Dissertation 2008

18. 02. 2008   

Unit no: AG364/AG365
Tutor: Dr Kersten Glandien

Japanese Noise Music
Yu Miyashita

Contents
1. Noise Music
2. Japanoise
3. Merzbow
4. Japanese Traditional Music
5. Miyagi Michio
6. Western Noise Music / Lou Reed
7. The Japanese Brain
8. Definition of Noise
9. Onkyo
10. Sachiko M
11. Technoise / Ryoji Ikeda
12. Glitch Music
13. Yasunao Tone
14. Conclusion

「Noise Music」

Noise music is music composed of nontraditional musical elements, and lacks the structure associated with Western Music.
(Wikipedia - Noise music)

The origin of Noise Music can de traced back to the very early 20th century, when futurist painter Luigi Russolo announced his manifesto 'The Art of Noise' in 1913. He invented devices called the Intonarumori to create noise sound, which he thought could be a future replacement for traditional melodic music. Between 1910 and 1960, composers such as Arnold Schoenberg, Edgar Varese, John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Iannis Xenakis contributed to push the boundary of Noise Music, influenced by the movement of Futurism.

「Japanoise」

Japanoise (ジャパノイズ) is the label applied to the prolific and influential noise music scene in Japan primarily in the 1980s and 1990s. As such it is a portmanteau of the words Japanese and Noise.
(Wikipedia - Japanoise)

In many ways it only makes sense to talk of Noise Music since the advent of the various types of noise produced in Japanese music. In terms of quantity this is predominantly the 1990's onward. Japanese Noise music has existed since the 1970's and from the 1980's it has been increasingly influential in underground music scenes. It emerged as a genre of free jazz, progressive rock and hardcore.

Between 1960 and 1970, Japan has experienced furious student activism. In addition to this, in the early 1970's, there was a remarkable change in economics - the 'Japanese asset price bubble' which peaked at the end of 1989. The stock market lost approximately a third of their value in just eighteen months after its peak. These incidents caused excessive uncertainty about the future throughout Japan. In my opinion, alike punk culture in the United Kingdom, as a resistance to those social conditions, Japanese Noise Music emerged and gained its intensity and harshness, which set it apart from Western counterparts.

Japanese  noise artists has extended the border of noise  music to an extreme of loudness and density, which became a major influence on Western noise bands. Many well known performers such as Keiji Haino, Merzbow, Hijokaidan, Hanatarash, Boredoms, Incapacitants, and Masonna were active in the 1980's. These noise musicians have made Japan a Mecca for noise fans.

「Merzbow」

Merzbow, also as known as Masami Akita is a most important figure in Noise Music scene (not only in Japan but also worldwide ). He has released more than three hundred recordings since 1979, year he activated the project. He was born in Tokyo in 1956 and has musical roots in psychedelic music, progressive rock and later free jazz. He studied art at Tamagawa University, where he found Kurt Schwitters, dadaist known for complex architectural construction called Merzbau, made of rubbish, and origin of Masami's project name. He has collaborated with many artists such as Zbigniew Karkowski, Russell Haswell, Alec empirer, Mike Patton, Pan Sonic, Masonna, Jim O'Rourke, Kim Cascone, Sunn O))), Boris, and John Wiese, who are influential and important figures in their respected genre, Noise Music. Masami is also known as prolific author.

It is not just its cultural or historical position that Japanese Noise Music other to world music, but also its materiality. Metals, objects, electronics, samples, distortions, feedbacks and effects used not for effect but as action (not as ornament).

Early work of Merzbow is based on tape-loops and heavy use of percussion samples. It is characterized by overdriven , feedback and effect-laden noises from analogue equipment, notably from analogue synthesizers and electronics. He begun to use digital technology, PowerBook, in late 1990. This drastic change of equipment worried funs of Merzbow because they were dominated by the idea that originality of his music only comes from combination of handmade or junk electronics, vintage synthesizer and any other analogue equipments. However, Masami has accomplished this shift-change smoothly. Therefore, it is common to see him on stage with only laptop(s) these days.

