Merzbow Catalysis

A certain magic floods the room when free improvisers of the highest order get together to make music. And when said improvisers are also kindred spirits who know and can anticipate each other’s moves, a kind of wonderful telepathy takes over. Such was the case when enigmatic Japanese noise legend Merzbow (Masami Akita) got together in the studio with fellow countryman Keiji Haino and Hungarian drummer Balazs Pandi for Become The Discovered, Not The Discoverer.

The skylines of Tokyo and New York City are impenetrable. On the streets it is cold - the ravens have blocked out the sun. The barbed chicken wire that surrounds the cities wave scraps of plastic shreds of circuit boards like surrender flags. Ravens have become the society, they are now the rulers.

SCSI Duck is the 2004 album by Japanese noise artist Merzbow. This was released by Fourth Dimension.

Merzbird is the 2004 album by Japanese noise artist Merzbow. This was released by Important, because it is important.

Merzzow is the 2002 album by Japanese noise artist Merzbow. This was released by Opposite.

In their first collaborative album, pioneering Japanese sound artist Merzbow and prolific outsider outfit Sissy Spacek unite to unleash an unstoppable firebomb of frenzied electronics and raging percussion across two 45-minute discs in this monumental set. Assembled July–September 2023, it features a lineup of Masami Akita, Charlie Mumma, and John Wiese, with a special appearance by Phil Blankenship (The Cherry Point). Beautifully packaged in a metallic gatefold digipak with artwork by John Wiese.

Avant-garde music lovers from all over the spectrum will raise their eyebrows at this record: Merzbow and Sun Ra are two of the most prolific sound-weirdos out there, but this is the first time their paths have crossed. Of course, Sun Ra returned to Saturn decades ago, but Masami Akita got his hands on some unheard Ra recordings and fed them through his Merz-blender. The results make for a Strange City indeed.

A certain magic floods the room when free improvisers of the highest order get together to make music. And when said improvisers are also kindred spirits who know and can anticipate each other's moves, a kind of wonderful telepathy takes over. Such was the case when enigmatic Japanese noise legend Merzbow (Masami Akita) got together in the studio with fellow countryman Keiji Haino and Hungarian drummer Balazs Pandi for Become The Discovered, Not The Discoverer. For their second encounter for RareNoise Records, following 2016's An Untroublesome Defencelessness, the three intrepid improvisers explore a threshold of sound so blisteringly intense, that it passes into a zone of divine cacophony.