Here’s quite a surprise that was offered us today! In collaboration with Cold Spring we at Side-Line present you “Extinct “, a unique collaboration between the industrial breakbeat pioneers of Meat Beat Manifesto (Jack Dangers) and the king of Japanese noise, Merzbow (Masami Akita).

On “Extinct” the duo takes listeners on a journey, focusing on the dismantling of beat and structure and recycling the result through layers of beautifully crafted noise and feedback loops. The release will be out on CD (pre-order here) and on LP (pre-order the black LP here / pre-order the ltd. red LP here) next to download via Bandcamp and streaming on other platforms.

You can now exclusively stream the full release on Side-Line.

The 20 minute opener “Flakka” takes constantly evolving breakbeats (which are gradually broken down over time) and drives it through a filter of harsh noise, “destroying the old to give birth to the new”, as Todd Robinson (Subunit) puts it. On side two we find “Burner” of which the initial drum beat is broken down so that it is barely recognisable.

The duo’s collaboration is actually best described by Jack Dangers who says: “We may not speak the same language, but in the vortex of sound there is a raw, primal understanding that transcends words. Noise can be art – a visual representation could perhaps be Jackson Pollock’s ‘No. 5, 1948’ – a plexus of chaos redefining what music can and could be. Pushing boundaries with Masami wasn’t just a musical adventure, it was a masterclass in sonic anarchy.”

About Meat Beat Manifesto

Meat Beat Manifesto is an industrial, electronic, experimental group originally consisting of Jack Dangers and Jonny Stephens that was formed in 1987 in Swindon. Fronted by Dangers (the only permanent member), MBM have proven versatile, experimenting with techno, breakbeat, industrial, dub and jazz fusion while touring the world and influencing major acts such as Nine Inch Nails, Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy. Some of the band’s earlier work has been credited with influencing the rise of the trip hop, big beat and drum & bass genres.

About Merzbow

Merzbow is Masami Akita, ‘the King of Japanese Noise’. Born in 1956 in Tokyo, he formed the premier Japanoise group Merzbow in 1979, and has released over 400 albums to date. Akita has worked with many different media, both in a directorial and soundtrack role. He has also developed performance works and art installations involving Butoh dance and other Japanese cultural forms. Merzbow has collaborated with many of today’s most important recording artists and continues to be one of the most prolific musicians alive. The name is derived from Kurt Schwitters’s artwork ‘Merzbau’, and is pronounced the same way.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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(Photo via Merzbow) Out via Old Europa Café in early September is the CD re-edition of an ultra-rare Merzbow tape, “Flesh Metal Orgasm”, which was originally released in 1989 on Nihilistic Recordings and then re-released in 2010 by Blossoming Noise. Both editions are long time sold out and this is the first time this album is released on CD format.

Recorded live at the ZSF Studio in September 1988, the tapes and CD hold 2 tracks, “No-1” (21:50) and “No-2” (24:14). The material for the CD release has now been re-mastered by Masami Akita.

Below are the the visuals for the original tape releases. And below that the new CD artwork.

About Merzbow

Merzbow is an extreme experimental music project created in Tokyo in 1979 under the direction of musician Masami Akita and is recognized as being one of the earliest projects in what has become known as Japanese noise. Highly prolific, Merzbow has released hundreds of recordings since 1979.

Originally Merzbow was formed in 1979 as a duo of Masami Akita and Kiyoshi Mizutani. In 1989 Kiyoshi Mizutani left and Merzbow became a solo project of Masami Akita. Since 1991 Merzbow became a trio of Masami Akita with Reiko Azuma (electronics and voice) and Tetsuo Sakaibara (aka Bara) (voice and dance). Since 1999 Merzbow became a solo project of Masami Akita again.

Akita’s early work consisted of industrial noise music made from tape loops and conventional instruments. Similar to his present albums, he produced lengthy, disorienting pieces.

During the 1990s Akita’s work became much harsher and was generally mastered at a louder volume than usual. These were heavily influenced by death metal and grindcore bands of the time (a prime example is the “Venereology” album). The mid-1990s saw Akita being heavily influenced by psychedelic bands and this was reflected in various albums.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Out on September 17th is the re-release for the first time ever on (double)CD of two legendary, historical Merzbow tapes, documenting the first Japanoise era.

Special guest on “Solonoise 1” was Kiyoshi Mizutani. This albums offers pure analog noise with varied timbre and string, keyboard, percussion additions. These early tracks are not the overwhelming electronic noise which dominated the project’s late 1980s & 1990s work.

All the material from the tapes was remasteredd by Masami Akita in 2021 for this 2CD re-edition.

Here’s what you can expect.

About Merzbow

Merzbow is the main recording name of Japanese noise rock artist Masami Akita. The pseudonym is derived from an artwork by the German Dadaist Kurt Schwitters, de Merzbau.

He mainly uses this name for his experimental noise albums. His huge catalog of CDs, LPs and cassettes makes him one of the most important figures in today’s noise scene. He got his greatest inspiration from the band Les Rallizes Denudes, which also came from Japan.

Akita has also collaborated with other artists, such as Otomo Yoshihide and Mike Patton, but most of the albums under his Merzbow pseudonym were made by him alone.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Genre/Influences: Experimental, noise.

Background/Info: Originally released in 1999, “A Perfect Pain” has been now remastered and re-released. The work features two major artists from the industrial/noise fields. At one side there’s Genesis Breyer P-Orridge who’s one of the pioneers of industrial/experimental music. As member of Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV he became a world-wide recognized artist for his ‘art’. At the other side there’s Masami Akita, the Japanese ‘king’ of noise.

Content: The procedure both artists have used to make this work come through is quite simple. Genesis Breyer P-Orridge wrote the texts while Masami Akita added his familiar noise work. The fusion between both artist is really interesting as it creates a good-old, early experimental/industrial format. This is the kind of production that could have been released during the 80s. The texts of Orridge are worthy of examination; there’s something very critical, but also philosophical.

+ + + : When two ‘giant’ artists work together you only, but can obtain something special. And that’s what this album stands for. The lyrics were performed in a narrating style, but it also sounds a bit ghost-like while the ‘music’ reveals a subtle noise approach. I know it sounds a bit weird to speak about noise and subtlety, but there really is something ‘refined’ in the work of Merzbow. This is the kind of work I like for reminding me to early 80s productions.

– – – : While this work will be adored by lovers of extreme sounds it will be hardly accessible for the others.

Conclusion: Cold Spring once again recovered a great album from dust. It’s an opportunity to (re)discover this interesting and successful collaboration.

Best songs: “Flowering Pain Give Space”, “A Perfect Restraint”.

Rate: (8).

Artists: http://merzbow.net / www.facebook.com/OfficialMerzbow /
www.facebook.com/Genesis-BREYER-P-ORRIDGE-171735929627691

Label: www.coldspring.co.uk / www.facebook.com/coldspringhq

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

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