V/A - Capturing The Wind, a Japanese Noise Compilation

A 14-track compilation CD featuring an impressive array of active Japanese noise artists, including: Kazumoto Endo, Government Alpha, K2, Hiroyuki Chiba, scum, Kazuma Kubota, Thirdorgan, Astro, NP, Spore Spawn, P.O.V., KAZUYA ISHIGAMI, Kazumoto Endo & Kaori Komura, and MO*TE. Sparse in presentation, enormous in sound. As it should be.

Vital Weekly Review (1393)

The full title of this collection is "Capturing The Wind, A Japanese Noise Compilation", and is released by the label DaDa Drumming from Fort Worth, Texas, which I had never heard before. The label, that is, not Fort Worth or Texas. Because Texas is, of course, home ground to some of the harshest noise we know (Richard Ramirez, TEF, Taint, to name but a few), and it is of no surprise that in the back catalogue of DaDa Drumming, we see a few of those names come up too. And it's a small step from Texan Harsh to the Japanese variant, so it is also no surprise to see many of the names featured on "Capturing The Wind" also being members of the DaDa roster. As said more often in Vital Weekly, it's pretty difficult to review noise. Especially when you like to stay original and not always say the same thing over and over. It makes it easier if there are other subjects related to the sounds about which there is something to tell. But when it comes to samplers, it isn't easy again. Should I write stuff on all 14 (!) projects? It would be a Vital with one review, so no. The artwork? It's beautiful, Minimal, and complex at the same time. But there is a thing. All tracks are between 3 and 4 minutes in length. And I can't tell you why. Surely it is a conceptual choice, but that's all I can say about it. The line-up mixes older and better-known projects and a few newcomers. Government Alpha, Astro, Thirdorgan and K2 do not need any introduction. New names, or at least names I hadn't heard about, are P.O.V. (powerful digital harsh) and Hiroyuki Chiba (erratic, jumpy analogue sounding cutup), who haven't been active for that long. A special mention is going to the album's 'least harsh' track, the closing track by Kazumoto Endo featuring Kaori Komura. "Live At Niigata Woody Nov 27, 2022" is a live recording, and probably that is why the quality is less intrusive than the rest of the album. Why the special mention? Kaori was also one of the founding members and the original drummer of G.I.S.M. back in 1981, and here she manipulates Korean traditional instruments. Kaori and Kazumoto already recorded two full albums in this setting, so yeah... A lovely addition. The final words, however, are taken straight from the website because I found them perfectly chosen for this album: "Sparse in presentation, enormous in sound. As it should be." (BW)

 Spore Spawn - Setsuni (Music Video)