Category: releases

Long Vacation – Kuro Pipe

OOO-44 | CD | Digital

This is the second album in seven years by “Kuro Pipe,” a singularity group of Japanese music and stage expression transmitting original underground music from Tokyo to the world without belonging to any existing group. The sound combines the new wave’s madness and hardcore punk’s speed. It poignantly depicts the distortion of modern society and the difficulties of people living in it, with plenty of metaphors mixed with humor. The album features guest vocals by writer Junko Gosho. The cover art is by Ip Akira, a key figure in Hiroshima’s alternative culture. The band logo design is by Takamitomotoshi, known for his cover illustrations for outlaw magazines such as Jitsuwa Knuckles. The title logo design is by the Taichung-based artist Liao Yen-Wei The first printing of the first batch was published in Marseille, France. The first printing lot was silk-screened in their workshop with the full cooperation of Le Dernier Cri, a publishing art group in Marseille, France, and comes in a 7-inch paper jacket directly imported from France! Liner notes by K/A/T/O MASSACRE organizer Kato and Jakarta-based film director Adythia Utama are enclosed.

◆Biography
In the spring of 2003, Kuro Pipe started his career by participating in the 10th-anniversary compilation of Comatonse Recordings, a label organized by Theri Temlitz. In the fall of the same year, they performed for the first time at the “Phantom Masterpieces Liberation League Event” at Grand Cabaret Pacific in Nagoya, Japan. In 2005, he was passive voice by a Slovak punk label to provide a song that was mega mixed by The Last Minutes (Shuichi Sugimoto+Shing02). In May 2006, he held his project “Black Pipe’s Midnight Sexy” at Toride Yakkyoku in Toride. In December of the same year, the first “Kurobikariyu” live event, organized with music critic Manabu Yuasa and artist Atsuhiro Ito, was held at Earth Dam in Shin-Okubo. Kurobikariyu later became recognized as one of Tokyo’s annual year-end live events and continues to this day. In October 2014, Kurokoyu performed at the LUFF festival in Lausanne, Switzerland. At the same time, they performed at the opening event of the “MANGARO” exhibition organized by Le Dernier Cri in Marseille, France, and their first album, “10€” was self-produced as a product for the tour. In 2021, he released his second album, “Rongubakeishon,” from […]dotsmark.

Obsèques – Sou

OOO-40 | C-60 | Digital

Sou(葬):
Death industrial/Power electronics “NEGATIVE CLIMAX” was active between 2009 and 2013. After several cassettes and live performances, the band went into a long silence. Still, In 2021, the original members reappeared and took on a new name as a sole unit: “Funeral.”
This work consists of three sections with eight tracks at the beginning of Sou’s activity on one cassette, is composed of tape loops of fragmented classical piano melodies and desperate moans throughout, and is devoid of any other extra information. The warmth of a corpse, a decaying spiral staircase from which one cannot escape, and a faded vision through a lifeless soul will disempower those who live in a different image and attract those who live in the same image.
Dubbed from the mono master tape to the normal tape by the vintage duplicator, corrupted in natural deterioration, this work reaches for the first time the “sound that Sou was aiming for,” and together with the laser-printed toner-focused binding, it is a work to be picked up in physical form. This is the first time the album has been released of Sou.

A Taste of…RNA – RNA

OOO-39 | CD | Digital

Eiko Ishibashi is a multi-instrumentalist known for her diverse activities ranging from electronic music to singing/songwriter to film and animation soundtracks. Fumio Kosakai is an itinerant noise player who has played in many essential noise bands in Japan, such as Emergency Staircase, C.C.C.C., Incapacitants, etc. and has also played guitar in Space Engine and others. And others, and the super-no-wave band “RNA,” featuring Kimihide Kusabuka, a.k.a. K2, who has been seeking new ground since the dawn of Japanese industrial noise history, will perform at the experimental music hall of fame, Roppongi SuperDeluxe. The band’s 2018 performance at Roppongi SuperDeluxe, the hallowed grounds of experimental music, is now available on CD! The drastic interplay of drums, guitars, and electronics makes for 40 minutes of chilling and incandescent music. Edited and mixed by Yasushi Utsunomiya, mastered by Soichiro Nakamura (Peace Music), and art direction by Masahiko Ohno.

RNA

It all started around 2013 with a collaboration between K2 Kusabuka and Eiko Ishibashi, who met through SNS, and a collaboration between F. Kosakai, an old friend, and Kusafuka, released around the same time. 2015 saw the formation of a 3-piece band for a record release party, with Ishibashi playing dr, Kosakai on g, and Kusafuka on electronics. RNA is a three-piece band featuring Ishibashi on drums, Kosakai on g, and Kusafuka on electronics. RNA has been performing leisurely, gathering only once a year for a live show. The band’s improvisational style is noisy but unmistakably rock and no wave.

