T. Mikawa's solo efforts

[Otomo_Hava]

Are Toshiji's solo works are worth mentioning/checking/buying?
Especially those on Alchemy Records, cause i'm willing to buy Bloody, Innocent And Strategic and/or 私はノイズ -I, Noise- 伊達と酔狂で三十余年 ~In Search Of Ostensible Noise~.
Thanks for any help!

[Baglady]

Yes. Cannot speak for the I, Noise double disc just yet as I ordered it the other day myself, but Bloody, Innocent And Strategic is a real ripper. I can't stress enough how great the Gyo-Kai Elegy CD is though, and unlike the Alchemy discs it is very affordable. Same case with Incapacitants; don't just stick with the Alchemy albums, however iconic they may be, since they've thrown some real gems at other labels as well (Operorue, Ministry Of Foolishness, Zashikiwarashi Effect etcetcetc.)

[tisbor]

Gyo Kai Elegy is fucking great! Super crispy. The "Fuck My Ass" live tape with Cracksteel is pretty good too.

[Bloated Slutbag]

I, Noise is absolutely worth it. Very illuminating contrast between Mikawa at his earliest and (then) latest. You get Derek Bailey-esque guitar plunkings under the pre-Incaps name Contradictory Bridge. You totally un-Incaps-like experimental weirdness under the name Incapacitants. You get something like Incapacitants-goes-creeped-out-power-electronics- very stripped down very raw somewhat reverb soaked HARSH. You get a live recording from 1985 (pre Kosakai) that could pass for very recent live Incaps. You even get something called "My Fave" and you soon learn why! That's the first disc.

On the 2nd disc it is Mikawa channeling Monde Bruits via more frenzied, digitized harshness. The same compressed-glass-shards-smooshed-into-face taste as to be had on Bloody, Innocent And Strategic, but as each track is relatively brief, seemingly more intense and focused. You get a lengthy piece consistent with the better-fleshed-out of the recent Incaps studio offerings, also echoed in the more, um, tubular tracks of Bloody, Innocent And Strategic. And you get a fully frenzied live Mikawa that is, like, pure unfettered godhead. Go get you some!

Here are a couple commentaries from a little while back, in my usual impenetrable convoluted style. Have a look if you feel you haven't been punished enough this week:

https://www.special-interests.net/forum/index.php?topic=52.msg46543#msg46543
https://www.special-interests.net/forum/index.php?topic=52.msg46409#msg46409


If I were forced at gunpoint to choose, I'd still rank Gyo-Kai Elegy above the lot. Just that little bit more tense and nuanced to my ear, managing to tick most of my personal Incaps-worship boxes but sounding not at all like them.

[Duncan]

Anyone aware that Mr Mikawa recently dropped a very vocal heavy CD-R on chocolate monk?!
Imagine incaps with the noise turned down really low and the vocal noises simply amplified clean rather than shredded through distortion. Baffling yet perfectly sense making release.

[Andrew McIntosh]

I can't stress enough how great the Gyo-Kai Elegy CD is

[FreakAnimalFinland]

Not Mikawa solo, but just listened MIKATEN Live2 tape. It is Mikawa + Tentenko. Tentenko was member in BIS, that was "alternative idol band" who also did collaboration with Hijokaidan. (Tentenko - "Hokkaido-born underground idol turned indie pop artist, born 27 August 1990. Began her career as a member of the alternative idol group BiS in 2013, then opted to pursue a solo career following that group's dissolution.")

Mikaten "live2" tape has two live shows, both 35 min long. Mikawa seems to do what he usually does. The broken harsh electronics, always quickly moving, never staying still for long time. However, Tentenko brings in lots of musicality. Beats, colorful electronics and such are often giving elements of music to it, but it feels largely improvised, not "song oriented".

Despite sound quality feels like the usual digital mini recorder quality, and it ain't total noise, I find myself enjoying the tape quite a lot! Perhaps it is also due offering so different material compared to a lot of harsh noise that has been open stereos lately!
Nicely packaged tape has transparent full color art on norelco case itself and then transparent slipcase on top of that.
https://advaitarecords.bandcamp.com/album/live2