Early Sessions (6CD BOX)
This box set is derived from cassette tape recordings from 1979 to 1981. As it is the early period of the artist considered to be the God of Japanese Noise Music, Merzbow’s career, it is literally the beginning of Noise/ Music= The Origin of Sound. As these recordings are undifferentiated, it is the so-called “the beginning” of noise, of Merzbow himself and it is the roots of when he first started his musical activities, it resonates in its pure form. It is a recording that lays bare the beginnings of the history of noise music. – SoundOhm
CD 1: Hyper Music 1 Vol.1 (Released in April 2018)
Recorded Live at Studio on 24th Nov 1979.
Re-Mastered from Original Cassette Tape at Munemihouse, Tokyo on Nov 2017.
Masami Akita : Drums, Synthesizer
Kiyoshi Mizutani : Organ
Yasuyuki Nakamura (slowdown records) : A&R
Noise music gained its meaning largely due to Japanoise, and Industrial in the late 70s. This is the first recording of Merzbow, the “god” of Japanese noise, then it is truly the sound of the origin of “noise/music”. In fact, this recording, while undifferentiated, or rather, because it is undifferentiated, the very beginning of noise and Merzbow, the “root,” as it were, resounds in a pure state. The performance, which seems to stop time somehow, already makes us feel the desire for noise. This is truly a sounds that seems to reveal the origins of the history of noise music. It’s “atom = Merzbow”. – Denshi note
Today, Merzbow is synonymous with Masami Akita. Yet for this release and much of the first box set Merzbow is Masami Akita and Kiyoshi Mizutani. Kiyoshi Mizutani was a member of Merzbow until leaving in 1989. Between 1979 and 1989 albums sometimes featured Kiyoshi, or could be the solo work of Masami. Hyper Music 1 Vol 1. was recorded 24th November 1979 (a Saturday, apparently) so we’re already earlier than the Collection Era pieces or even the earliest recording on the Merzbox (OM Electronique, recorded 27 December 1979). I think the earliest Merzbow we’d heard to date was the A side of a C90 from 23rd November 1979 as a bonus disc in the Duo boxset.
It’s clear that our Denshi notes have been machine translated which is going to cause some issues going forward. I’m not 100% sure what this piece being “undifferentiated” means. Perhaps, that it is previously unreleased and so the music is in a pure state, not created with an audience in mind but just as experimentation? think the note is trying to say that this is one of the earliest “root” recordings and that through the piece you can feel that there is experimentation with free form improvisation but that this isn’t strictly noise. Hopefully in Japanese the note isn’t trying to claim these pieces as the origin of noise music, but the origin of Merzbow. “atom = Merzbow” is a nice phrase.
The CD consists of three pieces, the first of which is the longest (23:50) and you can preview on bandcamp. Part One starts with a basic synthesizer sin wave loop which is oscillated to different frequencies before being left alone. Masami starts drumming (1:10) and Kiyoshi is playing the organ. We’ve heard Masami drum quite a bit in more recent pieces, such as the 13 bird series, so we know that he’s a competent drummer. I found the organ during this first section quite unpleasant. It is probably a combination of the microphone/recording quality of the original cassette as well as the long organ notes but it wasn’t for me. However, from 8:40 the piece opens up and becomes more fun and jammy. It might be a touch of stockholm syndrome by this point but the organ is less annoying. As noted above, this isn’t noise music but more free improvisation/free jazz in tone. By the final section of the piece the synthesizer is slowed and the drumming becomes more abstract.
I’d guess the next two pieces are the B sides to the first. Part Two starts off as a continuation of Part One. It might be just because it’s a shorter track but the use of the synthesizer is more varied than during the first. Part Two is more obviously experimental and less jam band in tone. The core combination of organ and drum sound improvised as the synthesizer loops. It’s probably my favourite piece from the album, particularly the last three minutes. Part Three feels like a close out and is synthesizer plus drumming. The synthesizer is most varied during this piece and the focus is mostly on the session drumming.
Not unlistenable and of interest as a historical note as one of the earliest Merzbow recordings. Howevere, I don’t think we need a Hyper Music 1 Vol. 2 and we hope there is better to come!
Merzbow's 10x60=60cd boxset 