''Merzbox'' is a

box set A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...

compilation Compilation may refer to: *In computer programming, the translation of source code into object code by a compiler **Compilation error **Compilation unit *Product bundling, a marketing strategy used to sell multiple products *Compilation thesis M ...

by the Japanese noise musician

Merzbow is a Japanese noise project started in 1979 by , best known for a style of harsh, confrontational noise. Since 1980, Akita has released over 400 recordings and has collaborated with various artists. The name Merzbow comes from the German dada ...

. It consists of 50 CDs spanning Merzbow's career from 1979 to 1997. 30 discs are taken from long

out of print __NOTOC__ An out-of-print (OOP) or out-of-commerce item or work is something that is no longer being published. The term applies to all types of printed matter, visual media, sound recordings, and video recordings. An out-of-print book is a book ...

releases, while 20 are composed mainly of unreleased material. The box also contains two CD-ROMs, six CD-sized round cards, six round stickers, a poster, a black long-sleeve T-shirt, a medallion, and the ''Merzbook'', all packaged together in a " fetish" black rubber box. It is limited to 1000 numbered copies. A ''Merzbox Sampler'' was released in 1997. The ''Merzbook'', subtitled ''The Pleasuredome of Noise'', is a 132-page hardcover book written by Brett Woodward with over 100 images. It contains an extensive biography, culled from previous interviews and articles, a new interview, and essays by Achim Wollscheid, Jim O'Rourke, Damion Romero,

Eugene Thacker Eugene Thacker is an American philosopher, poet, and author. He is Professor of Media Studies at The New School in New York City. His writing is often associated with the philosophy of nihilism and pessimism. Thacker's books include ''In the Dus ...

, and Jonathan Walker. Masami Akita provides extensive

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

for each disc. The book was also released separately with the ''Merzrom'' included. The ''Merzrom'' is an interactive multimedia

CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both comput ...

, designed by Troy Innocent. A second CD-ROM contains various Extreme press and a catalog. The "Merzdallion" medallion was designed by Marcus Davidson. Art direction and design were by Doriana Corda.

Audio mastering Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via met ...

was by

François Tétaz François "Franc" Tétaz (born 22 December 1970) is an Australian film composer, music producer and mixer, who won the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) / Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC) 2006 'Feature Film Score of the ...

History

Extreme's original plan was to reissue ''Collaborative'', their only vinyl release, for the label's tenth anniversary. There was then discussion of reissuing other early releases, with talk of a ten disc box, the number was finally set at 50 discs. The ''Merzbox'' was originally scheduled for release in late 1997, and available for

pre-order A pre-order is an order placed for an item that has not yet been released. The idea for pre-orders came because people found it hard to get popular items in stores because of their popularity. Companies then had the idea to allow customers to r ...

, but kept getting delayed until it was finally released in 2000. It was officially launched on June 16, 2000 at

Sónar Sónar is a festival dedicated to music, creativity and technology, founded in Barcelona in 1994 by Ricard Robles, Enric Palau, and Sergi Caballero. The festival has been divided into two parts since its inception: Sónar by Day and Sónar b ...

, Barcelona, where Merzbow also performed. Those who had pre-ordered received a two CD album called ''Decomposition'' with remixes of Eugene Thacker and Shane Fahey followed by the original tracks, the ''Merzbox Sampler'', and two posters. These were then made available with purchase of the ''Merzbox'' for extra money. The ''Merzbox'' was exhibited at

Kunsthalle Wien Kunsthalle Wien is the city of Vienna's institution for international contemporary art and discourse with two locations, in the Museumsquartier and at Karlsplatz. Kunsthalle Wien does not have a collection of its own, but instead dedicates its c ...

, Vienna from April 4 to April 7, 2002. Merzbow performed opening and closing concerts. All 60 hours were webcast live. In December 2002,

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

's student-run radio station

WREK WREK (91.1 FM "Wreck", from the Ramblin' Wreck) is the radio station staffed by the students of the Georgia Institute of Technology. It is also located on channel 17 on the Georgia Tech cable TV network, GTCN. Starting as a 10-watt class D, ...

broadcast the entire 50-disc Merzbox without interruption. An article in ''

Creative Loafing Creative Loafing is an Atlanta-based publisher of a monthly arts and culture newspaper/magazine. The company publishes a 60,000 circulation monthly publication which is distributed to in-town locations and neighborhoods on the first Thursday of ...

