The Merzbow Archive series by Slowdown Records, which has released ten editions so far, enters its eleventh edition. This edition contains recording material from 2006 to 2007. This period saw the release of "Minazo" (Important Records, 2006), "F.I.D. (Fur Is Dead)" (Fourth Dimension Records, 2006), "Bloody Sea" (Vivo, 2007), "Merzbear" (Important Records, 2007), and "Peace For Animals" (Quasi Pop Records, 2007). Each of these works has a message of mourning for the southern elephant seals kept at the Enoshima Aquarium, opposing fur, and protesting whaling and dolphin fishing, the bear slaughter, the Yasukuni Shrine pigeon release ceremony. All of these indicate that during this period, Akita's interest in animal rights, which began after he became a vegan in 2003, was expressed in his works as opposition to more specific issues. In addition, there was a big change in his musical life during this period, as he stopped playing live only with a laptop computer, which he had been doing since 1999, and started using analog equipment again. First, he added his own instruments and some effects pedals to laptop, and as time went on, he gradually started to use more analog equipment. Furthermore, the use of on-stage guitar and bass amps, which had been stopped during the laptop- only gigs, was resumed.
As the title suggests, this album "27 August 2006" contains live recordings from the August 27, 2006 event at Shibuya Mixrooffice. The event was held to celebrate the 12th anniversary of "Los Apson?" record store in Tokyo, and was an exciting one, with Merzbow as the live act and TOHRU TAKAHASHI and MOODMAN booked as DJs. The performance was performed using EMS Synthi A, analog noise pedals and computers, just like "15 August 2006" to be released at the same time. The performance is impressive in its simplicity and power, evolving from intense noise sounds to scenes driven by repetitive sounds, which are then cut off and further developed into an overflow of noise. The simplicity of the composition allows the listener to enjoy the dense presence of distorted sounds from metal devices and highly tactile electronic sounds that seem to scratch the space or remind one of machine gun fire.
yorosz(aka Shuta Hiraki)
credits
released February 28, 2022
Composed, Mixed, Performed by – Masami Akita
Recorded live at Mixooffice, Tokyo, 27 August 2006.
Remixed at Munenihouse, Tokyo Aug 2020.
Mastered at Kentaro Hayashi, Osaka, Japan.
Yasuyuki Nakamura (slowdown records) : A&R
While still sounding harsh a lot of the time, this will not obliterate you like other Merzbow releases. Steady elements give a noob like me something to cling to amidst the chaos. Hans
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