The Merzbow Archive series by Slowdown Records, which has released six editions so far, enters its seventh edition. This edition consists of six albums of unearthed material from 1996 to 1998. "Medamaya-O" contains outtakes from "Medamaya", which was released in 2004 as part of a 3-CD box set called "Last Of Analogue Sessions" (Important Records). The 'O' in the title is the 'O' in Outtakes. The recording of "Medamaya" was done in 1998, but it was unreleased due to the busy production of "Merzbox" at the same time, and was later released in 2004. This album, an outtake of it, was also recorded in 1998. At this time, Merzbow frequently used multi-effects pedals such as Boss SE70 and Korg AX30 Tone Works, which were characterized by their digital and cheap harmonizer-like sounds. There are also a few metal sounds, and percussion sounds that could be sampled or drum synths. This is a unique aspect of this period of music, as it combines boomy bass sounds from the synth-oriented style of the near past with a unique texture of sounds that have been radically modulated and crushed by a variety of sound sources and digital effects.
At the time, Akita was also obsessed with modern architecture (mainly the reconstruction of Tokyo after the Great Kanto Earthquake), and many of the artworks released during this period featured photographs of these buildings, which became an essential visual element of his work. For this reason, the artwork for this edition also uses photographs of buildings and other structures taken by Akita around 1998.
yorosz(aka Shuta Hiraki)
credits
released October 25, 2021
All Music by Masami Akita
Recorded & mixed at ZSF Produkt 1998.
Remastered at Munemihouse, Tokyo 2019.
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
The pulsing industrial sounds on the wonderfully brutal new LP from Tokyo group Rinsaga will be catnip for the black-glove-and-mesh set. Bandcamp New & Notable Aug 15, 2022
Composer Eiko Ishibashi's soundtrack from "Drive My Car" is full of sweeping yet gentle melodies that rise and fall in romantic waves. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 3, 2022