Sphere Sessions

by Merzbow

supported by

	/

Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

$9 USD or more

	1.	Sphere Pt.1 (Another Take 1) 13:37
	2.	Sphere Pt.1 (Another Take 2) 08:46
	3.	Sphere Pt.1 (Another Take 3) 08:25
	4.	Fragment 04:13
	5.	Sphere Pt.3 (Long Mix) 21:53

about

The Merzbow Archive series by Slowdown Records, which has released nine editions so far, enters its tenth edition. This edition contains recording material from 2004 to 2005. Merzbow was very busy during this period, releasing a huge number of works including "Merzbird", "Sphere", and "Turmeric", and performing overseas. As a result, there were not many sound sources that had been completed and unreleased, so this edition contains mainly edited rehearsal sound sources for live performances. The rehearsal sound sources were composed with live performances in mind, and included patterns that were used repeatedly in live performances at the time, but the overlapping parts were edited out to ensure the individuality of the work. Other than the live rehearsals, the album contains re-issues from the very few edition works at the time, long mixes of previously released songs, and outtakes. Merzbow started to use laptops as well as self-made instruments and analog equipment in his live performances around the latter half of 2005, so the period of this edition can be seen as the culmination of his laptop-only performances and productions that he have been attempting since 1999. In 2003, he became a Vegan in ideology, and the theme of his music production shifted toward Veganarchism (Vegan Anarchism), and many animal motifs appeared in his artwork and titles.
This album "Sphere Sessions" contains outtakes and long mixes of the album "Sphere" released from Tzadik in 2005. "Sphere" was produced in response to a request from John Zorn, the organizer of Tzadik, through Ikue Mori, to release a drum-based album, which differed in style from the material Merzbow produced spontaneously around the same time. At the time, Merzbow had not produced any works using drums, so he took a snare drum out of the closet and recorded himself beating some patterns in a corner of the room, which were then sampled and produced. In the multiple takes recorded, the sound of the hard snare drum is variously aided/transformed and intertwined with noise, creating an industrial sound. There are times when it sounds like an extreme festival music, perhaps due to the characteristics of the original performance sample. In terms of the use of drums, it can be said that it is similar to Merzbow's later work where drums and noise sounds are improvised side by side, but in this work, the drums are used only as sampling material. As a result, a completely different sound is produced.

yorosz(aka Shuta Hiraki)

credits

released December 26, 2021

Composed, Mixed, Performed by – Masami Akita
Recorded at Bedroom, Tokyo 2004
Mixed & Remastered at Munemihouse, Tokyo 2020
Mastered at Kentaro Hayashi, Osaka, Japan.
Yasuyuki Nakamura (slowdown records) : A&R

license

about

Merzbow Tokyo, Japan

contact / help

Contact Merzbow

Streaming and
Download help

Report this album or account

If you like Merzbow, you may also like:

Konchuuki
by Merzbow

supported by 7 fans who also own “Sphere Sessions”
go to album
Uzu Me Ku
by Merzbow

supported by 6 fans who also own “Sphere Sessions”

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
go to album
Scandal
by Merzbow

supported by 6 fans who also own “Sphere Sessions”

Rapidly growing to become one of my favourite releases in the Merzbow discography. Very interesting sounds for them! aneurysmhooker
go to album
‘Saga’
by Rinsaga

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
go to album
Drive My Car Original Soundtrack (with bonus tracks)
by Eiko Ishibashi

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
go to album
Vertigo KO
by Phew

Culled from unreleased recordings from her recent "Light Sleep" and "Voice Hardcore" releases, Hiromi Moritani's latest showcases the softer, less harrowing side of Phew’s sound Bandcamp Album of the Day Sep 2, 2020
go to album
Green Wheels
by Merzbow

supported by 5 fans who also own “Sphere Sessions”

Easily one of my favourite Merzbow records and one of my favourite noise records in general. Expertly crafted and blisteringly hot sonically, it's definitely not one to miss. heckicus_doomicus_wizardus
go to album