'' described the Merzbow Marathon as "what may be the most obscure and counterintuitive move in the history of radio." Between the final recordings of the set and its release, Merzbow switched to using a laptop, having first acquired a

Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...

to work on the artwork for the set. Masami Akita has stated in a 2009 interview that he has enough unreleased material for another 50 CD box. Between 2010 and 2013, he released four 10 box sets of unreleased raw material recorded from 1987 to 1997; ''Merzbient'', ''Merzphysics'', ''Merzmorphosis'', and ''Duo''. 2012 also saw the release of ''Lowest Music & Arts 1980–1983'', a 10 LP box set that included some full-length albums only partially released in the ''Merzbox''. Since 2018, further archival recordings have been released through Japanese label Slowdown Records, including the 60 CD boxset ''10×6=60'' in 2021.

Album listing

OM Electrique

The first noise recordings of Merzbow. Previously unreleased.

Personnel

*Masami Akita – tape recorder, percussion, meditation, guitar, Merztronics, taped drums, voice, water

Metal Acoustic Music

Earliest Merzbow recording available until the release of the ''Merzbox''.

Notes

*Side one of the ''Metal Acoustic Music'' cassette, Lowest Music & Arts, 1981

Personnel

*Masami Akita – Merztronics, tape recorder, recorded percussion

Remblandt Assemblage

First work using tape manipulation. Only a few copies distributed.

Notes

*Mixed at Lowest Music & Arts, 1980 *All tracks from ''Remblandt Assemblage'' cassette, Lowest Music & Arts, 1981

Personnel

*Masami Akita – tapes, prepared acoustic guitar, noise, tabla, percussion, microphone, voice, radio, concret sounds, egg cutter

Collection Era Vol. 1

The three ''Collection Era'' discs are compiled from the ten volume ''Collection'' series. The first five volumes were recorded for Ylem and consist of studio sessions with Kiyoshi Mizutani. However, Ylem went out of business before they could be released. Masami Akita then released them himself and recorded five more at home using previous ''Collection'' session recordings mixed with new material and effects.

Notes

*Mixed at Ylem/Gap Works, Tokyo, 3 June 1981 *Tracks 1–2 from ''Collection 001'' cassette, Lowest Music & Arts, 1981 *Track 3 from ''Collection 002'' cassette, Lowest Music & Arts, 1981

Personnel

*Masami Akita – tapes, ring modulator, violin, tabla, voice, guitar, percussion, drums, radio *Kiyoshi Mizutani – drums on track 1, percussion on track 2, organ on track 3

Collection Era Vol. 2

''Note: The contents of CD 5 and CD 6 were switched (5 has eight tracks and 6 has seven), the info below is as it appears in the ''Merzbook''.''

Notes

*Mixed at Lowest Music & Arts, 1981 *Tracks 1–4 from ''Collection 007'' cassette, Lowest Music & Arts, 1981 *Track 5 from ''Collection 009'' cassette, Lowest Music & Arts, 1981 *Tracks 6–7 from ''Collection 010'' cassette, Lowest Music & Arts, 1982 *Merztronics tape used on tracks 6–7

Personnel

*Masami Akita – taped drums, tabla, guitar, tapes, Synare 3, percussion, ring modulated recorders, voice, endless tape, noise, rhythm box *Kiyoshi Mizutani – wood bass on track 6

Collection Era Vol. 3

Notes

*Tracks 1–7 from ''Collection 008'' cassette, Lowest Music & Arts, 1981 *Track 8 from ''Tridal Production'' cassette, Lowest Music & Arts, 1982

Personnel

*Masami Akita – guitar, tape, damaged tape recorder, bass guitar,

Dr. Rhythm Boss is a manufacturer of effects pedals for electric guitar and bass guitar. It is a division of the Roland Corporation, a Japanese manufacturer that specializes in musical equipment and accessories. For many years Boss has manufactured a wi ...

, ring modulator, percussion, rubber guitar, violin, tape loops, Synare 3, tabla, drums, synthesizer *Kiyoshi Mizutani – guitar on track 1, piano on track 4, violin on tracks 7–8

Paradoxa Paradoxa

The first Merzbow live performance.

Notes

*Mastered from original live recording *Track 1 from ''Paradoxa Paradoxa'' cassette, Lowest Music & Arts, 1982 *Track 2 previously unreleased

Personnel

*Masami Akita – Merztronix, tape, solar organ on track 2, violin, Dr. Rhythm, alto saxophone, radio, feedback *Kiyoshi Mizutani – solar organ on track 1, violin, tape, piano *Masahiro Kurose – live recording

Material Action for 2 Microphones

"Material Action" was a term for using household objects to make quiet sounds, which were then amplified, inspired by

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading fi ...

's "Cartridge Music". The term itself was taken from Otto Muehl. This recording was used as raw material for other works such as ''Material Action 2 N.A.M''.