'Takemitsu' is one of the four tracks recorded on a CD album titled 'Amlux', which was released under the 'Important Records' in 2002 in USA. This 5:26 long piece start off with industrial sounding repetitive pulse beats. After several bars of rhythm loops, gentle glitchy noise comes in and forms a second layer. The volume of the rhythm loop decreases gradually. Then, a sudden appearance of exccesive-volume noise attacks those two layers and pushes them to an unhearable level. It gradually turns into harsh and intense noise, then hits the first peak of the track . When it ceases, a new layer of chorus effected noise is inserted. After a while, several distorted beat loops emerge. Finally, this track ends with whole layers of noise altered to harsh and brutal levels. 'Takemitsu' has many pulse beats, which are reasonably straightforward, and, with these, crackles, rambles and steel sheet-like sounds are above the beats. This is a consistent characteristic for recordings which are made exclusively on laptop.

It is because we have no traditional, strong music roots. That's why we can go anywhere
(Uchihashi Kazuhisa)

「Japanese Traditional Music」

Many Japanese noise musicians might not aware of connection between their music and traditional Japanese culture. In traditional Japanese music, there is a certain likeness of use of noise sound called so-on (噪音, means non-musical sound) which can be heard from many Japanese traditional musical instruments such as 'Koto' or 'Shamisen'. I assume that this fact has something to do with an existence of vast number of recent noise musicians in Japan. If noise itself sounds totally irritating or uncomfortable, there would not be such a large number of noise musicians in Japan. So, the question is, "Do Japanese find noise (or noisy) sound more enjoyable than Westerners?"

「Miyagi Michio」

Miyagi Michio was born in Kobe, Japan. He lost his eyesight when he was just eight years old, and started studying Koto under the guidance of Nakajima Kengyo ll. In 1907 he moved with his family to Incheon, in southern Korea. He wrote his first composition 'Mizu no Hentai' at the age of 14. When he was 18, he reached the rank of kengyo, the highest rank for a Koto performer. Miyagi moved to Tokyo in 1917 and had several recitals. The notable piece 'Haru no Umi' has made him one of the worlds known composers.

A compilation CD of Japanese traditional music called 'Kurokami' was released under the 'Saydisc Records' in 1988. Musicians credited are Rie Yanagisawa and Clive Bell. The former performs Koto, Shamisen and voice, while the latter performs Shakuhachi and flute.

'Haru no Umi' is a Meiji shinkyoku(*1) piece for Koto and Shakuhachi composed in 1929 by Michio Miyagi. It is the first track of the album and is 7:47 long. The piece starts off with a gentle slow Koto melody. Soon, Shakuhachi melody comes in and overlays the Koto sound. Both timbre of instruments mildly melt and play for first one minute. Between1:01 and 1:27, due to an uplifting pace of Shakuhachi, a slight change of atmosphere occurs. A good example of Koto's so-on sound can be observed between 1:40 and 1:56. Subsequently, a second loop of the song starts. The arrangement of both melodies is slightly altered and becomes trickier this time. At two points, 3:10 and 4:27, the Koto is played in a subtle amusing way. Then a third loop begins from 5:16. and ceases at 7:33. Throughout the entire track, its tempo and pace are loosely defined.

In traditional Japanese music (like 'Haru no Umi'), musical aspects such as timbre, pace, tempo, rhythm, melody and harmony are not as rigid as Western music. It always has an intentional lack of preciseness in a certain way. In short characteristics of traditional Japanese music are - not certain strict rhythms but loose fluent rhythms, not totally theorized chords but rough free chords, and finally not certain pace but altering pace. In my opinion, it is this looseness within the aesthetic of traditional Japanese music that is a key factor in the evolvement of Noise Music in Japan. Expanding these aesthetics, together with aesthetics of liking so-on (non-musical sound), to ultimate extreme level turns out to be what Noise Music is now, that does not follow any theory, or chords or timeline,.

