Yamazaki Maso
Encyclopedia
Solo project
A solo project usually refers to a single member of a band's work independent of their original group, yet typically without having quit their original group...
Masonna.
Born in Kyōto, 1966. He operates the Coquette Records label and is also a member of the group Christine 23 Onna (now titled Acid Eater, though yet to release anything to that name, with Toda Fusao from Angel'in Heavy Syrup), Maso is also the manager of Jojo Hiroshige's Alchemy Records
Alchemy Records (Japan)
Alchemy Records is a record label based in Osaka, Japan, specializing in noise / experimental music and psychedelic rock. It is run by Jojo Hiroshige of the noise group Hijokaidan. Alchemy has released albums by Hijokaidan, Balzac, Hanatarash, Masonna, Incapacitants, Borbetomagus, and Merzbow,...
store. He has an analog synthesizer
Analog synthesizer
An analog or analogue synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses analog circuits and analog computer techniques to generate sound electronically. The earliest analog synthesizers in the 1920s and 1930s such as the Trautonium were built with a variety of vacuum-tube and electro-mechanical technologies...
project called Space Machine, with other projects which include Triple Yama's, Kinkakuji, Gokurakuji, South Saturn Delta & Andromelos.
He was a member of the progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
group Flying Testicle
Flying Testicle
Flying Testicle was an early 90's noise supergroup consisting of Masami Akita, Yamazaki Maso and Zev Asher. The group put out two releases before disbanding.-Discography:*Lamerican Sextom 7" vinyl - ZSF Produkt...
with Merzbow
Merzbow
is the main recording name of the Japanese noise musician , born in 1956. Since 1979 he has released in excess of 350 recordings.The name "Merzbow" comes from German artist Kurt Schwitters' artwork, "Merzbau”. This was chosen to reflect Akita's dada influence and junk art aesthetic...
, as well as the Japanoise supergroup Bustmonster which included Akita Masami from Merzbow on drums.
Maso has said that he became interested in making noise music when he heard the sounds of destruction on television as a child, but that his first exposure to the Japanese noise genre was Hanatarash's debut LP, which at the time did not impress Maso. It was however later, upon happening on an LP entitled LSD by a Tokyo noise band named Nord, and mistakenly thinking it was an album by the band LSD, that these experiences had possibly kindled his future interest. A year thereafter Maso sought many different types of noise releases in the underground music stores in and around Osaka Japan. Two years would pass until Maso would start to develop his own style of noise and begin producing, at which time he quit listening to the noise albums of others and focused in on his own unique style. Previous to his interest in noise Maso played guitar in several bands, one of which he states in interviews was a Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
cover band, playing the occasional Deep Purple
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...
song.
All of Maso's projects draw heavily from the psychedelic music
Psychedelic music
Psychedelic music covers a range of popular music styles and genres, which are inspired by or influenced by psychedelic culture and which attempt to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues-rock bands in the...
scene in outward style, but sonically most of them resemble very few of the traits of late 1960s and 1970s psychedelic music. Maso has an interest in avant-garde films, having stated in interviews that his two favorite movies are the Alexandro Jodorowsky films The Holy Mountain and El Topo
El Topo
El Topo is a 1970 Spanish language allegorical, cult western movie and underground film, directed by and starring Alejandro Jodorowsky...
. He also claims to admire and wish to work with American musician Captain Beefheart
Captain Beefheart
Don Van Vliet January 15, 1941 December 17, 2010) was an American musician, singer-songwriter and artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. His musical work was conducted with a rotating ensemble of musicians called The Magic Band, active between 1965 and 1982, with whom he recorded 12...
.
Masonna
Masonna (マゾンナ), started in 1987 in OsakaOsaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, is the noise music
Noise music
Noise music is a term used to describe varieties of avant-garde music and sound art that may use elements such as cacophony, dissonance, atonality, noise, indeterminacy, and repetition in their realization. Noise music can feature distortion, various types of acoustically or electronically...
project of Yamazaki Maso
Yamazaki Maso
Yamazaki "Maso" Takushi is the birthname of Japanese noise musician and performer known most widely for his solo project Masonna.Born in Kyōto, 1966...
. Sometimes rendered as an acronym M.A.S.O.N.N.A., standing for either Mademoiselle Anne Sanglante Ou Notre Nymphomanie Auréolé (French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
for "Miss Bloody Anne, Or Our Aureoled Nymphomania"; the proper spelling is Auréolée. In kana
Kana
Kana are the syllabic Japanese scripts, as opposed to the logographic Chinese characters known in Japan as kanji and the Roman alphabet known as rōmaji...