Selected Evil And Death Works 2018-2019 – Controlled Death

OOO-38 | CD

1 Evil Discharge (Pt.1&2) 5:21
2 Evil Discharge (Pt.3&4) 4:31
3 Untitled 14:59
4 Black Lucifer Rising 14:36
5 Death Trip 2:31
6 Prayer For A Holy Death 15:12

2018-2019に録音され2019に3つの海外レーベルからアナログフォーマットでリリースされた3作品 “Evil Discharge” Flexi (Oxen Records)、”Black Lucifer Rising” Cassette (Deathbed Tapes)、”M.A.S.O.N.N.A. / Controlled Death – Split” Cassette (Trapdoor Tapes)をコンパイル、更に未発表2曲を収録し初CD化。マスタリングエンジニアにはゆらゆら帝国、Boris等日本のアンダーグラウンド・ロックを数多く手がけるPeace Music・中村宗一郎。メインアートワークは小長谷淳(GRIM)が手がけた。山崎マゾというジャパニーズノイズを代表する才能の新たな方向性が萌芽する新ユニットCONTROLLED DEATH初の国内盤である。

CONTROLLED DEATH:

2017年に活動を開始した山崎マゾ aka MASONNAのロウ・ブラック・エレクトロニクス・プロジェクト。
「死」をテーマとし、ブラック・デス・ノイズ＋イーヴィル・ボーカリゼーションによる不穏と緊張感に包まれたそのサウンドは漆黒の闇に死の匂いを放つ。

Recorded in 2018-2019 and released on three international labels in analog format in 2019 – “Evil Discharge” Flexi (Oxen Records ), “Black Lucifer Rising” Cassette (Deathbed Tapes), “M.A.S.O.N.N.A. / Controlled Death – Compilation of “Split” Cassette (Trapdoor Tapes), plus 2 unreleased songs This is the first time to be recorded on CD. The mastering engineer was a Peace Music’s Soichiro Nakamura has been involved in many projects for Japanese underground rock musician such as Yura Yura Teikoku and Boris. The main artwork was done by Jun Konagaya (GRIM). A new direction of Maso Yamazaki, one of the most representative talents of Japanese noise, is budding in a new unit. This is CONTROLLED DEATH’s first release from label in japan.

CONTROLLED DEATH:

Maso Yamazaki aka MASONNA, who started working in 2017 Raw Black Electronics Project.
Black Death Noise and Evil Vocalization with a theme of “Death”. The sound is filled with a sense of unease and tension are smells of death in the pitch blackness.

A Sense Of Loss – Kazuma Kubota

OOO-35 | CD | Digital

Essential documents of the cut-up noise resurgence. Kubota’s knife-sharp compositions contain more action and more ideas than many artists’ entire careers.

William Hutson from clipping.

Kazuma Kubota, The flag-bearer of the Post Harsh Noise, His famous works that lay the foundation of his present, have been turned into CDs, and two titles will be released simultaneously!

This work is a compilation of the single-sided LP exclusively released in 2012 by an Italian label, “Dear Girl Called Wendy” and the self-released EP in 2009 with only 20 copies (!) into a single CD. “January Thirty” is a piece that wavers between the cold and intense, harsh noise, full of a break feel with many intermittences and repetitions, and the gentle ambient sound as it moves forward. “Uneasiness” is a piece with a strong drive that starts with a field recording of the sound of the rain and guitar arpeggio, then moves on to update the conventional noise perspective with its unique notion of beauty. Both are critical in foreshadowing noise development after the 21st Century and 2020.

We selected James Plotkin (ex-Khanate, OLD) as the remastering engineer for these reissues. With the skill of the master, the music’s update into a modern style with solid audio/sound image was successful. The jacket, protected by a sleeve case, also contains a 12-page full-color booklet that includes many photographs of sceneries that Kubota himself has taken. Kazuma Kubota’s unique worldview has been expressed from visual aspects as well.
He advocates a new noise format that has been gaining popularity internationally, with many followers already in various regions. The hidden masterpiece of such an artist that people should focus on!

January Thirty + Uneasiness
Kazuma Kubota

OOO-36 | CD | Digital

“Serious and sour-sweet music/sound. The sensation I felt was close to a film or a collection of short stories. The piece made me curious about how it would develop in the future.” –

Ai Aso

Kazuma Kubota The flag-bearer of the Post Harsh Noise, His famous works up to now that lay the foundation of his present, have been turned into CDs and two titles will be released at the same time!

This work is a compilation of the single-sided LP that was exclusively released in 2012 by an Italian label “Dear Girl Called Wendy” and the self-released EP in 2009 with only 20 copies (!) into a single CD. “January Thirty” is a piece that wavers in between the cold and intense harsh noise full of a break feel with a lot of intermittences and repetitions, and the gentle ambient sound, as it moves forward. “Uneasiness” is a piece with a strong drive that starts with a field recording of the sound of the rain and guitar arpeggio then moves on to update the conventional noise perspective with its unique notion of beauty. Both have the critical element in foreshadowing the development of noise after the 21st Century and after 2020.

For these reissues, we selected James Plotkin (ex- Khanate, O.L.D.) to be the remastering engineer. With the skill of the master, the music’s update into a modern style solid audio/sound image was successful. The jacket protected by a sleeve case also contains a 12-page full-color booklet that contains many photographs of sceneries that Kubota himself has taken. Kazuma Kubota’s unique worldview has been expressed from visual aspects as well.
He is the advocate of a new noise format that has been gaining popularity internationally, with many followers already in various regions. The hidden masterpiece of such an artist that people should focus on !