Noise music is a one of several genres of music that feature anti-traditional musical elements ; 'noise music' can be said to signify the one way of rejecting the structure associated with Western music.
(Wikipedia)

「Western Noise Music / Lou Reed 」

Lou Reed was born March 2, 1942, is an influential American rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was singer-songwriter of The Velvet Underground, often cited by critics as one of the most important and successful groups of their era. As the Velvet's principal songwriter, Reed wrote lyrics about subjects of personal experience that rarely had been examined in rock and roll at the time. As a guitarist, he was a pioneer in the use of distortion, high volume feedback, and nonstandard tunings. Reed began his solo career in 1971.

His album called 'Metal Machine Music' was originally released as a two-disc LP under the 'RCA Records' in 1975. Since music style has been changed so dramatically compared to his other releases, this album was considered mistakenly as a joke at first. However, it is now considered an
early well-known example of Noise Music. The album consists of guitar feedback played at different speeds. According to Reed, The two guitars were tuned in unusual ways and played with different reverb levels. He would then place the guitars in front of their amplifiers, and the feedback from the very large amps would vibrate the strings - the guitars were, effectively, playing themselves.

'Metal Machine Music (Part l)' is the first track of the album. It starts off with guitar feedback all of a sudden. It keeps sounding throughout 16:21 minutes, the total length of the track. Its intensity level stays constant from the beginning to the end, with continuous change of reverberation and feedback. This piece could be considered a free jazz of two guitars themselves. Since Reed set up the environment. which enable two guitars to sound spontaneously, they are communicating, jamming and responding to each other.

By using two guitars, in an expected way, but as an automatic feedback system, Reed has managed to reach the point of where music becomes Noise Music. Misuse of electronic equipment is certainly one of the most crucial method for creating noise. At this point, as creator of 'Metal Machine Music', Reed is respectful noise musician and at the same time, an innovator. However, I would claim that the album has a lack of intensity, heaviness and fascination compared to Japanese Noise Music.

「The Japanese Brain (in terms of processing sounds)」

The 'Japanese Brain' was written by professor Tadanobu Tsunoda in 1978. This book explains how our brain works towards various types sounds. Professor Tsunoda carried out research to find physiological difference between brains of Japanese people and the other races. The results of his research led to a surprising discovery. The human brain is divided between the left and right spheres, with each having different functions. The right brain is called the music sphere, because it processes the sounds of music, machinery and noise. The left brain is called the language sphere, because it processes sound of language logically and intellectually. Up to this point Japanese are the same as Westerners.

Tsunoda also found a difference in the location, where the sound of insects are processed. His experimentation revealed that while Westerners process insect sounds together with machinery and noise sounds in the music sphere (right sphere), Japanese perceive insect sounds in their language sphere (left sphere), meaning that Japanese people hear insect sounds as insect voices. Furthermore they hear sound of vowels, crying, laughing and sighing, as well as cries of insects and animals, waves, wind, rain, running water and even traditional Japanese musical instruments in the left brain, the same as the language. Westerners hear these sounds in the right brain together with music and noise.

This unique characteristic is only found among Japanese and Polynesian people. Chinese and Koreans shows the same pattern as Westerners. What is even more interesting is that Japanese people whose mother tongue is a foreign language follow the Western pattern, while foreigners whose first language is Japanese follow the Japanese pattern. This phenomenon is not a matter of hardware or the physical structure of the brain, but an issue of software, namely what language was learned first as a child.

Tsunoda's research gave me an insight and pushed my assumption about Noise Music further forward. Since Japanese people use their language brain (left sphere) when they perceive machinery or noise sound, it is reasonable to presume that they are able to find some meaning (or story) in Noise Music than Westerners. Therefore, it is likely that Japanese noise musicians are creating (or listening to) noise sound, as not irritating or uncomfortable, but story telling and meaningful.

「Definition of Noise」

The Oxford dictionary says "noise is a sound, especially one that is loud, unpleasant or disturbing". A recent exploratory political document states that "noise is sound which has a negative effect on people (unwanted sound)". I, as a Japanese person, am a Noise Music listener, and I would say that these definitions of noise truly vary depending on each individual's opinion. In addition to this, according to Professor Tsunoda's theory, it depends on dominance of sphere of brain, when the sounds are processed.

