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The Squid's Ear Magazine

Merzbow / Arcane Device
Merzbow & Arcane Device

Merzbow / Arcane Device: Merzbow & Arcane Device (Important Records)

Two innovative sonic luminaries--Japan's Masami Akita, aka Merzbow, and New York City's David Lee Myers, aka Arcane Device--remix each other's work, bringing Myer's unique approach to feedback and ethereal electronics to harness Akita's agressive sounds, and in reverse, Akita's sense of disruptive sonics explode Myer's more contemplative feedback music.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Masami Akita (Merzbow)-composer, remixer

David Lee Myers-composer, remixer


Click an artist name above to see in-stock items for that artist.



UPC: 793447551111

Label: Important Records
Catalog ID: IMPREC 511CD
Squidco Product Code: 31774

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2022
Country: USA
Packaging: Jewel Case
Remixed in NYC and Tokyo, in October, 2016.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Japan's leading noise luminary Merzbow meets American electro-feedback artist Arcane Device as they mix and manipulate each other's work.......

The result are droning, bubbling sonic textures that are as serene as they are extreme pushing the boundaries and meeting in the middle. Both artists contribute long-form manipulations that inspire contemplation as much as highly caffeinated charges of sonic skullduggery. Sonic textures take center stage on Merzbow & Arcane Device.

David Lee Myers aka Arcane Device has been building electronics and creating feedback based electronic music since the late 70's. He has collaborated with Tod Dockstader, Kim Cascone, Asmus Tietchens among others."-Important Records



"Veteran noise artists Merzbow (Masami Akita) and Arcane Device (David Lee Myers) join forces to remix either other's works on this self-titled album. Each recorded a track that the other generated and reformed into a long piece of sculpted sounds.

The first aptly-titled piece is "Arcane Device Mixes Merzbow", which begins with bubbly and percussive features before an influx of static and low-end rumblings. Buzzing elements have spatial dimensions as they move between speakers in a fashion that is strangely suggestive of broken machinery operating during an insect-filled thunderstorm. Sequences or loops pulse in and out of the foreground with grinding or high-pitched drones and feedback layered atop. At times, watery masses and wailing electronics combine for oddly-textured and sweeping rhythms. The second half of the track includes passages with sound walls and electronic popping. Propulsive arrays of static add to the information-rich mix. In the end, signature Merzbow electronic experimentation is clearly discernable.

This segues nicely into "Merzbow Mixes Arcane Device", which begins like a classic Merzbow collage of harsh noise. The frequencies employed are higher with more sheets of sound as well as electroacoustic squeaking, pulsing, and scraping rather than the rumbling drones of its predecessor. Narrow-spectrum white noise shares sonic space with screaming distortion, blips, chirps, and pops. Eventually, this evolves into a quantum-like fabric of layered static, constantly ripping itself apart and reforming.

Merzbow & Arcane Device is a dense, multifaceted, and detailed offering."-Mike, Avant Music News


Get additional information at Avant Music News

Artist Biographies

"Masami Akita (秋田 昌美 Akita Masami?, born December 19, 1956), better known by his stage name Merzbow (メルツバウ Merutsubau?), is a Japanese noise musician. Since 1980, he has released over 400 recordings.

The name Merzbow comes from the German dada artist Kurt Schwitters' artwork Merzbau (German pronunciation: [ˈmɛʁtsˌbaʊ̯]), in which Schwitters transformed the interior of his house using found objects. The name was chosen to reflect Akita's dada influence and junk art aesthetic. In addition to this, Akita has cited a wide range of musical influences from progressive rock, heavy metal, free jazz, and early electronic music to non-musical influences like dadaism, surrealism, and fetish culture. Since the early 2000s, he has been inspired by animal rights and environmentalism, and has become a vegan.

As well as being a prolific musician, he has been a writer and editor for several books and magazines in Japan, and has written several books of his own. He has written about a variety of subjects, mostly about music, modern art, and underground culture. His more renowned works were on the topics of BDSM and Japanese bondage. Other art forms Akita has been interested in include painting, photography, filmmaking, and Butoh dance.

In 2000, Extreme Records released the 50 CD box set known as the Merzbox. Akita's work has been the subject of several remix albums and at least one tribute album. This, among other achievements, has helped Merzbow to be regarded by some as the "most important artist in noise"."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merzbow)
12/11/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"David Lee Myers is a sound and visual artist who has lived and worked in New York City since 1977. Pulsewidth serves as the platform for his activities in the arts, particularly sound projects, a number of which have been released under the Pulsewidth record label.

From 1987 through 1993, sound projects were developed under the name Arcane Device. With the development of new devices in 2014, it seems fitting for the moniker to be revived.

Myers work stems from an enthusiasm for electronics and the world of electrons as it relates to the realm of vibration and sound. After a fine arts education and many years in music, in 1987 Myers' accidental discovery of "Feedback Music" led to a new appreciation of the unseen forces underlying audible electronics."

-Pulsewidth (http://www.pulsewidth.com/)
12/11/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. Arcane Device Mixes Merzbow (29:30)

2. Merzbow Mixes Arcane Device (21:50)

Related Categories of Interest:


Electro-Acoustic
Organized Sound and Sample Based Music
Electroacoustic Composition
Sound, Noise, &c.
Electronic Forms
Solo Artist Recordings
NY Downtown & Metropolitan Jazz/Improv
Japanese & Asian Improv/Rock
Staff Picks & Recommended Items
New in Experimental & Electronic Music

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Important Records.

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