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MERZBOW - Cloud Cock OO Grand

Format: do-LP Label & Cat.Number: Urashima UMA Release Year: 2023 Note: "Brain Forest For Metal Acoustic Concrete" - re-issue of self-released CD from 1990, incl. A2 poster, recorded in the Netherlands 1989, heavily influenced by death metal and grindcore at that time, performed on synthesizers, metal devices, noise electronics, and string instruments... - lim. 299 copies Price (incl. 19% VAT): €34.00 More Info "Merzbow came roaring onto the Tokyo scene in 1979. To this day, the project remains one of the most prolific and aggressively forward-thinking acts in experimental music. Initially a duo of Masami Akita and Kiyoshi Mizutani, before settling as the moniker of Akita alone, the project took its name from German artist Kurt Schwitters' pre-war architectural assemblage, The Cathedral of Erotic Misery or Merzbau, and quickly set out to challenge entrenched notions of what music could be. Embracing technology and the machine, even in its earliest iterations, Merzbow broke boundaries and pushed toward new territories of the extreme, arriving at an unadulterated manifestation of sonic expression that has continued across the last 40 years, setting the pace for the entire genre of noise along the way. Few projects have pushed boundaries, risen to a more iconic status, or been as influential over the same period of time. Recorded in Holland during the autumn of 1989 and originally issued as an highly limited edition CD by ZSF Produkt in 1990, “Cloud Cock OO Grand” was the first of a series of albums to indicate a change in creative direction that Merzbow would following over the coming decade. During the European tour during which these recordings were laid to tape, Akita was only able to transport simple, portable gear. Rising to the challenge, these limitations led to the development of a signature form of harsh noise, heavily influenced by death metal and grindcore, that would come to define much of his early '90s sound. “Cloud Cock OO Grand” was the first of this shift to be sent into a wider realm. Comprising five individual compositions - three being side-long - “Cloud Cock OO Grand” was composed and performed by Akita on synthesizers, metal devices, noise electronics, and string instruments, all recorded at the extreme volumes for which Merzbow has always gained a unique sense of distinction. Despite being enthralling sonic assault, driven by the frenetic presence of electronic sounds, across the length of the album’s four sides it is hard not to be captivated by a greater sense of dynamics and space within the artist’s work, resulting from sparse acoustic interjections played against Akita’s heavily processed strings. The result, while no less intense of demanding than anything before or since, reveals a surprising sense of intimacy and consideration that’s often not easily observed within the field of noise. Easily among the most captivating gestures within Merbow’s sprawling catalog, pushing endlessly forward while subtly nodding toward historical gestures from the early years of the avant-garde, Urashima beautiful double LP edition of “Cloud Cock OO Grand” marks this seminal and long unavailable album’s first time over on vinyl. Issued in a very limited pressing of 299 copies, with cover that faithfully reproduces the original CD artwork and an A2 poster with an original 1990 draw by Masami Akita, it’s hard to recommend enough." https://urashima.bandcamp.com/album/cloud-cock-oo-grand