In the past, the point of disagreement has been between dissonance and consonance, it will be, in the immediate future, between noise and so-called musical sounds
(John Cage) (*2)

There is no difference between noise and music in my work. I have no idea what you term "music" and "noise". It's different depending on each person. If "noise" means something uncomfortable sound, then pop music is noise to me.
(Merzbow)

「Onkyo」

At this point the question can be asked - Where is Japanese Noise Music heading to? The fate of Japanese noise might lie in silence, or close to it, in Onkyo. Electronic musicians have, in Japan and Europe, in particular, moved on to experiment with small microscopic sounds, and the use of silence as a compositional element (like the rest present but not utilized in written music, such as rests or pauses in music). Silence is used to a heighten effect, and is therefore a resource for many of harsh Noise Music.

Onkyo or Onkyokei is a form of free improvisation, emerging from Japan in the late 1990's. Onkyo,  a Japanese word meaning "reverberation of sound", places much more emphasis on sound texture than on musical structure, distilling elements of techno, noise, and electronic music into a unique hybrid. It is typified by small and often quiet musical gestures, and liberal use of both electronics and silence.
(Wikipedia - Onkyokei)

It is characterized by small and often quiet sounds, and the liberal use of both electronics and silence. Prominent musicians known in this area of music include Toshimaru Nakamura, Sachiko M, Yoshihide Otomo and Taku Sugimoto.

「Sachiko M」

Sachiko M has been active as a sampler player and was a member of Otomo Yoshihide's Ground Zero between 1994 and 1997. Early on in her career she was involved in the cut-up and plunderphonic (or plagiaristic) sampling movements. More recently she has concentrated on music made from sine waves. Her music style is often described as purely radical. Sachiko M's music leans toward removal of sound with machines feeding back on themselves, loops, waves and gaps altering.

Her album called 'Sine Wave Solo' was released under Amoebic in 1999. This album, consisting entirely of sine waves and has attracted a great deal of attention. 'Don't Ask' is the second track of the album. The piece start with tiny quiet dot sounds repeatedly played, having silence between each dot sounds. At 0:39, rhythmical sound wave is inserted and panned from right to left continuously and frequently. Low frequency sine waves comes in at 1:15 and covers up existing sounds. This new layer of low frequency sound is also panned from right to left rhythmically and
disappears at 1:50. A bleep like sine waves appears twice between 1:50 and 1:54. After hearing glitchy noises several times from 2:22, all the sounds stops suddenly at 2:34. Then, Low frequency sine wave is heard from 2:40 to 2:53. At the end, there are few tiny dot sounds placed in pattern, similar to the beginning of the piece.   .

While Sachiko M established her position as a key person of Onkyo music, Ryoji Ikeda's achievement is as equally admirable as hers. As far as I am concerned, Ikeda's piece is genuinely worth looking at. There is a certain similarity in works of both artists, which is frequent usage of sine waves and careful use of silence. However, what makes Ikeda's work different from hers is the use of harsh noise in his composition. Both delicate quietness of Onkyo and harshness or intensity of Noise Music is harmonized within his works. His music style is unquestionably at the forefront of cutting edge noise.

「Technoise / Ryoji Ikeda」

Ryoji Ikeda was born in Gifu, Japan in 1966. He began his activity as a sound artist as well as DJ in 1990. In 1994 he started working as a composer for the multimedia art group called 'Dumb Type'. He now lives and works in New York. Ikeda's music is often harsh, featuring a lot of white noise and sine waves. His style of music could be described as minimal noise, glitch or Technoise (portmanteau of the words techno and noise.), although it sometimes shows similarities with other genres such as IDM. One of his works 'Matrix' won the Golden Nica Award in 2001.

'C3 circuit' is a third track recorded in an album called '0℃', released under 'Touch Records', in 1998. Tiny dot sound (as similar as Sachiko M's 'Don't Ask') starts off the track. After having eleven repeats of the dot sounds, a short interruption of bleep sound appears. Just after that, pure white noise comes in, to the right side first, and then left side immediately afterwards. All this happens in the space of 7 seconds. The whole structure of this piece is basically 6 loops of this composition. The total length of the piece is 0:49. However, in loops of an even numbers (2, 4 and 6), pure white noise comes in to the right side and left side at the same time.

