Pinhas / Merzbow

Keio Line

Label: Cuneiform Country: USA

"Richard and Merzbow are both among the best-known figures in electronic rock music today. Merzbow is probably the single best-known artist in noise music today. While Richard's work wouldn't be considered to be in the 'noise' arena, many of the artists in the field have expressed great interest in his pioneering use of synthesizers and electronics in rock and contemporary music from the 1970s until the present. Despite coming from very different backgrounds, they had long expressed admiration for each others work. Given all of this, it is probably not surprising that the most important electronic musicians of France and Japan should finally collaborate together! During Richard's second tour of Japan in the fall of 2007, he performed with Merzbow in what Richard called, "an incredible concert". A week later, at the end of this tour, they booked two days in the studio to work together again, this time on a recording. All material was recorded completely live by the two musicians, with extensive work done in the mix and re-mix stage. Keio Line (the name refers to the name of the train Richard and Masami would take from downtown Tokyo to the recording studio) is a two CD set, released at a special price, that is violent, soothing, hypnotic, noisy and trance-inducing. All aboard the Keio Line!"-Cuneiform

"Richard Pinhas is internationally recognized as one of France's major experimental musicians: the "father" of French electronic music. He was the founder of Heldon, a band whose violent fusion of electronics and guitar in the '70s rivalled the German electronic school.

As a guitar player he has been compared to Robert Fripp. Cited as an influence by many electronic musicians, Richard Pinhas has helped to define the Spacemusic genre. Since founding the seminal spacerock band Heldon in 1974, Pinhas has released over 15 albums, had involvement in dozens more and shaped the way we listen to music today.

Masami Akita aka Merzbow is the forerunner of Japanese electronic music, and for the last 20 years plus, has been at the top of his game ploughing more and more extreme sonic territories.

This release, recorded in Tokyo in October 2007, will surprise a lot of people in its sheer beauty. This is a collaboration that works in the true sense of the word, with each artist complimenting the other over six long sprawling tracks each occupying the whole of a side."-Dirter

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