MERZBOW – Lowest Music.2 LP

URASHIMA

Merzbow stands as the most important artist in noise music. The moniker of Japanese Masami Akita was born in Tokyo in 1979. Inspired by Dadaism and Surrealism, Akita took the name for his project from German artist Kurt Schwitters’ pre-war architectural assemblage “The Cathedral of Erotic Misery” or “Merzbau”. Just as Schwitters attacked the entrenched artistic traditions of his time with his revolutionary avant-garde collages, so too would Akita challenge the contemporary concept of what is called music. Merzbow would draw further influence from the Futurist movement. Not only would he embrace the Futurists’ love of technology and the machine civilization, but he would push their fondness for noise to the very boundaries of the extreme. Working in his home, he quickly gained notoriety as a purveyor of a musical genre composed solely of pure, unadulterated noise. Consequently, in 1980 Masami founded the first noise label, Lowest Music and Arts. In this early period released Lowest Music.2 cassette using 4 track reel tape recorder with different loop and recorded by Monoural hand tape recorder. In 1990 Australian legendary label Extreme reissue a new version of cassette remixed by Masami Akita itself and then included in amazing 50 CDs Merzbox like Nil Vagina Tape Loop. For the first time original 1982 version has been released on vinyl and no changes of pitch were made in the mastering process. The record has been pressed on 140 gr black vinyl with black label and black inner sleeve and comes in a deluxe silver silkscreen on black cardboard sleeve, limited to 199 copies w/insert (original tape replica cover).