Drone Records

MASONNA - Freak

Format: LP

Label & Cat.Number: Urashima UMA 145

Release Year: 2020

Note: 1995 cassette-only release (Coquette), ultra rare, now re-mastered: "He transforms his voice into noise, feeding the microphone back through a process of extreme distortion. His shouts become clipped bursts of overloaded sound, doubled and extended by a delay that displace the sounds into stuttered blasts of static." - lim. 299 copies, A3 size poster

Price (incl. 19% VAT): €21.50

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Cascades of electronic noise, a psychedelic touch and vocal belching mixed together constitute the ingredients of Mademoiselle Anne Sanglante Ou Notre Nymphomanie Auréolé, the double-barreled name for Masonna. Maso Yamazaki founded his project in 1987, with a charismatic and glamorous personality who become a cult figure in “Japanoise” scene. Masonna’s abundant productions on his own legendary and astonishing label Coquette were presented in very limited edition, sometime totally confidential (one sole copy), and reflect his predilection for 60’s psychedelic music revisited in its own very peculiar way. He transforms his voice into noise, feeding the microphone back through a process of extreme distortion. His shouts become clipped bursts of overloaded sound, doubled and extended by a delay that displace the sounds into stuttered blasts of static.
Freak is an ultra-rare cassette originally released in 1995 by Coquette in an edition of 36 copies in a special gold paper and now return for the first time in a flabbergasting vinyl format fully remastered!
This mature work is very brash, earsplitting and mad. The distortion and effects on the vocals are top notch, they in combination with his awesome screaming create a complete audio assault. Sometimes pleading sobs are heard. And they are all, regularly, philologically broken, retouched, stiffened. And they mingle in the vortex. Or at most they come back to be slaughtered a little more only to be thrown back again, finally in the centrifuge. Everything is scraped, fast and beautiful and focuses an electrically overcharged universe, punctuating the thrilling and vocal sonorous power with some quite moments and brief interruptions, conferring a very particular dynamic to this work.
Originally released as single side tape C30, this vinyl edition divided into two parts of about fifteen minutes each is limited to 299 copies and comes with A3 size poster with Masonna in “action pose”.
Freak is an absolutely astounding piece of work by one of the great pioneers of extreme noise from Japan! This is bound to be a revelation for anyone and it can’t be missed!

https://urashima.bandcamp.com/album/freak