KOOKABURRA by Merzbow

There is no argument; Merzbow stands as the most important artist in noise music. The moniker of Japanese artist Masami Akita has appeared on over four hundred albums since 1979. The name comes from German artist Kurt Schwitters' famous work Merzbau, in which he transformed the interior of his house with found objects. This is reflected in Akita's junk art / collage aesthetic. Other influences on the Merzbow philosophy range from ritualised eroticism (fetishism & bondage), surrealism to extreme metal & animal rights. Since the early 2000s Akita has been a vegan & dedicated animal rights activist. Many of his releases are dedicated to or about particular animals.

Kookaburra documents a rare live appearance of Merzbow down-under, capturing his solo performance in Sydney, Australia, May 2012. Following a slew of archival boxset releases & a relative scarcity in new recordings, Kookaburra comes at an opportune time to showcase the current solo Merzbow live sound. Leaving aside the more melodic & ambient touches heard on recent studio albums, Kookaburra cuts straight to the chase with 60 minutes of blissfully dense noise, brimming with endless detail.

Differing from previous Merzbow live albums, the trademark loops are now buried deep within a monolithic torrent of black noise, characterised by both analog & digital flavours. The world of Kookaburra is built upon impenetrably thick walls of low-end oomph & filled with relentlessly caustic textures from which distorted howls, wild oscillations & inexorable pulsations rear their monstrous heads. This monolithic single track is remarkable for its incredibly hypnotic journey along an enormous arc of sonic strata that is both glacial in its pacing & molten in its unyielding force. This is Merzbow at his most elemental & Kookaburra boldly displays the King of Noise’s most focused exploration of stunningly powerful noise in recent years.

- Alex Pozniak