Incapacitants - El Shanbara Therminosis (2007)

GENRE..... Noise
LABEL...... Segerhuva
MODE....... VBRkbps / Joint-Stereo
REL.DATE.. Nov-27-2008

Originally released as a cassette on the Japanese label G.R.O.S.S. in 1995.
El Shanbara Therminosis 2007 was recorded in August 2007 - previously unreleased.

Incapacitants began in 1981 as Toshiji Mikawa's solo project. The original base of activity
was Osaka, where Mikawa collaborated with Yamatsuka Eye and others. Later, after the move to
Tokyo, Fumio Kosakai became a member, to form the current duo. From the beginning, while the
attempt to achieve pure NOISE has been the most important aspect of their sound, they have
also been famous for their stage performances, which are so wild they may remind people of
pro wrestling matches. This aggressive, energetic style and the beauty of their NOISE are
unrivaled. Along with Hijo Kaidan, Merzbow, C.C.C.C., and Solmania, Incapacitants is one of
the most well known of the NOISE bands which started out in the early '80s. Because of the
members' other work (Mikawa is a bank employee, and Kosakai works in a government office)
they have rarely toured inside or outside Japan. In November 1999, they performed at the
festival Music Unlimited '99 in Wels, Austria. This was their first performance overseas.

There is no shortage of reminders these days regarding how old I'm getting to be, whether
it be my kids, the tooth that broke this morning or the fact that Incapacitants have been
around for over twenty-five years. Toshiji Mikawa began using the name back in 1981 and has
become as much of a mainstay in the Japanoise scene as Merzbow and Hanatarashi. After former
C.C.C.C. member Fumio Kosakai joined, the duo's place in the annals of underground music has
been solidified with over thirty releases and countless compilation contributions. This
free-bashing abuse of Theremins and electronics dates from 1995 when it was released as a
cassette on the G.R.O.S.S. label in an edition of 180 copies. The much anticipated reissue
also features a track recorded in 2007, with the same instrumentation, as an added bonus in
a simple but handsome digipak edition of 500.

The first twenty-two minute track wastes no time in establishing the order (or lack thereof)
of the day. Pure shredding and blissfully overloaded noise prevails. The presence of
Theremins chart a distinctly different and sinewy path than the usual vocal histrionics, but
the general aesthetic is the same. It puts a grin on my face to imagine the spectacle of
what physical actions were necessary to pull this off, because it never lets up for even a
nanosecond. I envision the flailing of arms and nervous fingers maniacally busy manipulating
knobs to further the rapture of such a sonic experience. Besides the sheer force of the
music, there's the element of continuous change. It may be static to a degree in that the
level of intensity remains constant, but the altered minutiae and finely honed details keep
it interesting to the point of being nearly transcendental. Ordered chaos if you will. For
anyone who thinks that all noise music sounds the same, I have the deepest sympathy and
suggest you use this release as a sort of litmus test against all others.

The piece ends abruptly, like a tape running out (I'm assuming the original release was a
C46), but it's hard to tell if the slightly longer second part is an extension of the first
or not. If it is, that only adds to the duo's already impressive athletic stamina. At any
rate, it continues to squeal and wail with the impeccable momentum and bright detail of some
gorgeous beast crocheting a psychedelically-colored quilt on amphetamines. If this was
remastered from cassette, my hats off to Mikawa for a remarkable job; it never sounds muddy
and every sonic nuance is represented with equal clarity. The only disappointment here is
the sudden and quick fade-out; damn good session boys.

Track three was recorded twelve years later than the first two, but fits in just fine as if
a day had not passed. The fidelity is slightly different, and strangely enough, not quite as
dynamic as the 1995 session. That aside, the same energy pervades these twenty minutes with
the addition of a bit more technological sophistication and dramatic tension and release. I
actually find the digital aspects to be a little distracting and less of an augmentation to
Incapacitants' sound than interruptive. It's still a great track, but I'll side with the
purists on this one and stick with the original cassette tracks as the real standout
material. Highly recommended and really not too far off from Yasunao Tone's 'wounded CD'
works, which to me are the ultimate in Japanese experimental music (although he's lived in
the U.S. for some time now). They may have some cultural, artistic or generational
differences, but the similarities are striking. When the day is done, it's all about the
music right?

Tracklist:

01 el shanbara therminosis part 1
02 el shanbara therminosis part 2
03 el shanbara therminosis 2007

Incapacitants-El_Shanbara_Therminosis-2007-D2H

(Password: mp3axx.blogspot)
Download Part1
Download Part2

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