Duo (Merzbow album)

Last updated
Duo
Merzbow, Duo.jpg
Box set by Merzbow
Released January 1, 2013 (2013-01-01)
Recorded September 20, 1987 – September 15, 1989; November 23, 1979
Studio ZSF Produkt Studio, Studio Penta, and Tad Pole Studio, Tokyo
Genre Noise, improvisation
Length630:40 (normal edition)
671:43 (art edition)
Label Tourette
Producer Masami Akita
Merzbow chronology
Ko To No O To
(2012)		Duo
(2013)		 Takahe Collage
(2013)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
All About Jazz favorable [1]
Vital Weekly favorable [2]
Musique Machine Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]

Duo, subtitled Masami Akita & Kiyoshi Mizutani Selected Studio Sessions 1987–89, is a box set album by the Japanese noise project Merzbow. It is composed of unreleased studio sessions recorded with Kiyoshi Mizutani. Some of these recordings were used as raw material for solo releases like Scissors for Cutting Merzbow , but the original recordings were unreleased until now. These recordings mirror albums like Ecobondage , Enclosure , and Storage . The art edition comes with a bonus CD with a recording from 1979.

A box set or boxed set is a set of items packaged in a box, for sale as a single unit.

Merzbow Japanese noise project

Merzbow is a Japanese noise project started in 1979 by Masami Akita. Merzbow is best known for a style of harsh, confrontational noise as exemplified on the 1996 release Pulse Demon. Since 1980, Akita has released over 400 recordings and has collaborated with various artists.

<i>Scissors for Cutting Merzbow</i> 1989 studio album by SCUM

Scissors for Cutting Merzbow is an album by the Merzbow side project SCUM. It was the last LP record released by ZSF Produkt. The project's name is a play on the SCUM Manifesto, and the track titles were influenced by American post-war art. The artwork are collages including images from Human Sex Anatomy by Robert Latou Dickinson. An expanded version was later included in the Merzbox. Some of the original studio sessions were included on Duo.

Contents

During the 1980s, Merzbow was divided between Masami Akita's solo works and improvised works with Kiyoshi Mizutani. [4] Akita also frequently used recordings made with Mizutani as raw material for solo recordings. It was also during the time of these recordings that Merzbow (with Mizutani) first played outside Japan; Russia in 1988 and Western Europe in 1989. Mizutani left Merzbow in 1989 and continues his own solo career.

Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician(s) involved. The term can refer to both a technique and as a recognizable genre in its own right.

Track listing

All music composed by Masami Akita and Kiyoshi Mizutani.

CD 1
No.TitleLength
1."Duo 1987" ( [lower-alpha 1] )24:10
2."26 September 1987" ( [lower-alpha 1] )23:52
Total length:48:02
CD 2
No.TitleLength
1."19 June 1988 Part 1" ( [lower-alpha 2] )23:42
2."19 June 1988 Part 2" ( [lower-alpha 2] )23:16
Total length:46:58
CD 3
No.TitleLength
1."25 June 1988" ( [lower-alpha 1] )41:09
2."27 August 1988" ( [lower-alpha 1] )32:38
Total length:73:47
CD 4
No.TitleLength
1."25 June 1988 A" ( [lower-alpha 1] )44:10
2."Duo 1988 Penta 2" ( [lower-alpha 2] )23:29
Total length:67:37
CD 5
No.TitleLength
1."9 October Part 1" ( [lower-alpha 3] )29:26
2."9 October Part 2" ( [lower-alpha 3] )11:17
3."9 October Part 3" ( [lower-alpha 3] )20:11
Total length:60:54
CD 6
No.TitleLength
1."1 May 1988 B" ( [lower-alpha 1] )30:43
2."15 September 1989" ( [lower-alpha 2] )37:06
Total length:67:49
CD 7
No.TitleLength
1."16 April 1989 Part 1" ( [lower-alpha 2] )46:42
2."16 April 1989 Part 2" ( [lower-alpha 2] )25:18
Total length:72:00
CD 8
No.TitleLength
1."1 May 1988 A" ( [lower-alpha 2] )46:16
2."Duo 1988 Penta Part 3" ( [lower-alpha 2] )18:45
Total length:65:01
CD 9
No.TitleLength
1."15 September 1989 B" ( [lower-alpha 2] )33:57
2."Penta 1988 A" ( [lower-alpha 2] )38:58
Total length:72:55
CD 10
No.TitleLength
1."20 September 1987" ( [lower-alpha 1] )23:34
2."28 February 1988" ( [lower-alpha 1] )32:03
Total length:55:37
CD 11 (bonus disc)
No.TitleLength
1."23 November 1979" ( [lower-alpha 4] )41:03

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Recorded at ZSF Produkt Studio, Tokyo
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Recorded at Studio Penta, Otsuka, Tokyo
  3. 1 2 3 Recorded at Tad Pole Studio, Kyodo, Tokyo
  4. ↑ Recorded at local studio, Tokyo

Personnel

All personnel credits adapted from the album notes. [5]

Merzbow

The Synare was a series of electronic drums made by Star Instruments in the mid-1970s through the 1980s. The Synare was a drum synthesizer, meaning that it was essentially a synthesizer, but instead of being controlled by a keyboard, it was triggered by hitting rubber pads which were pressure-sensitive.

Production

Release history

Each disc comes in its own full-color sleeve, all packed in a hardcover box. The art edition includes a bonus CD with a recording from 1979 and a signed postcard.

Region Date Label Format Quantity Catalog
United States January 1, 2013 Tourette Records CD 400 tourette 032
100 tourette 032 art

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References

  1. ↑ Corroto, Mark (May 22, 2013). "Art Strike!". All About Jazz . Retrieved May 22, 2013.
  2. ↑ de Waard, Frans (February 11, 2013). "869". Vital Weekly. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
  3. ↑ Batty, Roger (January 14, 2014). "Merzbow - Duo". Musique Machine. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  4. ↑ Pouncey, Edwin (August 2000). "Consumed by Noise". The Wire (198).
  5. ↑ Duo (album notes). Merzbow. Tourette Records. 2013. tourette 032.
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