Masami Akita is the given name of the Japanese power electronics composer, writer, editor, cultural theorist, environmentalist, and animal rights activist Merzbow. He has recorded well over 400 albums. Akita, deeply influenced by Dada and surrealism, holds an ever-shifting fascination with found objects, free improvisation, and noise. He began "officially" releasing albums under his own name in 1983. Most of these recordings are collaborations -- but the actual reason for the differentiation from "Merzbow" is unclear. In 2016, Kouen Kyoudai, a collaborative recording with Japanese multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and indie pop artist Eiko Ishibashi, was issued on Editions Mego. It was recorded and mixed by Jim O'Rourke. Consisting of two long tracks, it is only the eighth album in Akita's catalog to appear under his own name. ~ Thom Jurek, Rovi