Keio Line (album)

Keio Line is a collaborative studio album by the French electronic rock guitarist Richard Pinhas and the Japanese noise musician Merzbow. The album was released in September 2008, on double CD by Cuneiform Records in the US and on triple LP by Dirter Promotions in the UK. It is the first of several collaborations between Pinhas and Merzbow.

Background and recording
Richard Pinhas and Masami Akita (Merzbow) first met when Merzbow opened for Pinhas' 2006 show in Tokyo. Pinhas recalled that he was "astonished" when he saw Merzbow play, and that he felt an immediate connection with Merzbow. When Pinhas returned to Tokyo in 2007, he suggested a collaboration to Akita. As Akita had been a longtime a fan of Pinhas and his band Heldon, he readily agreed. For the recording Akita used the vintage analog EMS Synthi A synthesizer, which he says has a "very spacey and somewhat mellower sound". He described the sessions as improvised and played "very spontaneously". Pinhas says that they didn't plan anything beforehand.

The album is named for the Keiō Line railway that took them to the recording studio, during which time they talked. Akita notes that Pinhas was involved in the 60s protest movement and worked with the philosopher Gilles Deleuze. They also discussed animal rights. They chose track titles relating to these concepts.

The album was recorded during October 25–27, 2007 at Peace Music Studios in Tokyo, Japan. Pinhas then mixed and remixed the material at Studio Ramses in Paris, France, in December 2007.

Reception
Keio Line was released to largely favorable reviews. Critics have noted that the album is less noisy than one might expect from Merzbow. Brandon Wu writing in the Washington City Paper writes that Merzbow's "grating noisescapes are, if not subdued, then at least submerged, like an insistent undertow lurking beneath the relative calm of Pinhas’ looping guitar." and that "There are no punishing gales of pure noise a la 1994’s Venereology ... Instead, Akita’s electronics emphasize subtle rumblings, vaguely rhythmic churnings that serve to provide texture and counterpoint to Pinhas’ extended ruminations." John Kelma, in All About Jazz, notes the album's "element of interaction ... with Merzbow and Pinhas responding to each other, often with great subtlety, even greater unpredictability and consistently empathic results." Both Kelman and Wu reference Robert Fripp and Brian Eno's album (No Pussyfooting).

However, Mike Newmark writing for PopMatters was critical of the album's length, and felt that the music's ambient nature made it seem even longer. Newmark also felt that the sound of Pinhas' guitar and Merzbow's noise was dated and no longer innovative.

Personnel
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.
 * Musicians
 * Masami Akita – EMS Synthi A, noises
 * Richard Pinhas – guitar, loop system
 * Technical personnel
 * Souichirou Nakamura – recording engineer
 * Laurent Peyron – mixing engineer, remixing assistant
 * Richard Pinhas – mixing assistant
 * Duncan Pinhas – remixing
 * Brad Blackwood – mastering at Euphonic Masters
 * Design personnel
 * Florence Lucas – cover art
 * Car Radio (Kuro Pipe) – photos of Richard Pinhas and Merzbow at Mixrooffice [CD version]
 * Duncan Pinhas – photo of Richard Pinhas with guitar [CD version]
 * Bill Ellsworth – design [CD version]
 * Florence Lucas – label photos [vinyl version]
 * Steve Pittis – sleeve design, layout [vinyl version]