haino.
Akita also played drums for Hijokaidan during the early–mid 90s.
Balázs Pándi has drummed for Merzbow at several concerts since 2009.
Discography
Bibliography
After completing his degree, Akita became a freelance writer and editor for various magazines in Japan. He frequently writes on a variety of topics such as sexuality (including
pornography,
S&M;, and
Japanese bondage. Excerpts appear in the ''
Music for Bondage Performance'' album notes), underground and extreme culture (including music and art), architecture, and animal rights. None have been published in English.
{|class="wikitable"
!Year!!Japanese title!!English title!!Title translation!!Publisher!!ISBN
|-
|1988
|倒錯のアナグラム 周縁的ポルノグラフィーの劇場''Tōsaku no anaguramu: Shūenteki porunogurafī no gekijō''
|''The Anagram of Perversion''
|Anagram of perversion: Theatre of fringe pornography
|rowspan="7"|Seikyūsha
|ISBN 478721005X
|-
|1989
|異形のマニエリスム 「邪」の民俗''Ikei no manierisumu: "Sha" no minzoku''
|
|Mannerism of heterodoxa: "Perverse" traditions
|ISBN 9784787230225
|-
|1990
|フェティッシュ・ファッション 変貌するエロスと快楽身体''Fetisshu fasshon: Henbōsuru eros to kairaku shintai''
|''Fetish Fashion''
|Fetish fashion: Transformation of eros and body play
|ISBN 4787210106
|-
|1991
|セックス・シンボルの誕生''Sekkusu shinboru no tanjō''
|''The Power of Goddess of Love''
|Birth of the sex symbol
|ISBN 9784787210111
|-
|1992
|ノイズ・ウォー ノイズ・ミュージックとその展開''Noizu wō: Noizu myūjikku to sono tenkai''
|''Noise War: Noise 10 Years''
|Noise war: Noise music and its development
|ISBN 4787270354
|-
|rowspan="2"|1993
|快楽身体の未来形''Kairaku shintai no miraikei''
|''Terminal Body Play''
|The future of body play
|ISBN 4787210181
|-
|ボディ・エキゾチカ''Bodi ekizochika''
|''Body Exotica: Sexual Atrocity''
|
|ISBN 4891762888
|-
|rowspan="2"|1994
|スカム・カルチャー''Sukamu Karuchā''
|''Scum Culture''
|
|Suiseisha
|ISBN 4891763035
|-
|性の猟奇モダン 日本変態研究往来''Sei no ryōki modan: Nihon hentai kenkyū ōrai''
|''Sexuality Bizarre Modern''
|Bizarre sex modern: Japanese abnormality research textbooks
|Seikyūsha
|ISBN 4787230875
|-
|1995
|裸体の帝国 (ヌード・ワールドVol.1 ヌーディズムの歴史1)''Ratai no teikoku (Nūdo wārudo vol. 1: nūdizumu no rekishi 1''
|''Nude Empire''
|Nude empire (Nude world vol. 1: History of nudism 1)
|Suiseisha
|ISBN 4891763124
|-
|1996
|日本緊縛写真史''Nihon kinbaku shashinshi''
|
|History of Japanese bondage photographs
|Jiyu Kokuminsha
|ISBN 4426738008
|-
|1997
|アナル・バロック''Anaru Barokku''
|''Anal Baroque''
|
|rowspan="2"|Seikyūsha
|ISBN 4787231340
|-
|1998
|ヴィンテージ・エロチカ''Vintēji erochika''
|
|Vintage erotica
|ISBN 4787231499
|-
|rowspan="2"|1999
|女陰考 性学古典より''Nyoinkō: Seigakukoten yoru''
|''Think Vagina''
|Vagina investigation: Classical sexology
|Outou Shobou
|ISBN 4756711316
|-
|ストレンジ・ヌード・カルト 不思議の裸体天国 (ヌード・ワールドVol.2)''Sutorenji nūdo karuto: Fushigi no ratai tengoku (Nūdo wārudo vol. 2)''
|''Strange Nude Cult''
|Strange nude cult: Mystery of nude paradise (Nude world vol. 2)
|Suiseisha
|ISBN 4891763132
|-
|2000
|ラブ・ポジション''Rabu pojishon''
|''Love Position''
|
|Outou Shobou
|ISBN 4756711413
|-
|2005
|わたしの菜食生活''Watashi no saishoku seikatsu''
|''Cruelty Free Life''
|My vegetarian lifestyle
|Ohta Publishing
|ISBN 4872339797
|}
Note: English title refers to English writing on the cover, sometimes it's a translation of the Japanese title, or a completely different phrase.
References
Further reading
Woodward, Brett. ''Merzbook "The Pleasuredome of Noise"'' (1999). ISBN 0-646-38326-4.
Hegarty, Paul. ''Noise/Music: A History'' (2007). ISBN 0826417272.
Bailey, Thomas Bey William. ''Micro Bionic: Radical Electronic Music and Sound Art in the 21st Century'' (2009). ISBN 1840681535.
External links
Merzbow official website
[ Merzbow] at
Allmusic
Merzbow at Discogs
Merzbow at Last.fm
Merzbow – "Gamma-Titan" published on the Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine
Article on Merzbow and Japanese bondage
Analysis of Merzbow's use of noise as music
Merzbow - Master of Noise - Fascineshion
Category:1956 births
Category:Musical groups established in 1979
Category:Avant-garde composers
Category:Japanese experimental musicians
Category:Experimental composers
Category:Japanese electronic musicians
Category:Japanese musical groups
Category:Japanese vegans
Category:Living people
Category:Noise musical groups
Category:People from Tokyo
Category:Tzadik Records artists
Category:Relapse Records artists
Category:Drag City artists
Category:Alien8 Recordings artists
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