Notes

*Mixed at Lowest Music & Arts Studio, 1981 *Tracks 1–2 from ''Material Action for 2 Microphones'' cassette, Lowest Music & Arts, 1981

Personnel

*Masami Akita – condenser microphone, environmental percussion, scratched sound, tapes, turntable, radio *Kiyoshi Mizutani – condenser microphone, percussion, additional synthesizer

Yantra Material Action

Originally intended to be the first Merzbow LP, but it went unreleased. Six months later the label then asked again to release the LP, but Akita decided to record new material – which became ''Material Action 2 N.A.M''. Includes reworks of past recordings with added effects and new instrumentation. The

were to have been written by

Fred Frith Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock ...

, who heard the tape and liked it.

Notes

*Mixed at Junktion Music Works, 1981 *All tracks from ''Yantra Material Action'' cassette, Lowest Music & Arts, 1983

Personnel

*Masami Akita – tapes, junks, noise, percussion, radio, drums, guitar *Kiyoshi Mizutani – percussion, guitar, keyboards, synthesizer, tapes *H. Kawagishi – sound engineering

Solonoise

''Solonoise'' means "Solar-Noise", inspired by

Georges Bataille Georges Albert Maurice Victor Bataille (; ; 10 September 1897 – 9 July 1962) was a French philosopher and intellectual working in philosophy, literature, sociology, anthropology, and history of art. His writing, which included essays, novels, ...

's ''

The Solar Anus ''The Solar Anus'' (french: L'anus solaire) is a short surrealist text by the French writer Georges Bataille, written in 1927 and published with drawings by André Masson in 1931. Albeit elliptically, its aphorisms refer to decay, death, vegetat ...

''.

Notes

*Tracks 1–2 from ''Solonoise 1'' cassette, Lowest Music & Arts, 1982 *Track 3 from ''Solonoise 2'' cassette, Lowest Music & Arts, 1982

Personnel

*Masami Akita – electronics, ring modulator, violin, voice, treated tapes, acoustic guitar, Nil Vagina tape loop, treated percussion, Synare 3, TV, styrofoam *Kiyoshi Mizutani – violin, electric piano on track 1

Expanded Music

Conceptual works manipulating various inputs using feedback processed audio mixer. Inspired by

Stan Brakhage James Stanley Brakhage ( ; January 14, 1933 – March 9, 2003) was an American filmmaker. He is considered to be one of the most important figures in 20th-century experimental film. Over the course of five decades, Brakhage created a large ...

's scratched films.

Notes

*Tracks 1-8 from ''Expanded Music 2'' cassette, Lowest Music & Arts, 1982 *Track 9 from ''Musick from Simulation World'' cassette, Lowest Music & Arts, 1983

Personnel

*Masami Akita – TV test signal, feedback mixer, damaged tape recorder, Dr. Rhythm, tapes, percussion, synthesizer

Nil Vagina Tape Loops

Featuring a four track tape recorder found in the street. A different sound was recorded on each track, and then played back randomly.

Personnel

*Masami Akita – Sony 464 tape recorder, Nil Vagina tape loop, treated tapes, percussion, Synare 3, Dr. Rhythm

Notes

*Track 1 from ''Solonoise 2'' cassette, Lowest Music & Arts, 1982 *Tracks 2–3 from ''Lowest Music 2'' cassette, Lowest Music & Arts, 1982

Material Action 2 N.A.M

The first Merzbow LP. The 2 in the title refers to ''Yantra Material Action'', which was meant to be the first LP. Sounds include

styrofoam Styrofoam is a trademarked brand of closed-cell extruded polystyrene foam (XPS), commonly called "Blue Board", manufactured as foam continuous building insulation board used in walls, roofs, and foundations as thermal insulation and water barrie ...

and a typesetting machine (Kiyoshi Mizutani worked at a typesetting company at the time). Includes raw material from ''Material Action for 2 Microphones''.

Notes

*All tracks from ''Material Action 2 N.A.M.'' LP, Chaos, 1983

Personnel

*Masami Akita – tapes, junk percussion, electro-acoustical noise, organ, tape collage, recording, mixing *Kiyoshi Mizutani – tapes, synthesizer, violin, machine noise *H. Kawagishi – engineering

Mechanization Takes Command

First release on ZSF Produkt. Akita changed the name of his label since he wanted to release other artists. Featuring the Synare 3, which was later destroyed by Bara on stage in the late 90s.

Notes

*Mixed at ZSF Produkt Studio, Asagaya March 1983 *All tracks from ''Mechanization Takes Command'' cassette, ZSF Produkt, 1983

Personnel

*Masami Akita – Pearl drum kit, various percussion, tapes, TV, Synare 3, voice, tabla, Dr. Rhythm, ring modulator, guitar, feedback, synthesizer, recorder, scrap metals, devices

Dying Mapa Tapes 1-2

Title inspired by the

Nyingma Nyingma (literally 'old school') is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It is also often referred to as ''Ngangyur'' (, ), "order of the ancient translations". The Nyingma school is founded on the first lineages and transl ...

pa school of

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

. Made with different equipment and instruments than other recordings of the same period. Featuring instruments recorded on tape, then slowed down or played backwards.