エントロピック – HIJOKAIDAN x SissySpacek

OOO-37 | CD

1 Hijokaidan / Sissy Spacek– Amok Time 11:42
2 Hijokaidan / Sissy Spacek– Seven Directions 4:46
3 Sissy Spacek– Necro Ton 29:16
4 Hijokaidan– Live At Akihabara Club Goodman 29:50

“KING OF NOISE”! This is the first collaboration album between the world’s leading noise band HIJOKAIDAN, which celebrated its 40th anniversary this year, and US blur grind SISSY SPACEK, which made its first visit to Japan last year under the management of […]dotsmark.

The album includes:

• A collaboration SISSY SPACEK with HIJOKAIDAN was recorded during SISSY SPACEK’s stay in Japan last year.
• A session at GOODMAN in Akihabara with both bands plus TENTENKO.
• A solo show by HIJOKAIDAN on the same day.
• A previously unreleased solo recording by SISSY SPACEK.

The 8-page booklet includes liner notes by Takuya Sakaguchi.

[…]… The 8-page booklet includes liner notes by Takuya Sakaguchi.

HIJOKAIDAN

JOJO HIROSHIGE (Guitar/Vocal)

T.MIKAWA (Electronic sound)

JUNKO (Voice)

FUTOSHI OKANO (Drums)

The world’s first and Japan’s first noise band, formed in Kyoto in 1979 by Hiroshige JOJO and Natsuki Toshi. After Toshi left the band in 1980, T. Mikawa, who is still a member, joined the band, and many other members joined the band, and from 1980 to 1982, the band performed on stage with killer live performances. The group became well-known in Japan and abroad through its killer live performances. After several member changes, JUNKO joined in the 1980s, followed by Futoshi Okano in 2009, making the current four-member lineup the official lineup. There is also a version in which Naska Ka Nakaya (Electronics) participates as a guest musician.

Their 1982 album “Zouroku no kibyou” is a classic in indie music history and continues to be a long seller.

 The band has also performed live in many foreign countries and has released works from the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, and other countries.

 In 2019, the band celebrated its 40th anniversary.

SISSY SPACEK

Blur / Grind unit was formed in Los Angeles in 1999. Founded by experimental musician John Wiese, the band has incorporated elements of noise core, collage, tape music, free improvisation, large scale ensembles, and much more, while continuing to work across diverse music scenes as a grindcore band. Over the years, many members have joined and left the band. The band has already released over 30 full-length albums, spanning many genres and utilizing numerous methods.

Over the past decade, Sissy Spacek has continued to release records across a wide range of genres while relentlessly pounding the crowd with grindcore that sounds like it came from hell in their live performances.

In 2018, the duo, Charlie Mumma (drums, vocals since 2008) and John Wiese (bass, electronics, vocals), as they have been organized since 2013, made their first visit to Japan to celebrate their 20th anniversary.

Session June.12.2016 – Kazuma Kubota / Mei Zhiyong

OOO-32 | CD

Kazuma Kubota, the noise artist gathering support from various strata, and Mei Zhiyong, the most important figure of modern Chinese noise music. This work is the live recording of a 2016 studio session from a chance encounter with Japanese and Chinese contemporary noise artists. It is a collaboration of a high purity that fuses the synchronicity, which can be felt from the two artists’ solo work, as a tight and stiff noise. This critical piece presents the current Japanese and Chinese noise — a limited edition of 300 copies.

Kazuma Kubota:

The harsh noise artists are active in the heart of the metropolitan area. He gathers the support from listeners who seek out the delicate yet dramatic composition style constructed by the noise that is filled with a sense of speed and breaking, a beautiful ambient droning sound and field recording, etc., as well as from those besides noise listeners, who seek electronica, shoegazer, hardcore, and all the other emotional sounds.

In 2013, He released his first full-length album, “Dis-connected,” from the American noise label, “Ninth Circle Music.”

Similarly, in 2013, he released the EP/CD “Two of a Kind” as their first domestically distributed work from the”[…]dotsmark”, which sold out immediately.

He has been gaining attention from domestic and international media for their conversation with Mr. T.Mikawa on Ototoy and publication for interviews in the Night Science magazine and the Wire magazine etc.

In August 2016, they were invited as the headlining act for the “Amplified Humans Festival” in Dayton, Ohio, USA.

In 2017, they planned on releasing their LP record “Utsuroi”(reissue) from USA’s Amethyst Sunset.

Mei Zhiyong:

Meizhiyong is China’s most crucial international noise experimenter and hardware noise instrument DIYer.He is also active in independent film and photography, etc. Meizhiyong thinks that noise is the carrier of breaking all the rules. Only impaling nothingness will eliminate the contradiction between voice and body, body and mind. The sign of his performance is the strong acting style and the electronic musical Instruments transformed by hacking and circuit-bending. Meizhiyonghas has already toured Europe and Japan successively since 2014. He is now becoming the new blood of noise and experimental music in Asia.