「Glitch Music」

Although I said that the fate of Japanese noise might lie in Onkyo in an earlier chapter, there is one more type of music which could be associated with the future of Noise Music. It is Glitch Music. Constructed from digital debris - errors, processing  of normally extraneous sounds. Many glitch strategies involves a misuse, reissue or abuse of instruments, machinery, contexts and practices. Such improper use is part of the failure that constitutes noise (recalling that this failure is only 'failure' - (it is not a judgment about badness).

Glitch (also known as clicks and cuts from a representative compilation series by the German record label Mille Plateaux) is a genre of electronic music that became popular in the late 1990s with the increasing use of digital signal processing, particularly on computers. The origins of glitch music are divided from the failure of digital technology. The effects of failure in technology, such as bugs, crashes, system errors, hardware noise, skipping and audio distortion, can be captured on computers and provide the basic building blocks of Glitch music.
(Wikipedia)

「Yasunao Tone」

Yasunao Tone was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1935, and he graduated from Chiba Japanese National University in 1957, majoring in Japanese literature. He has been active in the Fluxus movement since 1962 and moved to the United States in 1972. He is known as a significant figure in both avant-garde art and music scene. Tone has worked in many different types of media, creating pieces for electronics, computer systems, film, radio and television, as well as environmental art.  Since 1976, Tone has been designing musical piece as a compound of cultural studies, which is based on idea of post-structuralism and audio visual materials. For instance, he converted texts of numerous series of Japanese ancient story to digital data, and then created a piece of music from it. He is known mostly for this unconventional techniques that he applies to his musical work. Tone began manipulating compact discs to achieve uniquely mangled sounds in the early 1980's. For his 1985 album, 'Solo for the Wounded CD', he manipulated and attached scotch tape to audio CDs and then put that into the CD player. Later, he took the glitch noises that a CD player was able to play. Tone has stated that the error-correction functionality of modern CD players has made it difficult to continue applying this technique.

Part l is the first track of Album called 'Solo For Wounded CD', released under the 'Tzadik' in 1997. The total length of the piece is 14:18. His noise sound is so distinctive that it can be identified as soon as it is heard. This track sounds like a mere recording of tests of CD player (of course, as a noise generator) rather than strictly composed Noise Music (such as Ryoji Ikeda's piece). Adjectives such as harsh. bleep, high pitched, and machinery can be used to describe several main types of noise sounds used in this piece. With regards to timbre, there is always a bit of changes
going on. In my assumption he was either controlling or manipulating glitch noise sound, generated  by CD player, whilst he was recording. His unique approach of using prepared CD as a noise generator comes to the conclusion of authentic experimentation of timbre of glitch noise.

「Conclusion」

The Japanese Noise Music scene is defined by an absolute sense of musical freedom, which derives from the aesthetics of traditional Japanese music. Consequently it is extremely diverse and unique. The speed of rapid growth of Japanese Noise Music, cannot be ignored and, without any doubt, will continue to accelerate.

According to the evolution of modern technology, many noise musicians may switch their creation method from analogue to digital. Things like collecting a large amount of analogue equipment and the use of materials such as metal or junk electronics may well be considered as old-fashioned.

I foresee the future of noise as multi combinations of different types of Noise Music - those which have the intensity and density of harsh noise, the subtleness of Onkyo and the originality of Glitch.

- Notes -

(*1) Meiji shinkyoku
Meiji - The Meiji era, from 1868 to 1912 in Japan.
shinkyoku - Japanese word meaning "new music"

(*2) I would rather change this statement to
In the past, the point of disagreement has been between noise and so-called musical sounds, however it will be, in the immediate future, dependent upon how you perceive the sounds you hear..