Notes

*Produced by Lowest Music & Arts, 1982 *Tracks 1–4 from ''Dying Mapa I'' cassette, Aeon, 1983 *Track 5 from ''Dying Mapa II'' cassette, Aeon, 1983

Personnel

*Masami Akita – tapes, radio, ring modulator, percussion, noise, rhythm box, guitar *Kiyoshi Mizutani – violin, percussion

Dying Mapa Tapes 2-3

Notes

*Produced by Lowest Music & Arts, 1982 *Track 1 from ''Dying Mapa II'' cassette, Aeon, 1983 *Tracks 2–3 from ''Dying Mapa III'' cassette, Aeon, 1983

Personnel

*Masami Akita – tapes, radio, ring modulator, percussion, noise, rhythm, junk electronics, TV, guitar, bass *Kiyoshi Mizutani – violin, percussion

Agni Hotra

Originally intended to be the second Merzbow LP, but it went unreleased. Includes

outtake An outtake is a portion of a work (usually a film or music recording) that is removed in the editing process and not included in the work's final, publicly released version. In the digital era, significant outtakes have been appended to CD and DV ...

s from ''Ushi-tra'', which is from the same period. Loops were included on ''Loop Panic Limited''.

Notes

*Tracks 1–4 from first ''Agni Hotra'' master *Track 5 from second ''Agni Hotra'' master *Track 6 appeared with different mix on ''Ushi-tra'' cassette, Cause & Effect, 1985 *Track 7 from ''Ushi-tra'' recording session

Personnel

*Masami Akita – distorted tape loops, metals, recorder, tapes, tape reel, percussion,

shakujo A khakkhara ( sa, khakkhara; ; , sometimes referred to in English as a pewter staff, is a staff topped with metal rings traditionally carried by Buddhist monks, particularly in East Asian Buddhism. Originally used as a noisemaker to announce a ...

, bells, noise

Pornoise 1kg Vol. 1

In the 80s Masami Akita had a

mail art Mail art, also known as postal art and correspondence art, is an artistic movement centered on sending small-scale works through the postal service. It initially developed out of what eventually became Ray Johnson's New York Correspondence Schoo ...

project called ''Pornoise'', in which he made

collage Collage (, from the french: coller, "to glue" or "to stick together";) is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. ...

s using discarded magazines – in particular pornographic magazines – taken from the trash. These were then sent along with his cassettes, the idea being that his art was like cheap mail order pornography. ''Pornoise/1kg'' was released as part of these activities; the 1 kg refers to the total weight of the original package. The voice on "Night Noise White" is taken from the " Halt Tape".

Notes

*All tracks from ''Pornoise/1kg'' cassette box, ZSF Produkt, 1984

Personnel

*Masami Akita – distorted Sony 464, feedback mixer, radio, loop tapes, Synare 3, rhythm box, ring modulator, devices *Kiyoshi Mizutani – taped typesetting machine noise and taped synthesizer on tracks 2–4 with distorted process

Pornoise 1kg Vol. 2

Field recordings on "Dynamite Don Don" include street sounds recorded from a moving bicycle, and a house being demolished across from Akita's apartment.

Notes

*All tracks from ''Pornoise/1kg'' cassette box, ZSF Produkt, 1984

Personnel

*Masami Akita – distorted Sony 464, feedback mixer, loop tapes, Synare 3, ring modulator, field recording tapes, devices

Pornoise 1kg Vol. 3

The voice on "UFO vs British Army" is taken from the " Halt Tape". Some other samples are from horror films.

Notes

*All tracks from ''Pornoise/1kg'' cassette box, ZSF Produkt, 1984

Personnel

*Masami Akita – distorted Sony 464, feedback mixer, loop tapes, Synare 3, ring modulator, devices

Pornoise Extra

Additional tracks from the ''Pornoise 1kg'' sessions. Original release had different track titles.

Notes

*All tracks from ''Pornoise/Extra'' cassette, ZSF Produkt, 1985

Personnel

*Masami Akita – feedback mixer, radio, loop tapes, Synare 3, rhythm box, ring modulator, distorted Sony 464, devices *Kiyoshi Mizutani – sampled electric piano

Sadomasochismo / Lampinak

Includes unused tracks for ''

Batztoutai with Memorial Gadgets ''Batztoutai with Memorial Gadgets'' is a double album by the Japanese noise musician Merzbow. It was later remixed and reissued in 1993 as ''Batztoutai with Material Gadgets: De-Composed Works 1985~86''. Background The album is named after – ...

