Nord

A Japanese project dealing in a number of varieties of industrial music, it was started in 1979 by Satoshi KATAYAMA (b. 1954) and Hiroshi OIKAWA. The early works combined the stylings of industrial avant-garde of rock music and power electronics. Although the duo split in 1982, both members used the name for their solo operations. OIKAWA focused on studio work, stylistically on the borderland between art noise and experimental post- industrial, inspired by psychedelic rock music and drug-induced states of mind, releasing it through his own, newly set up label L.S.D. RECORDS. In 1985 he definitely ceased his musical activities. KATAYAMA, on the other hand, concentrated on performing live, primarily in the domain of the noise industrial genre. In the 1980s he was aided mainly by Makoto ITO and MERZBOW, while later he worked with the likes of Satoshi OGURA, Fumio KOSAKAI, and Hiroshi HASEGAWA. The studio works, much in the art noise vein, abounded in a psychedelic atmosphere of spiritual liberation and meditation. From 2004 on he has remained inactive artistically. Discography: Nord (Pinakotheca 1981) LP NG Tapes (L.S.D. Records ???) tape Psychotron - 1 (L.S.D. Records ???) 4 x tape L.S.D. (L.S.D. Records 1984) LP collaboration with NULL/MERZBOW B-Semi Live: 24th May 1984 (ZSF Produkt 1984) tape collaboration with MERZBOW Live Performance (ZSF Produkt 1984) tape Ego Trip (L.S.D. Records 1985) LP