HIJOKAIDAN
– polar nights live
(CD,
Picca)
Hijokaidan are the best hidden secret legends of Japan
noise and it is completely thanks to Lasse Marhaug’s efforts that they have left
Japan to play a show at the All Ears Festival 2006 in Oslo, Norway, which
Mister Marhaug recorded and now releases on his very own Piccadisk label.
Hijokaidan are so withdrawn from the public sphere that even amongst the
ever-searching noise addict scene they are hard to come by. This status is
also enforced by the fact that they hardly ever play live, especially not
outside the Japan isle, and that they record even less. I only ever came
across one release – a white ten inch – about fifteen years back and
then I didn’t buy it, because it was too obscure for me. (Can you imagine
that!) Compare that kind of productivity to Merzbow and you see what I mean, though
Hijokaidan have been around since 1979 so they actually stand right there
next to Kazayuki K. Null
or Keiji Haino in longevity. The more thanks to Sir Lasse Marhaug for making
this unknown giants better known to a broader audience (at least I hope it
works.)
The core of Hijokaidan are Jojo Hiroshige, who abuses a
guitar like not a lot people are able to, and Junko, who does the same to
vocal chords. Recovering from a severe inflammation of the throat and larynx
momentarily I wonder how a human being is able to do that. To describe them
as a mixture of Masonna and Keiji Haino, though probably good for business
on the one hand, is completely out of course on the other one. Not only
because they usually mix up with a bunch of other, differing people in
shows, but because it does not do justice to the power of what can be heard
on this CD.
“Polar Nights” is structured according to the
appearance of Hiroshige and Junko during the three day All Ears festival,
which had the two-people basic line up of Hijokaidan on the first night and
then Hiroshige performing with Per Gisle Galaen (known probably from DEL,
the most underrated psychedelic band from Scandinavia – because whatever
you say about them is an understatement of some sorts) and Junko doing a
separate set with Sten Ove Toft (from Ryfylke, which draw a blank on my map,
which I intend to change as soon as possible).
So the first track is a long ride through incredible
distortion and chaotic noise consisting basically of a guitar and voice.
Which in itself is incredible, because most of the time it sounds as if you
are stuck in a giant building that is collapsing because Godzilla is
stomping around on it – yeah like that but a hundred times more extreme.
The track is called “No Oslo No Harm” for a reason, you know. Hiroshige
leaves out no trick on his six sides, giving them the full force destruction
as well burning core shredding and high level feedbacks while my throat goes
back to hurting like hell only listening to what Junko is doing. Message?
Political inclination? I don’t think so, apart from the cathartic
cleansing that experiencing such an event live must have on any kind of
person, cleaning him or her from all the bullshit and pretensions and
arrogance that gets so big in everybody these days. You know, there is a
reason that noise musicians always seem to be the most gentle people you
could possibly know when meeting them somewhere. Hijokaidan even do a encore
on this track, which in itself is another unbelievable act.
This set takes up about half an hour of the CD and
while other labels would have sufficed with that, counting in the legend
status of Hijokaidan, on this release you will find some more. Galaen and
Hiroshige start off their collaboration in a more “gentle” manner,
layering their guitars over one another with the droning massiveness of
Leviathan swimming by. Suddenly all those records by Fear Falls Burning
start to taste a little stale, judging against the overwhelming depths and
multitude of these sounds. Maybe Dirk Serries is just releasing too much,
drawing out a single idea over to long a period? Maybe it means that getting
back to the roots of something is always more satisfying an experience than
ingesting the generic product? Anyway, this track is less chaotic, less
substantially self-destructing, but still intense and dense. Most of the
time you could easily guess that it is guitars, by the way. The other
collaboration of that night is Junko with electronic experimentalist Sten
Ove Toft and it is also a treat. Actually, it is a scream. Do you remember
those voices off-Hollywood producers like to use on Horror-movies to portray
the sounds that lost souls or a mass of evil ghosts make? You get this here
manifold a hundred times. Yes, definitely intriguingly cool and devastating,
the way it should be. Junko’s voice is as destructive as a neutron bomb or
any other distasteful and politically non-correct comparison, and Toft’s
electronic noise is like a single-layer Masami Akita, which together makes
for a unique experience. But since this is turning out the longest review I
ever wrote, and there are still some little things to say, I’ll leave the
rest to your imagination (as if you would ever be able to…)