Notes

*Tracks 1–3 from ''Sadomasochismo'' cassette, ZSF Produkt, 1985 *Tracks 4–6 from ''The Lampinak'' cassette, ZSF Produkt, 1985

Personnel

*Masami Akita – various metal percussion, chain, loops, noise electronics, Synare 3, tapes

Mortegage / Batztoutai Extra

Original recordings for the ''

'' album. Includes samples from

François Bayle François Bayle (born 27 April 1932, in Toamasina, Madagascar) is a composer of Electronic Music, Musique concrète. He coined the term ''Acousmatic Music''. Career In the 1950s he studied with Olivier Messiaen, Pierre Schaeffer and Karlheinz S ...

Conlon Nancarrow Samuel Conlon Nancarrow (; October 27, 1912 – August 10, 1997) was an American- Mexican composer who lived and worked in Mexico for most of his life. Nancarrow is best remembered for his ''Studies for Player Piano'', being one of the first ...

Ivo Malec Ivo Malec (30 March 1925, in Zagreb – 14 August 2019, in Paris) was a Croatian-born French composer, music educator and conductor. One of the earliest Yugoslav composers to obtain high international regard, his works have been performed by s ...

Luc Ferrari Luc Ferrari (February 5, 1929 – August 22, 2005) was a French composer of Italian heritage and a pioneer in musique concrète and electroacoustic music. He was a founding member of RTF's Groupe de Recherches Musicales (GRMC), working alongsid ...

Notes

*Track 1 appeared edited on ''

'' LP, RRRecords, 1986 *Track 2 previously unreleased *Track 3 appeared in different order on ''Batztoutai with Memorial Gadgets'' LP

Personnel

*Masami Akita – tapes, voice, electronics, scrap metals, percussion, field recordings

Enclosure / Libido Economy

First of two cassettes made with raw material from ''Ecobondage'', ''Vratya Southward'' being the second.

Notes

*Tracks 1–3 from ''Enclosure'' cassette, ZSF Produkt, 1987 *Track 5 from ''Enkele Gemotiveerde Produktiemedewerkers'' compilation, Midas Music, 1990 *Track 6 from ''Network 77'' compilation, Network 77, 1990

Personnel

*Masami Akita – bowed instruments with piano wires, ring modulator, tapes, feedback mixer, effects, percussion, turntable

Vratya Southward

Second cassette made with raw material from ''Ecobondage''. "Electric Red Desart" includes a field recording of the festival at the Goryō shrine in

Kamakura is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Kamakura has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 persons per km² over the total area of . Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939. Kamak ...

. Masami Akita posted photos of the procession on his blog in 2010.

Notes

*Tracks 1–2 from ''Vratya Southward'' cassette, ZSF Produkt, 1987 *Track 3 previously unreleased

Personnel

*Masami Akita – cymbals, various percussion, electronics, paper pipe, tapes, plastic, voice, flute, toy marimba, scratch records, electric violin on tracks 1–2; feedback mixer, piano strings on metal box on track 3

Live in Khabarovsk, CCCP – I'm Proud by Rank of the Workers

First two of three performances. First performance was stopped for being "too wild", so they then played more conventionally. Includes ''Batztoutai'' material on backing tape, and Russian radio.

Notes

*Recorded live at Jazz-on-Amur '88,

Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( rus, Хабaровск, a=Хабаровск.ogg, r=Habárovsk, p=xɐˈbarəfsk) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China ...

, Russia *Live PA recordings by Russian staff *Remastered from original live recording *Different versions appeared on ''Live in Khabarovsk, CCCP'' LP, ZSF Produkt, 1988

Personnel

*Masami Akita – electric bowed instruments, tape, radio on track 1; drums, tape on track 2 *Kiyoshi Mizutani – piano, low feedback US MP guitar on track 1; piano, guitar on track 2

Storage

Due to issues with sound quality, the recording was edited for the LP release. The full-length recording is released here for the first time. The working title for the album was ''War Storage'', which is now used for the track titles.

Notes

*All tracks from ''Storage'' LP, ZSF Produkt, 1988

Personnel

*Masami Akita – bowed instruments with piano wires, percussion, tapes, effects, guitar *Kiyoshi Mizutani – submitted raw material on track 2

Fission Dialogue

Unreleased tracks from ''Ecobondage'' and ''Storage'' period.

Personnel

*Masami Akita – cymbals, various percussion, electronics, voice, byan, bowed instruments, paper pipe on tracks 1–2; noise electronics, turntable, scrap metals on track 3

Collaborative

Essay by Jonathan Walker from the original LP is reprinted in the ''Merzbook''.

