Sphere, 2005

1		Sphere Pt. 1 (9:13)
2		Sphere Pt. 2 (15:29)
3		Sphere Pt. 3 (13:30)
4		Untitled For Vasteras (29:35)

Another wild and wonderful celebration of noise from the singular Japanese pioneer who started it all. Active in live noise electronics since 1978, Akita Masami is an international cult figure, and for his second Tzadik release we are once again treated to music unlike anything he has ever done before. Mixing a whole new world of acoustic percussion and drumming into his enormous arsenal of analog and digital noise makers, Sphere is one of Merzbow’s most startling and unique creations. A powerful symphony of noise from one of Japan’s most important musical thinkers.
- Tzadik Presstext

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Merzbuddha, 2005

1		Mantra 1 (21:42)
2		Mantra 2 (16:53)
3		Mantra 3 (21:01)

Warning; this man is out to eat your ears! After a dub drenched summer spent listening to the likes of Horace Andy and Keith Hudson, Merzbow (aka Masami Atika) decided to set about procuring himself some serious low-end dub shenanigans to under wire the analogue/noise kaleidoscope displayed on his previous two releases. Opening with the cochlea shredding digital onslaught of 'Mantra 1' it soon becomes apparent that Akita is intent on taking dub down to the Styx and cadging a lift into Hades with old man Charon. So low down it's literally subterranean, Merzbow pumps fistfuls of guttural dub into growling wads of rimy electro-fermented feedback, allowing the whole thing to jerk along in the most debauched and pleasing of fashions. Continuing along a similar by-way, 'Mantra 2' has shades of Aphex in its utter disregard for conventional form or function, splicing what sounds ominously like a chain-saw onto analogue screams and a dirty-as-you-like clunking rhythm that best represents the kind of thing heavy industrial machinery must listen to in their spare time. Concluding with the tempestuous and utterly brutal 'Mantra 3', 'Merzbuddha' is the kind of record that'll keep the neighbours awake for months. Ouch.
- Boomkat Presstext

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