Groon Lesson
Recorded during the height of the 13 Japanese Birds series production, these three performances capture Merzbow at peak drumming-era intensity. The centerpiece - a commanding 32-minute second track - demonstrates the extended improvisational structures characteristic of this period. The encounter with Balázs Pándi, a drummer sharing similar musical background (not only metal and grindcore, but also Sun Ra and free jazz), led to Merzbow's desire to pursue drumming as duo collaboration. After this…
Red Brick
Test mixes for Arijigoku (Vivo, 2008)—Merzbow's first full-fledged combination of live drums with improvised noise performance. Drums were recorded separately in a rented studio, then mixed with noise at a later date. This preliminary version offers vivid documentation of the trial-and-error process underlying a landmark release.
The progression across three tracks demonstrates the range achievable through drum-noise synthesis: from the opening track's carefully balanced spatial composition to t…
Ensemble Drums
Alternate mixes from two essential albums: Protean World (Noiseville, 2008) and Microkosmos (Blossoming Noise, 2009). Drumming was recorded separately in rented studio space, capturing Akita's return to the instrument after decades.
The first track fuses drumming with improvisational noise - drums rampage at high velocity without steady beat, pure kinetic energy. The second and third tracks reveal different performance flavors: gradually intensifying roughness merging with noise, interwoven with…
Drumorph
Primarily computer-based but incorporating sampled drums, this album documents the earliest experiments leading to the full drum integration that would define this period. Finely cut drum sounds ricochet through space in the first two tracks, with fierce original drum performances unexpectedly emerging between the processed fragments—allowing listeners to experience drums in multiple transformed states.
Recorded just one month before the Anicca sessions, Drumorph captures the pivotal moment when…
Interrupteur / Tautologos 3 (CD)
1999 re-issue on Blue Chopsticks of the EMI LP with two landmark instrumental compositions respectively from 1967 and 1970.
Chansons Pour Le Corps / Et Si Tout Entière Maintenant (CD)
Two intriguing late 1980's pieces respectively for voice and instruments and a symphonic tale with memorized sounds released on Mode in 2002.
Archives Génétiquement Modifiées / Société II (CD)
Excellent 2008 CD-only release on Robot of the 2000 piece for for memorized sounds coupled with the only CD re-issue of the 1968 recording of the 1967 piece for 4 soloists and 16 instruments.
Chantal (CD)
2004 CD-only release on Avatar/OHM of the touching 1978 portrait of a villager in collaboration with Brunhild Meyer-Ferrari.
Les Anecdotiques (CD)
2004 CD-only release on Sub Rosa of the evocative 2002 radio piece composed using recordings made during trips.
Symphonie Déchirée (CD+DVD)
Wonderful symphony for 17 instruments and memorized sounds composed in 1998, performed by Ars Nova Ensemble and released by L'Empreinte Digitale in 2013 as a set including a DVD with Jacqueline Caux's film of the perfomance plus estras.
Feedback Purple Yellow
Recorded as prototype material for the Here album (L. White Records, 2008) but ultimately unused. Deafening self-made instrument sounds run parallel with dull, boomy distorted noise, their synergy creating a strong sense of speed.
Very few sounds identifiable as laptop-generated appear—indicating increased analog equipment use following the 2005 transition. The "Etude" designation for three tracks suggests methodical exploration, studies in specific techniques. The color title evokes synesthetic…
Coma Test
Coma Test pushes toward sensory overload approaching coma-like disconnection, testing how much the nervous system can absorb. The title suggests medical experimentation, perhaps referencing animal testing practices that Akita opposes, or simply the extreme states his music induces.
Bloodour
Bloodour's visceral title ("blood" + "our") suggests shared complicity - the blood is ours, we are responsible. These recordings emerge from the Minazo/F.I.D./Merzbear period, when Merzbow explicitly addressed animal cruelty with unflinching directness.
27 August 2006
Another precisely dated document from the animal rights period, continuing intensive summer 2006 documentation. Together with the August 15 companion, it provides comprehensive insight into Merzbow's live approach during this activist phase - translating ideological commitments into sonic form.
The twelve-day gap between recordings allows comparison of performances, revealing both consistency and variation in Akita's live practice.
15 August 2006
This live recording from Metro in Kyoto captures Merzbow in confrontational performance mode. August 15 holds significance in Japan as the World War II end anniversary - whether intentional or not, this historical resonance adds layers of meaning. The date marks both defeat and liberation, ending and beginning.
Significantly, 2006 marked Akita's return to performing with analog equipment and live drums alongside laptop - a hybrid approach combining digital precision with physical immediacy.
Cred…
Pig AY
Pig AY extends animal-themed titles becoming prominent following Akita's veganism adoption in 2003. The pig - intelligent, social, routinely abused by industrial agriculture - would become a recurring figure in later work. This early reference suggests themes gestating before full ideological commitment.
Pigs possess intelligence comparable to dogs and young children, yet endure conditions unthinkable for companion animals. Akita's interest in pigs reflects both their abuse by human systems and …
Material For Structure I
Recorded in September 2002, Material for Structure I unfolds across 50 minutes as a continuously evolving sonic organism. The first half emphasizes repetition, gradually building toward chaotic avalanches of sound. Throughout, electronically randomized frequencies color the space, demonstrating mature command of computer-generated textures.
Remarkably, despite the digital tool shift, performances retain the freakish intensity of 1990s analog sessions - proof that expression transcends equipment.…
SCSI Duck 2
The title playfully merges computer technology (SCSI interfaces dominating 90s computing) with animal imagery - collision typical of Akita's conceptual approach. The "Duck" suggests both the animal and evasive movement - ducking, dodging. These recordings demonstrate characteristic humor often overlooked by commentators emphasizing intensity.
SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) represents an era when connecting devices required specialized knowledge and cable; the "duck" perhaps navigates the…
3rd Of May Vol.1
Precisely dated to May 3, 2003, these recordings document Merzbow during the exceptionally productive period yielding Cycle, Merzbird, and Tamago. Listeners familiar with Tamago will recognize kindred elements - particularly drum-like samples erupting from multiple directions in midsections, creating quasi-rhythmic structures amid textural chaos.
The date perhaps references Goya's famous painting "The Third of May 1808," depicting war's brutality - a connection that resonates with Merzbow's own …
3rd Of May Vol.2
Volume 2 features extended development of repetitive elements, with beat-like samples undergoing extreme abstraction through effects processing - documenting Akita's ongoing stylistic experimentation even within established methodology. The continuation from Vol.1 allows deeper immersion in that single day's creative output.