Notes

*Track 1 recorded at ZSF Produkt on 8 March 1988 *Track 2 produced 1988 *Track 3 recorded at ZSF Produkt (live) on 1 May 1988 *All tracks from ''Collaborative'' LP+7″, Extreme, 1988 ote: The S.B.O.T.H.I. solo track from the 7″ is not included in the ''Merzbox''

Personnel

*Masami Akita – tapes, metals, scratch, guitar, mixing on track 3 *Kiyoshi Mizutani – samples, guitar, balalaika, byan on track 3 *Achim Wollscheid – raw materials on track 1, production on track 2

Crocidura Dsi Nezumi

"Unplugged noise" made using household objects; violin sound is violin bow on plastic cassette case or wood, acoustic guitar is a rubber band, Tibetan trumpet is a toilet paper tube, electrical sounds are made with metal. "Environmental drums" are the floor, gas stove, the spring of a table lamp. Names are taken from the Latin names of the Dsinezumi shrew, Japanese

stoat The stoat (''Mustela erminea''), also known as the Eurasian ermine, Beringian ermine and ermine, is a mustelid native to Eurasia and the northern portions of North America. Because of its wide circumpolar distribution, it is listed as Least Conc ...

, and Japanese

least weasel The least weasel (''Mustela nivalis''), little weasel, common weasel, or simply weasel is the smallest member of the genus '' Mustela,'' family Mustelidae and order Carnivora. It is native to Eurasia, North America and North Africa, and has bee ...

. Other titles were inspired by

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...

's song "

The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet "The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet" is a Frank Zappa composition, performed by the Mothers of Invention, released on the Mothers' debut album, ''Freak Out!''. It is the longest song on the album, at 12:17, consisting of 2 parts: "Ritual Dan ...

" and

Sun Ra Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific out ...

's album '' Strange Strings''.

Notes

*Tracks 1-2 from ''Crocidura Dsi Nezumi'' cassette, ZSF Produkt and Banned Production, 1988 *Track 3 previously unreleased

Personnel

*Masami Akita – environmental drums, bowed instruments, paper pipe, plastic, woods, flute, insects, effects on tracks 1–2; bowed instruments, motor, noise electronics on track 3

KIR Transformation

From a concert with Achim Wollscheid: first Merzbow played, then Wollscheid played using a recording of Merzbow's set, then Merzbow and Wollscheid played together.

Notes

*Edited by Achim Wollscheid, 1997

SCUM Vol. 1

SCUM was project to create new works out of previous Merzbow sessions using cut-ups, effects, and mixing. Name taken from the ''

SCUM Manifesto ''SCUM Manifesto'' is a radical feminist manifesto by Valerie Solanas, published in 1967. It argues that men have ruined the world, and that it is up to women to fix it. To achieve this goal, it suggests the formation of SCUM, an organization ded ...

''. The track titles influenced by American post-war art. This was last

LP record The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and a ...

on ZSF Produkt.

Notes

*Order of this CD is same as the original master tapes *Tracks 2–5 previously unreleased *All others from ''Scissors for Cutting Merzbow'' LP, ZSF Produkt, 1989

Personnel

*Masami Akita – electronics, tapes, bowed instruments, percussion, metal junks, motor, piano wires, noise generator, drums, guitar, radio *Kiyoshi Mizutani – junks, effects on raw materials

SCUM Vol. 2

Notes

*Order of this CD is same as the original master tapes *Track 4 previously unreleased *All others from ''Scissors for Cutting Merzbow'' LP, ZSF Produkt, 1989

Personnel

*Masami Akita – electronics, tapes, bowed instruments, percussion, metal junks, motor, piano wires, noise generator, guitar, electric shaver, radio, effects *Kiyoshi Mizutani – guitar, junks, effects on raw materials

Severances

Includes two covers, "Deaf Forever" by

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precu ...

and the

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

version of " Wild Thing".

Notes

*Drum track of "Rap the Khabarovsk" was recorded live in Russia *All tracks from ''Severances'' cassette, Discordia/Concordia, 1989

Personnel

*Masami Akita – tapes, turntables, electronix, drum kit, percussion, voice, metal percussion, bowed instruments, electro-shaver, motor, self-made junk *Kiyoshi Mizutani – tape materials: guitar on tracks 1 and 3; keyboard, computer rhythm on track 2

Steel CUM

The EP on Vertical Records was remixed and released without permission, with the cover made using one of Masami Akita's collages. "But a result of EP was fine. So, I'm agreed. But EP is still bootleg."