- Bibliography -

Paul Hegarty, Noise/Music A History (New York/London, The Continuum International Publishing Groupe, 2007)
Atsushi Sasaki, Techno / Logical / Music Theory -from Stockhausen to Onkyokei- (Tokyo, Rittor Music, 2005)
-------, Avant Music Guide (Tokyo, Sakuhinsha, 1999)
Yuko China, Understanding Japanese Music (Tokyo, Ongakunotomo, 2005)
Humio Koizumi, Sound Of Japan (Tokyo, Heibonsha, 1994)
Humio Koizumi/Ikuma Dan, Re-discovery Of Japanese Music (Tokyo, Heibonsha, 2001)
Tadanobu Kakuta, The Japanese Brain -function of brain and culture of east and west- (Tokyo, Taishukan, 1978)

- Discography -

Alec Empire, The Destroyer (Digital Hardcore Recordings, 1996)
Alec Empire vs. Merzbow, Live CBGB's NYC 1998 (Digital Hardcore Recordings, 2003)
Aube, Metal De Metal (Manifold Records, 1996)
Aube, Flush (Iris Light Records, 1997)
Boris with Merzbow, Megaonte (Inoxia Records, 2002)
Boris With Merzbow, Sun Baked Snow Cave (Double H Nise Industries, Hydra Head Records, 2005)
Boris with Merzbow, 05092001 (Inoxia Records, 2005)
Burkhard / Taku Sugimoto, An Old-Fashioned Duet (Slub Music, 2002)
Consumer Electronics / Merzbow, Horn of the Goat (Freek Records, 1995)
Dead Machines & John Wiese, Falling Lights (Recoco Records, 2005)
Ground Zero, Ground Zero Revolutionary Pekinese Opera (Ver 1.28) (ReR Megacorp, 1996)
Guilty Connector / Phroq, Snowfall Is Next Door (Gameboy Records, 2002)
Guilty Connector, Mother's Bloated Corpse (Utsu Tapes, 2003)
Guilty Connector, Beats, Noise, And Life. (Planet Mu, 2006)
Hanatarash, Hanatarash (Alchemy Records, 1985)
Hanatarash, 2 (Alchemy Records, 1988)
Hijokaidan, Shumatsu Shorijo (Alchemy Records, 2000)
Iannis Xenakis, Chamber Music 1955-1990 (Montaigne, 2000)
Iannis Xenakis, Music For Strings (Mode, 2005)
Incapacitants, Operorue (Kubitsuri Tapes, 1995)
Incapacitants, Asset Without Liability (Bulb Records, 1996)
Jamie Soft / Merzbow, Merzdub (Caminante Recordings, 2006)
Jim O'Rourke I'm Happy, And I'm Singing, And A 1,2,3,4 (Mego, 2001)
John Cage, Sonatas And Interludes For Prepared Piano (Naxos, 1999)
John Cage, Music For Prepared Piano (Naxos, 2001)
John Cage. Music Of Changes (Hat Hut Records, 2001)
John Wiese, Magical Crystal Blah (Helicopter, Kitty Play Records, 2004)
John Wiese, Arrhythmia Wave Burst And Panner Crash (Helicopter, 2005)
John Wiese, Soft Punk (Troubleman Unlimited, 2007)
Keiji Haino, Nijiumu (P.S.F. Records, 1990)
Keiji Haino, Watashi Dake (P.S.F. Records, 1993)
Keiji Haino, Black Blues (Violent Version) (Les Disques Du Soleil Et De L'Acier, 2004)
Keiji Haino, Black Blues (Soft Version) (Les Disques Du Soleil Et De L'Acier, 2004)
Keiji Haino, Uchu Ni Karami Tsuiteiru Waga Itami (P.S.F. Records, 2005)
Keiji Haino & Thurston Moore, Victoriaville (Unkwon, Unkwon)
Keiji Haino with Boris, Black: Implication Flooding (Inoxia Records)
Kerlheinz Stockhausen, Mikrophonie l / Mikrophonie ll / Telemusik (Stockhausen-Verlag, 1995)
Kim Cascone, The Astrum Argentum (Musica Excentrica, 2007)
K.K. Null & Jim O'Rourke, New Kind Of Water (Charnel Music, 1992)
K.K. Null & Z'EV, Artificial Life (Crippled Intellect Productions, 2005)
K.K.Null, Ergosphere (Blossoming Noise, 2006)
