Merzbow

"For over thirty years, Merzbow (aka Masami Akita) has been the biggest and most recognisable figure on the international noise scene. Indeed, he has defined the contours and aesthetic of the genre, from his pioneering use of tape loops to create hulking industrial vistas in the late 70s, to his switch to laptop-generated static noise at the turn of the century... Rightly hailed by Paul Hegarty, in his seminal book Noise/Music, as an artist who reached the apex of noise's potential as an artistic genre, Merzbow has been a clear influence on a wealth of subsequent noise artists and groups.” – Joseph Burnett, The Quietus