Notes

*Mixed at ZSF Produkt Studio 1989 *All tracks from ''Steel Cum'' cassette, ZSF Produkt, 1990 *Some parts appeared on ''Steel Cum'' 7″, Vertical, 1992

Personnel

*Masami Akita – guitar, drums, tapes, electronics, metal bowed instruments, feedback mixer, turntable *Kiyoshi Mizutani – drums, guitar on some parts

Cloud Cock OO Grand

During the European tour in 1989, Masami Akita could only bring simple equipment, and created a new live electronics style, different from his acoustical and tape based studio work, leading to the harsh noise Merzbow became known for in the 1990s. ''Cloud Cock OO Grand'' was the first example of this style, Merzbow's first digital recording, and the only CD on ZSF Produkt.

Notes

*Mixed at ZSF Produkt Studio 17 April 1990 *Track 4 includes live recordings at V2,

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...

, and Diogenes,

Nijmegen Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...

, September 1989 *All tracks from ''Cloud Cock OO Grand'' CD, ZSF Produkt, 1990 ote: "Modular" is about five minutes longer here than on the original CD

Personnel

*Masami Akita – tapes, noise electronics, metals, distorted DBX, turntable, loops, bowed instruments, metal harp, short wave *Reiko Azuma – bowed instruments on track 4 *Peter Duimelinks – original live recordings

Newark Hellfire, Live at WFMU, USA

Radio session from Merzbow's first American tour.

Notes

*Live recording by

WFMU WFMU is a listener-supported, independent community radio station, licensed to East Orange, New Jersey. Since 1998 its studios and operating facilities have been headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. It broadcasts locally at 91.1 Mhz FM, in ...

*Remastered from original recording at ZSF Produkt Studio *An excerpt appeared on ''Great American Nude / Crash for Hi-Fi'' CD, Alchemy, 1991

Personnel

*Masami Akita – feedback audio mixer, metals, electronics, electric shaver *Reiko Azuma – metals, bowed instruments

Hannover Cloud

Features

s from ''Hannover Interruption'' and ''Cloud Cock OO Grand''. "Rocket Bomber" uses raw materials from ''Sadomasochismo''.

Notes

*Tracks 1–2 outtakes from ''Hannover Interruption'' LP, Dradomel, 1990 *Track 3 outtake from ''Cloud Cock OO Grand'' CD, ZSF Produkt, 1990 *Track 4 different mix appeared on ''Cloud Cock OO Grand''

Personnel

*Masami Akita – noise electronics, metals, tapes

Stacy Q, Hi-Fi Sweet Leaf

Originally made as raw material for "Crash for Hi-Fi", "Wing Over", and "Another Crash for High Tide". Includes the use of a scratched ''Cloud Cock OO Grand'' CD.

Notes

*All tracks no editing

Personnel

*Masami Akita – noise electronics, tapes, scratched CD, radio, sound effect records, guitar

Music for True Romance Vol. 1

Backing tracks made for True Romance, a

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

project with Seido and Bara.

Notes

*Tracks 1–4 made for ''Blood Orgy of the She Dolls'' soundtrack, 1992 *Track 5 made for "Isis and Secret Army Hyper Vivisection" performance at MOMA, Kyoto, 1993

Personnel

*Masami Akita – tapes, electronics, disks

Brain Ticket Death

Track 4 samples Brainticket's self-titled song from their album '' Cottonwoodhill''. It's also a reference to Nurse with Wound, who used the same bit on ''Brained by Falling Masonry''.

Personnel

*Masami Akita – noise electronics, metals, turntable, bass, guitar

Sons of Slash Noise Metal

Tracks 1 and 3 were made as raw material for recordings of the same period. Track 2 is a remix of a fragment.

Notes

*All tracks remastered from original mother tape, no editing

Personnel

*Masami Akita – metals, noise electronics, scratched CD, radio, tapes

Exotic Apple

Includes

Arthur Lyman Arthur Lyman (February 2, 1932 – February 24, 2002) was an Hawaiian jazz vibraphone and marimba player. His group popularized a style of faux-Polynesian music during the 1950s and 1960s which later became known as exotica. His albums became ...

samples. Yuuri Sunohara is a director, producer, model etc. for Kinbiken/Right Brain. "Apple Rock" includes unused material originally made for Flying Testicle.

Notes

*Track 1 from ''Melt'' compilation, Work In Progress, 1992 *Track 2 from ''Land of the Rising Noise'' compilation, Charnel House, 1993

Personnel

*Masami Akita – tapes, noise electronix, metals, guitar,

EMS Synthi A The VCS 3 (or VCS3; an initialism for ''Voltage Controlled Studio, version #3'') is a portable analog synthesizer with a flexible modular voice architecture introduced by Electronic Music Studios (London) Limited (EMS) in 1969. EMS release ...

Roland TR-606 The Roland TR-606 Drumatix is a drum machine built by the Roland Corporation from 1981 to 1984. It was originally designed to be used with the Roland TB-303, a monophonic analog bass synthesizer, to provide a simple drum and bass accompaniment ...

