paint effect
blank spaceA · B · C · D · E · F · G · H · I · J · K · L · M · N · O · P · Q · R · S · T · U · V · W · X · Y · Z · #
MY RECORD
COLLECTION
blank space
paint effect

Merzbow

National Flag

The undeniable king of all noise. There has been noise artists before, there will be noise artists after, but none of them will ever achieve the notoriety of Merzbow. When I first encountered the name, I thought, like many others, that Merzbow was a band's name, but it is actually a one man affair. This person, Masami Akita, has been releasing music since the late seventies and eighties. There have literally been hundreds of albums and collaborations since then (there is actually a "merzbox" out there which includes fifty CDs worth of music)!

The first thing I've heard by this artist was the album Venereology on Relapse records which is to this day, the album I consider to be THE most unbearable album in the history of mankind. From it's opening seconds to the last, it is an relentless assault on your auditory senses. I have never managed to listen to the whole thing. I actually really enjoyed a small anecdote about Merzbow involving a friend of mine while we were both working at HMV in Montreal back in the mid-nineties. Some client was out after something unusual for his son who was apparently into strange music and was asking for the "weirdest, strangest music" my friend could offer him. After having suggested things like Skinny Puppy and Nine Inch Nails, thinking the father meant something along these line, my friend was suddenly confronted with the question: "Give me the worst you've got!". Being the good employee that he was, he immediately knew what he should give him in this case so he handed the client a copy of Venereology. He warned the client several times that this album was simply "unbearable", but the person insisted on getting it. To this day I wish I could have seen the reaction on this boy's face as he put this CD on for the first time on Christmas Day.

Even though Merzbow has broadened his horizons somewhat today, he still comes back to his roots once in a while. Some albums might be smoother, but beware, most of them still carry his signature harsh noises. There are thousands of albums out there, and unfortunately I can't say that I can suggest them all (first of all because I haven't heard so many of them - maybe twelve or thirteen different releases - and second, because, there is just so much noise I can bear without putting a bullet in my brain. Unlike Wolf Eyes, Merzbow's music is just simply too aggressive to be interesting all of the time. Get your hearing aid ready! You're going to need it!

Genre Button Genre Button Genre Button Genre Button Genre Button Genre Button Genre Button Genre Button
blank space
blank space
Album Cover Venereology
Label: Release Entertainment
Release: 1994
Format: CD
Cat. no: RR 6910-2

Song list:

  1. Ananga-Ranga (29:02)
  2. Klo Ken Phantasie (9:22)
  3. I Lead You Towards Glorious Times (5:30)
  4. Slave New Desart (6:22)


Album Cover Oersted
Label: Vinyl Communications
Release: 1996
Format: CD
Cat. no: VC 104

Song list:

  1. 19:23 (19:27)
  2. 17:27 (17:28)
  3. 7:53 (7:52)
  4. 18:49 (18:56)


Album Cover Rainbow Electronics 2
Label: Dexter's Cigar
Release: 1996
Format: CD
Cat. no: DEX6

Song list:

  1. 21.42 (21:40)
  2. 9.28 (9:29)
  3. 11.30 (11:33)
  4. 5.19 (5:21)
  5. 9.54 (9:57)
  6. 8.20 (8:21)
  7. 6.20 (6:33)
  8. 2.26 (5:21)


Album Cover Hybrid Noisebloom
Label: Vinyl Communications
Release: 1997
Format: CD
Cat. no: TC 113

Song list:

  1. Plasma Birds (9:29)
  2. Mouse Of Superconception (17:11)
  3. Minotaurus (10:46)
  4. Neuro Electric Butterfly (20:29)
  5. The Imaginary Coversation Of Blue (14:58)


Album Cover Space Metalizer
Label: Alien8 Recordings
Release: 1997
Format: CD
Cat. no: ALIENCD4

Song list:

  1. Space Metalizer Pt. 1 (13:52)
  2. Son Of Zechen (13:36)
  3. Efface <<Long Version>> (18:46)
  4. Space Metalizer Pt. 2 (16:43)
  5. Mirage (9:12)


Album Cover 1930
Label: Tzadik
Release: 1998
Format: CD
Cat. no: TZ 7214

Song list:

  1. Intro (2:40)
  2. 1930 (19:40)
  3. Muchen (2:02)
  4. Degradation Of Tapes (12:30)
  5. Iron, Glass, Blocks & White Lights (21:51)


Album Cover Tauromachine
Label: Release Entertainment
Release: 1998
Format: CD
Cat. no: RR 6989-2

Song list:

  1. Cannibalism Of Machine (6:07)
  2. Emission (4:06)
  3. Soft Water Rhinoceros (8:59)
  4. Minotaurus (7:25)
  5. Heads Of Clouds (12:20)
  6. Untitled Nude Pulse (5:50)
  7. Wounded Cycad Dub (7:13)


Album Cover Vibractance
Label: E(r)ostrate
Release: 1998
Format: CD
Cat. no: EROSCD002

Song list:

  1. Vibrating Sand (11:23)
  2. Sonar (12:17)
  3. Flame (4:09)
  4. Wind/Reactance (14:09)


Album Cover Collapse 12 Floors
Label: [OHM] Records
Release: 1999
Format: CD
Cat. no: 0.4 OHM

Song list:

  1. Wa 30.25 (6:28)
  2. Kareha (16:53)
  3. Collapse 12 Floors, In Akusa 1923 (30:31)


Album Cover Door Open At 8 AM
Label: Alien8 Recordings
Release: 1999
Format: CD
Cat. no: ALIENCD17

Song list:

