The Japanese icon Null (aka Kazayuki Kishino), for those not yet familiar, is a veteran guitarist who's resume reads like a "who's who" of avante/experimental/noise musics. He's led trash/noise groups like YBO2, Absolut Null Punkt (A.N.P.), and sludge-grind metallists Zeni Geva. He's also collaborated with just about everyone of note in the world of left field music for the past 25 years. This new solo release of 2006-2007 work eschews the guitar in favor of loud, unsettling electro-acoustic cacophonies. The 9 untitled tracks here clock in at over 49 combined minutes, and they range from near-power electronics to overloaded, fractured, and amplified digitally-processed glitch - sometimes grating (and unashamedly so), yet rife with an ear for subtlety upon deeper absorption. Track 4 is a particularly monolithic slab of barreling, broken rhythms, and chaotic electro-percolations. Track 5 is a stinging barrage of trebly distortions and proto-rhythms, sounding quite alien and disorienting, while track 6 is a hypnotic space-out collision of geiger pops and squeltchiness. Other tracks are similarly foreign and, due to their rather extreme nature, difficult to ignore or relegate to the background.
Null's skills are evident here, as in the hands of a lesser ear, this set could be indulgent and messy. As it is, "Oxygen Flash" is a highly immersive set of playful sonic compositions with much to offer upon repeat spins. Enjoyable and unforgettable work.
(Neurot Recordings)
KK Null home site
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