Often described as synonymous with ”Noise”, Merzbow has experimented with many things in its more than 40 years of activity.
Slowdown Records has developed a close friendship with Merzbow. He has released several original albums on the label, including 3RENSA, a collaboration with duenn and Nyantora released in 2017, as well as Kaoscitron, Kaerutope, Indigo Dada, Sparrow Color 1, and Sparrow Color 2. And from 2018 to 2022, we have developed a lengthy ”Slowdown Archive Series” that ultimately resulted in a lineup of 16 chapters (96 albums).
And this 2024, Slowdown Records is launching a new series that will extend Merzbow’s omnipresence. The series is unique in that it will be released exclusively in the form of digital albums on Bandcamp. This format may come as a surprise to many, as Merzbow has stubbornly emphasized the importance of physical media in the release of its work in the past. Akita, however, does not completely rule out the possibility that the works in this series will later be released in other media as well. However, this article will consider the impact on Merzbow’s discography of the quirkiness of the digital-only release, at least for the time being.
The tracks will be primarily selected by Masami Akita himself from previously unreleased material. In other words, this series can be seen as a continuation of the “Merzbox” 50-CD box set and the “Slowdown Archive Series,” in which Merzbow has quantitatively demonstrated the ungraspable nature of this project. And because it will be in digital format only, this series will be even more striking in its endlessly proliferating aspect.
The sheer volume of work that Merzbow has released on cassette, vinyl, CD, and various other media is legendary. It would be no exaggeration to say that the sheer vastness of it all is beyond recognition, as it is very difficult to grasp, let alone actually listen to or acquire. In short, Merzbow is ubiquitous in every aspect of the widely distributed media used to record sound. The content rate is staggering for a single individual activity. In the digital realm, many of Merzbow’s recent works have also been released as digital albums, and a variety of past works (1980s to the 2020s) are available through subscription services. However, when Merzbow has released digitally, it has most often been simultaneously released on physical media. It was very rare for a “digitalonly” release. So, this series will add a new dimension to Merzbow’s omnipresence.
In addition, an integral part of the series is the AI-created artwork by Masami Akita. Artwork has always been an important part of Merzbow’s work, along with sound. Collages and architectural photographs have suggested his backbone, while photographs and drawings of animals have conveyed changing thoughts and interests.
The new trend of using AI impresses us with the speed with which he incorporates new technologies into his work. He has often made bold decisions, such as switching to playing on his laptop at the end of the 1990s. Such flexibility is part of Merzbow’s “extreme” nature.
yorosz (aka Shuta Hiraki)