  1. Intro (1:30)
  2. Tony Williams Deathspace (2:18)
  3. Jimmy Elvins In Traffic (9:49)
  4. Lyons Wake (10:45)
  5. Door Open At 8 AM (3:18)
  6. The Africa Brass Session Vol. 2 (19:51)
  7. Metro And Bus (7:50)


Album Cover Puroland
Label: [OHM] Records
Release: 2001
Format: CD
Cat. no: 0.9 OHM

Song list:

  1. Pilgrimage To Puroland (13:18)
  2. Pleasant Valley Monday (16:01)
  3. Celebration day (11:00)
  4. War Frog (8:55)


Album Cover Amlux
Label: Important Records
Release: 2002
Format: CD
Cat. no: IMPREC 002

Song list:

  1. Takemitsu (5:27)
  2. Looping Jane (15:41)
  3. Cow Cow (4:23)
  4. Luxurious Automobile (Krokodil Texas Mix) (22:23)


Album Cover Megatone
Label: Inoxia Records
Release: 2002
Format: CD
Cat. no: IXCD-0004

Song list:

  1. Headronefish (23:27)
  2. Water Fuzz (20:04)
  3. Texas Spaceship (17:57)


Album Cover Merzzow
Label: Opposite Records
Release: 2002
Format: CD
Cat. no: OPCD001

Song list:

  1. Elephant Song (7:50)
  2. Horiwari (3:39)
  3. Inside Looking Out Pt.1 (9:15)
  4. Inside Looking Out Pt.2 (8:38)
  5. Koshinzuka (2:10)
  6. Music Machine (9:59)
  7. Horse (4:48)
  8. Penderecki (4:51)
  9. Green (9:17)
  10. Humming Bird (6:52)
  11. Aenokoto 223 (3:16)


Album Cover Animal Magnetism
Label: Alien8 Recordings
Release: 2003
Format: CD
Cat. no: ALIENCD38

Song list:

  1. Animal Magnetism (21:19)
  2. Quiet Men (16:40)
  3. Super Sheep (4:37)
  4. A Ptarmigan (22:30)
  5. Pier 39 (8:59)


Album Cover Cycle
Label: Very Friendly
Release: 2003
Format: CD
Cat. no: VF001CD

Song list:

  1. Cycle Part 1 (29:57)
  2. Cycle Part 2 (39:53)


Album Cover 04092001
Label: Inoxia Records
Release: 2004
Format: LP
Cat. no: IXLP-0005

Song list:

  1. Side One (16:36)
  2. Side Two (16:22)


Album Cover Sha Mo 3000
Label: Essence Music
Release: 2004
Format: CD
Cat. no: ESS003

Song list:

  1. Suzunami (2:27)
  2. Sha Mo 3000 (19:30)
  3. Ghost Hide Your Eyes (9:00)
  4. Dreaming K-Dog (22:08)
  5. Hen's Teeth (12:34)


Album Cover Sun Baked Snow Cave
Label: Hydra Head Records
Release: 2005
Format: CD
Cat. no: HH666-92/2XH-011

Song list:

  1. The Roar Of A (Gigantic) Wheel As It Turns Uncontrollably/I Vaguely Recall It In A Warm Snow Cave/A Boom Like A Chorus Of Thousands Of Cicadas Heard Under The Sun/Such A Stories Desires To Be Born (1:02:02)


Album Cover Houjoue
Label: Dirter Promotions
Release: 2005
Format: 6CD
Cat. no: DPROMCD55

Song list:

CD 1:
  1. Action For Green 1 (14:26)
  2. Action For Green 2 (5:20)
  3. Action For Green 3 (26:27)
CD 2:
  1. Rice 1 (9:35)
  2. Rice 2 (6:11)
  3. Rice 3 (19:16)
  4. Rice 2 (16:15)
CD 3:
  1. Houjoue 1 (13:13)
  2. Vegetarians Festival (15:07)
  3. Houjoue 2 (16:46)
CD 4:
  1. Frog Variation 0505 (38:36)
  2. Animal Megnetism Variation 0305 (19:08)
CD 5:
  1. Blizzard For Acousmonium 1 (36:55)
  2. Blizzard For Acousmonium 2 (21:46)
CD 6:
  1. Rising Sun (53:29)


Album Cover Merzbuddha
Label: Important Records
Release: 2005
Format: CD
Cat. no: IMPREC052

Song list:

  1. Mantra 1 (21:43)
  2. Mantra 2 (16:54)
  3. Mantra 3 (21:02)


Album Cover Walrus/Groon
Label: Hydra Head Records
Release: 2007
Format: LP
Cat. no: 2XH-008 HH666-102

Song list:

  1. Walrus (7:21)
  2. Groon (6:35)


Album Cover Rock Dream
Label: Southern Lord Records
Release: 2007
Format: 3LP
Cat. no: SUNN88

Song list:

LP 1:
  1. Feedbacker Part 1 (6:66)
  2. Feedbacker Part 2 (6:66)
  3. Black Out (5:20)
LP 2:
  1. Evil Stack (5:05)
  2. Rainbow (4:30)
  3. Pink (4:14)
  4. Woman On The Screen (2:37)
  5. Nothing Special (2:14)
  6. Ibitsu (3:35)
  7. A Bao A Qu (4:35)
  8. The Evil One Which Sobs (13:42)
LP 3:
  1. Flower Sun Rain (8:05)
  2. Just Abandoned My-Self (13:21)
  3. Farewell (8:12)
  4. Dyna-Saur (6:66)


Album Cover Dolphin Sonar
Label: Important Records
Release: 2008
Format: CD
Cat. no: IMPREC205

Song list:

  1. Part 1 (24:05)
  2. Part 2 (20:54)
  3. Part 3 (18:58)