Liquid City

Originally intended to be part of a CD+CD-ROM called ''Scatologic Baroque'', but it was canceled. The material for the CD-ROM was use for the book ''Anal Baroque''. Part of the "World Trilogy" with ''Magnesia Nova'' and ''Green Wheels''. "Liquid City 17-1-95" was recorded on the same day as the

Great Hanshin earthquake The , or Kobe earthquake, occurred on January 17, 1995, at 05:46:53 JST (January 16 at 20:46:53 UTC) in the southern part of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, including the region known as Hanshin. It measured 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale and had ...

. "Tiabguls" is a

Throbbing Gristle Throbbing Gristle were an English music and visual arts group formed in 1975 in Kingston upon Hull by Genesis P-Orridge, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Peter Christopherson, and Chris Carter (British musician), Chris Carter. They are widely regarded as pi ...

tribute.

Notes

*Track 3 from ''Entertainment Through Pain'' compilation, RRRecords, 1995

Personnel

*Masami Akita – noise electronics, metals, EMS, voice

Red Magnesia Pink

Outtakes from ''Red 2 Eyes'', ''Magnesia Nova'', and ''Pinkream''.

Personnel

*Masami Akita – EMS Synthi 'A', noise electronics, metal, filters, voice

Marfan Syndrome

"Marfan Syndrome for Blue" is Akita's first track to use the EMS synthesiser. Track 2 is a reference to

Claes Oldenburg Claes Oldenburg (January 28, 1929 – July 18, 2022) was a Swedish-born American sculptor, best known for his public art installations typically featuring large replicas of everyday objects. Another theme in his work is soft sculpture versions ...

, who creates oversized sculptures of everyday objects, including soft sculptures.

Notes

*Track 1 appeared with different mix on ''Eternal Blue Extreme'' compilation, Somnus, 1994 *Track 4 appeared edited on ''Coruscanto'' by Reiko Azuma, Nekoisis, 1995 *All others previously unreleased

Personnel

*Masami Akita – noise electronics, EMS, Synare 3, metals, rubber bass guitar, telephone signal, tape, voice *Reiko Azuma – voice on tracks 1 and 5

Rhinogradentia

Named after a fictitious order of mammals. Masami Akita performed solo twice as Zecken, playing this style.

Notes

*Remixed in 1997

Personnel

*Masami Akita – noise electronics, EMS, audio generator, filters

Space Mix Travelling Band

Tracks 1–2 are based on four channel tape: two channels recorded in 1994 and used on tracks of the same period, and two channels of EMS recorded in 1996. Additional EMS and Moog overdub and final mix in 1997.

Notes

*Raw materials of tracks recorded during 1994–1996 *Track 3 different mix used as raw material for ''Brisbane–Tokyo Interlace'' with John Watermann, Cold Spring, 1996

Personnel

*Masami Akita – noise electronics, EMS, Moog, metals, voice, tapes

Motorond

Track 1 was the most recent live performance when the ''Merzbox'' was compiled.

Notes

*All remixed at ZSF Produkt Studio, April 1997 *Track 2 last 10 minutes appeared on ''Non Stop Noise Party'', Hond in de Goot, 2000

Personnel

*Masami Akita – noise electronics,

Novation Novation, in contract law and business law, is the act of – # replacing an obligation to perform with another obligation; or # adding an obligation to perform; or # replacing a party to an agreement with a new party. In international law, no ...

Bass Station, metals, pressure pedal *Bara – voice

Annihiloscillator

Selection of recent tracks when the ''Merzbox'' was compiled. Track 3 is a reference to

Marguerite Yourcenar Marguerite Yourcenar (, , ; born Marguerite Antoinette Jeanne Marie Ghislaine Cleenewerck de Crayencour; 8 June 1903 – 17 December 1987) was a Belgian-born French novelist and essayist, who became a US citizen in 1947. Winner of the ''Prix Fem ...

's ''Dark Brain of Piranesi'', an essay about

Giovanni Battista Piranesi Giovanni Battista (or Giambattista) Piranesi (; also known as simply Piranesi; 4 October 1720 – 9 November 1778) was an Italian Classical archaeologist, architect, and artist, famous for his etchings of Rome and of fictitious and atmospheric " ...

's ''Carceri'' prints.

Notes

*Raw material for track 2 recorded live in California, 1995 *Track 4 appeared on Merzbow/Kadef split 10″, Dreizehn, 1997

Personnel

*Masami Akita – metal, noise electronix, EMS on tracks 1–2,

Theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone/etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named afte ...

on tracks 1–4, Moog on track 4 *Reiko Azuma – noise on track 2 *Bara – voice on track 2

References

{{Authority control Merzbow compilation albums 2000 compilation albums