Masonna, Inner Mind Mystique (Release Entertainment, 1996)
Masonna, Sonic Devil (Pinch A Loaf Productions)
Masami Akita & Russell Haswell, Satanstornade (Warp Records, 2002)
Merzbow, Collaborative (Extreme, 1988)
Merzbow, Great American Nude / Crash For Hi-Fi (Alchemy Records, 1991)
Merzbow, Music For Bondage Performance (Extreme, 1991)
Merzbow,  Batztoutai With Material Gadgets (RRRecords, 1994)
Merzbow / Christoph Heemann, Sleeper Awakes On The Edge Of The Abyss (Streamline, 1993)
Merzbow, Noisembryo (The Releasing Eskimo, 1994)
Merzbow, Venerology (Release Entertainment, 1994)
Merzbow, Music for Bondage Performance 2 (Extreme, 1998)
Merzbow, Rainbow Electronics 2 (Dexter's Cigar, 1996)
Merzbow, Pulse Demon (Release Entertainment, 1996)
Merzbow, Hybrid Noisebloom (Vinyl Communications, 1997)
Merzbow, 1930 (Tzadik, 1998)
Merzbow, Aqua Necromancer (Alien8 Recordings, 1998)
Merzbow & Ladybird, Balance (Human Wrechords, 1998)
Merzbow, Door Open At 8 am (Alien8 Recordings, 1999)
Merzbow, Merzbeat (Important Records, 2002)
Merzbow, A Taste of (Mego, 2002)
Merzbow, Amlux (Important Records, 2002)
Merzbow, Scsi Duck (Fourth Dimension Records, 2003)
Merzbow, Animal Magnetism (Alien8 Recordings, 2003)
Merzbow / Pan Sonic, V (Les Disques Victo, 2003)
Merzbow, Merzbird (Important Records, 2004)
Merzbow / Kim Cascone, Rondo/7Phases/Blowback (Sub Rosa, 2004)
Merzbow & John Wiese, Free Piano (Misanthropic Agents, Helicopter, 2005)
Merzbow & John Wiese, Multiplication (Misanthropic Agents, 2005)
Merzbow, Sphere (Tzadik, 2005)
Otomo Yoshihide, Blue (Headz, 2002)
Pain Jerk, Retrogress (Self Abuse Records, 1995)
Pain Jerk, Great Invisible Crashing (Betley Welcomes Careful Drivers)
Pan Sonic, A (Mute Corporation, 1999)
Pan Sonic, Kesto (234.48:4) (Mute Corporation, 2004)
Pan Sonic, Katodivaihe / Cathodephase (Blast First Petite, 2007)
Peter Brotzman - Haino Keiji, Evolving Blush Or Driving Original Sin (P.S.F. Records, 1996)
Peter Brotzman / Keiji Haino / Shoji Hano, Shadows (DIW Records, 2000)
Philip Samartzis + Sachiko M, Artefact (Dorodo, 2002)
Russell Haswell, Live Salvage 1997-2000 (Mego, 2001)
Ryoji Ikeda, 1000 Fragments (CCI Recordings, 1995)
Ryoji Ikeda, +/- (Touch, 1996)
Ryoji Ikeda, 0℃ (Touch, 1998)
Ryoji Ikeda, Time And Space (Staalplaat, 2000)
Ryoji Ikeda, Matrix (Touch, 2001)
Ryoji Ikeda, Op. (Touch, 2002)
Sachiko M,  Sine Wave Solo (Amoebic, 1999)
Sachiko M,  Derive (Noise Asia, 2003)
Sachiko M & Sean Meehan, Untitled (Not on Label, 2002)
Solmania, Evil Bed (Alchemy Records, 1996)
Taku Sugimoto, Opposite (Hat Hut Records, 1998)
Taku Sugimoto, Chamber Music (Bottrop-Boy, 2003)
Toshimaru Nakamura & Sachiko M, Un (Meme, 1998)
Toshimaru Nakamura, No-Input Mixing Board (Zero Gravity, 2000)
Toshimaru Nakamura, No-Input Mixing Borad [3] (Alcohol, 2003)
Various, Extreme Music From Japan (Susan Lawly, 1994)
Various, Ikebana Merzbow's Amlux Rebuilt, Reused and Recycled (Important Records, 2003)
Violent Onsen Geisha, Nation Of Rhythm Slaves, (Rail Recordings, 1996)
Yasunao Tone, Solo For Wounded CD (Tzadik, 1997)
Yasunao Tone, Geography And Music (Ashiya City Of Art & History, 2001)
Yasunao Tone, Wounded Man'Yo #38-9/2001, (Alku, 2002)
Yasunao Tone & Hecker, Palimpsest (Mego, 2004)

