King Of Noise / Hijokaidan
I thought it was about time to introduce some Japanese noise, but with such a great lineup of Japanese noise musicians, it’s hard to decide which one to choose first.
Any one of them would be a good choice, but I believe Hijokaidan is the originator and pinnacle of Japanese noise, so I’d like to introduce them here.
Also, it was hard to decide which Hijokaidan album to choose, so I chose this one, which I missed out on buying when it was released and regret greatly.
Hanatarashi’s first album came out around the same time, and I remember them being lined up alongside this one in the record store, but I didn’t buy either of them, and thinking back now, I wonder why I didn’t.
The first time I heard Hijokaidan was on “Tapes," but this album, which came out before “Tapes," and both are harsh noise masterpieces.
The tracks with drums in particular are very powerful, full of freaky fun, and have a sense of speed.
I recommend listening to all of their noise at high volume.
That’s because you can feel the pressure of the sound with your whole body.
I really felt this when I saw Hijokaidan live.
There’s a lot of sensational buzz about their live shows, which only adds to the band’s greatness, but I think what makes Hijokaidan so great is the ability to feel the pressure of their sound.
I used to go to a lot of their shows in the 1990s, and no matter how many times I see them, there’s always that same intense, tangible sound pressure at their shows.
At the time, MERZBOW’s Akita Masami was on drums, and his insane power really hits you hard.
JUNKO’s screaming vocals, T. Mikawa’s convulsive movements and aggressive use of effects, and Jojo Hiroshige strumming his guitar, which eventually led to them screaming without a guitar at all, left me in a state of collapse after every show.
Around that time, Incapacitants’ Fumio Kosaka would sometimes perform with them, and the field of view was also impressive…
I would like to listen to this film at high volume and feel the sound pressure, but it is not easy to find such an environment, so if you can at least put on headphones and listen at high volume, I think you will be able to experience Hijokaidan in a realistic way.