merzbow: lowest music. 2

Urashima present the first vinyl version of Merzbow's Lowest Music.2, originally recorded and released on cassette in 1982. Merzbow stands as the most important artist in noise music and is the moniker of Masami Akita, born in Tokyo in 1979. Inspired by dadaism and surrealism, Akita took the name for his project from German artist Kurt Schwitters's pre-war architectural assemblage "The Cathedral of Erotic Misery" or "Merzbau". Just as Schwitters attacked the entrenched artistic traditions of his time with his revolutionary avant-garde collages, so too would Akita challenge the contemporary concept of what is called music. Merzbow would draw further influence from the futurist movement. Not only would he embrace the futurists's love of technology and the machine civilization, he would push their fondness for noise to the very boundaries of the extreme. Working in his home, he quickly gained notoriety as a purveyor of a musical genre composed solely of pure, unadulterated noise. Consequently, in 1980 Masami founded the first noise label, Lowest Music and Arts. In this early period he released Lowest Music.2 on cassette using a 4 track reel tape recorder with different loops, recorded by a Mono-aural hand tape recorder. In 1990, Australian legendary label Extreme reissued a new version of the cassette, remixed by Masami Akita by itself and included it in an amazing 50 CD boxset titled Merzbox (2000). No changes of pitch were made in the mastering process. Pressed on 140 gram black vinyl with a black label and a black inner sleeve. Comes in a deluxe silver silkscreen on a black cardboard sleeve. Includes insert with original tape replica cover. Edition of 200.