: 血まみれのアンヌ嬢・若しくは・我等がニンフォマニアが・後光に包まれる) or more rarely Mystic Another Selection Of Nurses Naked Anthology. Maso has said before that the name is a pun on pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
singer Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
, though the name is also a composite of Maso (Japanese for "Masochist") and Onna (Japanese for "Woman") alluding again to the fetishistic "bloody Anne" reference in the French acronym. Along with Merzbow
Merzbow
is the main recording name of the Japanese noise musician , born in 1956. Since 1979 he has released in excess of 350 recordings.The name "Merzbow" comes from German artist Kurt Schwitters' artwork, "Merzbau”. This was chosen to reflect Akita's dada influence and junk art aesthetic...
, Masonna is one of the best-known Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese noise projects.
The Masonna project has been the opening act for several well known artists on their Japanese concert dates, including Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
, Beck
Beck
Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...
and Slipknot
Slipknot (band)
Slipknot is an American heavy metal band from Des Moines, Iowa. Formed in 1995, the group was founded by percussionist Shawn Crahan and bassist Paul Gray...
. Masonna also caught the attention of John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
and was featured on his program, having even done a limited Masonna 'John Peel Sessions' CD.
Yamazaki Maso currently works at Alchemy Records in Osaka.
Masonna is most known for Yamazaki's wild live performances which usually consist of damaging his equipment, jumping around madly, and at times getting injured. He has given entire concerts which last only a few seconds. In 1996 Masonna toured the United States on the "American Mystique Tour" named after his only album to be released on two formats, Inner Mind Mystique.
As Flying Testicle
with MerzbowMerzbow
is the main recording name of the Japanese noise musician , born in 1956. Since 1979 he has released in excess of 350 recordings.The name "Merzbow" comes from German artist Kurt Schwitters' artwork, "Merzbau”. This was chosen to reflect Akita's dada influence and junk art aesthetic...
and Zev Asher.
- Lamerican SextomLamerican SextomLamerican Sextom was a 7" vinyl release by Flying Testicle. The release was limited to an edition of 10 hand cut acetates in unique handmade collage envelope-sleeves. Raw materials from unreleased Flying Testicle concert at Fandango February 21, 1992...
(ZSF Produkt, Japan, 7", 1992) - Space DesiaSpace DesiaSpace Desia is an album by noise supergroup Flying Testicle. The limited edition CD came with a full color poster.-Track listing:#"Johnny Guitar"#"Arturos Island"#"Romance"#"The Red Lanterns"#"Dark Eyes"#"Hit Kit Party"#"Night Falls"#"Open Squeeze"...
(Charnel MusicCharnel MusicCharnel Music is an independent record label devoted to putting out strange and improvisational music. The label was formed in 1988 by Mason Jones as "Charnel House" and had initially released works by his band Trance. The label's name later changed to "Charnel Music," and went on to release music...
, USA, CD, 1993)
As Masonna
- Masonna vs. Bananarama (1989)
- Shinsen Na Clitoris (1990), Vanilla Records
- Mademoiselle Anne Sanglante Ou Notre Nymphomanie Aureole Japan (1993), Alchemy Records
- Noskl In Ana (1994), Alchemy Records
- Super Compact Disc (1995), Alchemy Records
- Noisextra (1995), RRRecords
- Ejaculation GeneraterEjaculation generaterEjaculation Generater is the fourth Masonna release on Alchemy Records & third proper Masonna album released on that label. It was the last Masonna release on Alchemy Records for many subsequent releases which were all released on other independent labels around the world Ejaculation Generater is...
(1996), Alchemy Records - Inner Mind MystiqueInner Mind MystiqueInner Mind Mystique released on Relapse/Release records in 1996, is the only Masonna album to have a release on two formats; as a triple 45 limited to 500 copies in a cloth tri-fold sleeve , and as a CD with a 7th, fifteen-minute, bonus track .-Track listing:Inner Mind Mystique 1Inner Mind Mystique...
(1996), Relapse Records - Hyper Chaotic (1996), V Records
- Freak-Out Electrolyze (1997), Nanophonica Records
- Spectrum Ripper (1998), Cold Spring Records
- Frequency L.S.D. (1998), Alien8 Recordings
- Vestal Spacy Ritual (1999), Alchemy Records
- Beauty Beast (1999), Blast First Records
- Shock Rock (2002), MIDI Creative Records
External links
- Maso Yamazaki's Official Site with all his projects; Masonna, Space Machine, Christine 23 Onna, South Saturn Delta, etc.
- Pictures of Maso Yamazaki at discogs.com
- South Saturn Delta official site
- South Saturn Delta Cold Spring Records page
- Official website
- Official Masonna myspace page
- "Amusing Ourselves to Death" June 1993 interview from Bananafish #8 by David Hopkins.
- Interview and translation by Matt Kaufman 6/29/94.
- "Spectrum Ripper" audio files of Masonna on UbuwebUbuWebUbuWeb is a large web-based educational resource for avant-garde material available on the internet, founded in 1996 by poet Kenneth Goldsmith. It offers visual, concrete and sound poetry, expanding to include film and sound art mp3 archives.-Philosophy:...