Merzbear, 2007

Another one of the Merz-Series on Important Rec.

1		Part.1 (8:20)
2		Part.2 (9:54)
3		Part.3 (15:17)
4		Part.4 (16:04)

I don't know about you guys out in the virtual world out there, but I'm pretty chuffed to see Mr. Merzbow (otherwise known as Japanoise genius Masami Akita) dumping the chugging laptop noise rubbish and going back to what I really like - guitars and analogue synths. 'Merzbear' is the sixth album in Akita's Merz series for Important records and is the most 'analogue' yet, with most of the sounds coming from killer vintage analogue synth the EMS Synthi and his homemade 'junk' guitar. I'm not entirely sure what a junk guitar is but listening to the tracks on here it's made pretty clear the sort of noises that come out of it - screeching deadly tones and rumbles that cut through the record like a knife through butter. This is Merzbow how I love to hear him, taking a chunk of Nurse With Wound and Throbbing Gristle and fusing it with a love of early electronics and psychedelic rock - the resulting audio slop is not as frenetic or as unlistenable as you might think either. It's hard to explain, it's still noise but this ain't Akita in full-on white noise mode, this is something far more interesting than that, and while it isn't as traditionally 'noisy', it has an intensity which is almost impossible to match. With 'Merzbear' we have Akita turning to the young upstarts of the noise scene and showing that he can take them all on at once, man to man - they might be putting the punk rock back into it, but damn, Akita was there 25 years ago and he's still got it. Whether it's shards of broken electric guitar or giant oscillating synthesizer drones, each sound is terrifying and visceral - you want something that's gonna make you sit up and take notice, look no further. Without a doubt my favourite so far in the Merz series and probably Akita's finest work for a while now, you need this album.
- Boomkat Presstext

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Amlux, 2002

1		Takemitsu (5:26)
2		Looping Jane (15:41)
3		Cow Cow (4:22)
4		Luxurious Automobile (Krokodile Texas Mix) (22:23)

Masami Akita continues to have a way of creating noise that cannot be ignored, whether it's harsh or quietly menacing. A lot of noise work risks either fading into the background or being unlistenably repetitive and one-dimensional. While like anyone who releases so much, not every Merzbow release is essential, the sounds here demand attention, due to both their constant change and careful composition. The myriad of ways in which Akita destroys, demolishes, and alters these sounds makes it clear that his many years of dedication to experimental audio work has taught him a lot of worthy lessons. We can all be glad of our continued opportunities to enjoy the results. This is another superb addition to the Merzbow catalog.
- Read the rest of the review over at dusted

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Merzbird, 2004

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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Minazo Volume 2, 2006

And here is the second and last part of his Minazo tribute.

A		Minazo At The Heart Of Crab Nebula Pt.1 (16:37)
B		Minazo At The Heart Of Crab Nebula Pt.2 (19:11)

The second part of Masami Akita's tributes to his seal and lover 'Minazo', this sees the musician again on blistering form. You might be thinking 'another Merzbow record?' (I know I was) but this is what we all wanted from him in the first place - blistering and loud analogue noise, effected screetches and squelches straight from the annals of hell. I like it very much and I should also note that it's on rather spiffing green vinyl.
- Boomkat Presstext

Rapidshare.com [1], Mediafire.com [1]

Mp3@xxxkbps, 64mb

Minazo Volume 1, 2006

First of the two tribute albums to Minazo.

1		Land Of Sea Mammal (13:49)
2		Sea Breeze (14:44)
3		Voices From The Sea (18:49)
4		Destructive Funeral (11:18)

I love this brutal tribute album. Merzbow aka Masami Akita begins his liner notes thus: "Minazo, an elephant seal, died at 17:15 pm on October 4, 2005. He was 11 years old, still young for an elephant seal whose life expectancy is 20 years on average. Whatever the cause of death, I feel sadness and anger each time I hear about animals dying in captivity far away from their natural habitat." Sadness and Anger, you see, inspired this album. Merzbow sets about his layered, textured aural assault to inflict pain on the listener, to show the mad, uncontrollable rage of the over-abused sea-life in our world today.

"Land Of Sea Mammal" hurls looping bass with supercharged high frequency squeals across the land. It stutters crazily, moans maniacally, and genius of geniuses, sounds like a very sick Minazo. The breeze on "Sea Breeze" is a torrential sleet of slicing noise advancing inland to wreck havoc on earth. Get your kids far away from "Voices From The Sea". Commencing with odd bits and pieces clanking, it explodes into a wailing frenzy of demonic voices admist a lo-fi drilling bassline. The voices are inhuman; they are electronics mimicking the desperate cries of very sick or angry creatures. You pick whichever scares you more. In the closing "Destructive Funeral", alarms and sirens shriek with all their might against an impenetrable, claustrophobic wall of electronic noise, as a final tribute - a death seal, if you like - to the demise of Minazo.

Even if your listening faculties are no longer intact after the 4 tracks, Merzbow's message is still pretty clear: Torture the animals, and they'll torture you someday.
- discogs Userreview (by FLuViRuS)
- Brainwashed Review

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Mp3@xxxkbps, 82mb

Merzbeat, 2002

After the harsh start an experimental Merzbow release, it has a beat which is quite unusual for him but nowhere near mainstream. It's also the first time that Minazo appeared on the artwork (but it's not part of the Minazo tribute series):

1		Promotion Man (8:58)
2		Forgotten Land (13:20)
3		Shadow Barbarian (Long Mix) (11:49)
4		Tadpole (5:51)
5		Looping Jane (Beat Mix) (8:26)
6-64		Untitled (0:04)
65		Untitled (0:06)
66		Amlux (Remixed By Jack Dangers) (2nd Version) (8:17)

Part of the Merz series that has seen the inclusion of real beats rather than sampled jazz loops. A real drift from what you might expect from a Merzbow album and one that has divided fans, mainly those who don't like the purely digital side he has recently explored. This is genuinely one of his best releases and is worth it alone for the track Tadpole, more ambient than any track he's done recently and similar in style to the Kid606 album PS I Love You, though the Kid never comes close!
- discogs Userreview (by blowfish)
- Stylus Magazine Review
- Brainwashed Review

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Mp3@xxxkbps,