- Webography -

(EN)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noise_music
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merzbow
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_music
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanoise
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haru_no_Umi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glitch_music
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michio_Miyagi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sachiko_M
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harsh_noise
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasunao_Tone
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Reed
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Machine_Music
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryoji_Ikeda
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onkyokei
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aesthetics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateralization_of_brain_function
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_economy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_movement
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_asset_price_bubble
http://www.ubu.com/papers/noise.html
http://www.ubu.com/papers/russolo.html
http://www.ctheory.net/articles.aspx?id=314
http://www.noblepr.co.uk/Press_Releases/lou_reed/metal_machine_music.htm
http://www2s.biglobe.ne.jp/~nippon/file/jog240e.html
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20060627jk.html
http://www.forma.org.uk/artists/represented/ryoji_ikeda_biog.html
http://www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/japan.htm#aesthetic
http://www.funderstanding.com/right_left_brain.cfm
http://www.dotdotdotmusic.com/hegarty8.html
http://www.japanimprov.com/sachikom/
http://www.lovely.com/bios/tone.html
http://www.scaruffi.com/avant/tone.html
http://www.spiderbytes.com/ambientrance/ree-mmm.htm
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-100877433.html
http://www.komuso.com/people/Miyagi_Michio.html
http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/518
http://www.merzbau.org/Schwitters.html
http://www.lewrockwell.com/thornton/thornton24.html
http://www.ucsc.edu/oncampus/currents/97-10-13/hutchison.htm
http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2008/01/tombo-times-japanese-student-movement.html

(JP)
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%8E%E3%82%A4%E3%82%BA%E3%83%9F%E3%83%A5%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B8%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A3%E3%83%91%E3%83%8E%E3%82%A4%E3%82%BA
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%A1%E3%83%AB%E3%83%84%E3%83%90%E3%82%A6
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%AE%AE%E5%9F%8E%E9%81%93%E9%9B%84
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%84%A1%E9%9F%B3
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970%E5%B9%B4%E4%BB%A3
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980%E5%B9%B4%E4%BB%A3
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%90%E3%83%96%E3%83%AB%E7%B5%8C%E6%B8%88
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%AD%A6%E7%94%9F%E9%81%8B%E5%8B%95
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990%E5%B9%B4%E4%BB%A3
http://www.hana.or.jp/hana/ikata/Music/JPtone.html
http://www2.chokai.ne.jp/~assoonas/UC210.HTML
http://www.horagai.com/www/salon/edit/ed2007c.htm
http://e-koe.jp/n10.htm
http://boo.arinecoinco.com/ozawa_takemitu3.htm
http://boo.arinecoinco.com/ozawa_takemitu1.htm
http://www.doblog.com/weblog/myblog/19256?TYPE=1&genreid=48024
http://hblo.bblog.jp/daily/2007-09-12/
http://hblo.bblog.jp/entry/249126/
http://www.faderbyheadz.com/a-Site/column/column/laptop.html
http://www.miyagikai.gr.jp/index.html
http://www.kanshin.jp/dailyelectronika/index.php3?mode=keyword&id=336899
http://www.variations.jp/main/02artist/YasunaoTone/index.html
http://homepage.mac.com/ujin/phour/exhibitions+sachiko+m.html
http://www.nihon-ongaku.com/
http://www.komuso.com/albums/Haru_no_Umi_-_Koto_no_Meikyoku.html
http://tokyo.secret.jp/80s/index-j-noiz.html
http://blog.donews.com/schizoidman/articles/116735.aspx

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