Hijokaidan, Incapacitants

Tip! *2023 repress. Real time professionally duplicated tapes.* “What can possibly be said about these two legendary groups that hasn’t been said already? Ironically, when this split cassette tape was originally released in 1985 on Alchemy Records, both Hijokaidan and Incapacitants were just starting to share their own voices with the unassuming outside world, crystallizing a sound that displayed an immense power, but would also continue to morph throughout the years up to the present time. True to the never-ending story of the king of noise, the lineup of Hijokaidan saw many changes since its beginning, but here we find the stripped-down duo of Jojo Hiroshige and Toshiji Mikawa combining forces, and on the B-side is the first incarnation of Incapacitants featuring Mikawa performing solo, his trusted partner Fumio Kosakai not yet a member of what is known now as the classic lineup of the group.

It’s hard for me to put in words the sounds recorded on this tape, because as I mentioned previously, much has already been discussed about these two pioneers of noise, both orally and written, as well as considering the stifling limitations of language that truly can’t capture the sounds, time, and place working together that make up this ancient noise totem. Perhaps that is the best way of looking at it; a relic from the past – something from the very beginnings of what we all take for granted as contemporary noise, finally unearthed years later for the current generation to discover, attempt to understand, and ultimately enjoy in the context of the present. And like all timeless art from bygone civilizations, the sounds on this cassette are eons ahead of their time, an uninfluenced and solitary statement of raw energy that has left a shock-wave still resonating throughout the universe. So, all that’s left for the uninitiated is to throw everything down the emergency staircase and play this noise tape on repeat!” – Luke Tandy