Epiphanies

Epiphanies
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E HATEUHIT
Yamatsuka Eye's artwork for the Eat Srrit ,Vorbe ,ttusrc cassette (cilca 1988)
closerto the middle.Theyweren'twell known,but at
It was exactlythe sort of thing that 15 year olds aren't musicianship,fidelity,funkiness,lyricalcontent,
least those cats had decentdistribution!| grew
rhythmicprowess,historicalrelevance,etc had no
supposedto hear: Eat Shit NoiseMusic. Late night
What other soundslivedin the undergrowth,
curious.
a
mother
or
ugly
only
was
stuff
so
here.
This
business
collegeradio had introducedme to Japan'svirtuoso
off the map, in placesyou needan obscurecatalogue
bass and drumsduo, Ruins,and my questfor material close relativecould love it, and thus I quicklyfound
to locate?
myselfin the family.
by the groupwas sendingme down increasingly
With its no-fiXeroxartworkand poorlytypedtracklist,
Forthis was the first musicthat I could reallycall my
unusualpaths. Eat Shlt was my best lead- a bootleg
Eat Shlt was a refreshingreminderthat you didn't
cassetteof Japanesegroupscompiledby RRRecords, own. Reachingliterallyacrossthe globe,the most
need moneyto make music or get it heard."All song
Ruins
unmarketablesoundshad locatedthe right ears and
and available
via their mail ordercatalogue.
transmutedinto personaltreasure.Nobodywas telling [sic] swipedfrom existingphonographrecords,used
were on the tracklistand the pricewas cheap.
The cassettearrivedsuspiciouslyfast, just two days me how to listen or what to listenfor. I had discovered without permission,"the liner notes boasted.Of
course,nobodymindedthis bootlegger.RRRecords
radioplayor a
after I'd postedmy cheque.I tore openthe package, it unaidedby recommendation,
armed my tape deck, and crankedthe volume.What I journalist'sreview.Eat Shit slippedinto my systemlike was makingextremelyhard to find materialslightly
a carjacker,and the shockwas total. My responsewas less hardto find. This is the purestform of
heardbecamemy personalgroundzero. Dynamic,
- nothingto do with piratedmajorlabel
bootlegging
lasciviousviolencepouredfrom the speakers,courtesi to make it mine - to approachthe music on its own
tacky sheen of bastardpop mixes.On
yardstick
or
the
releases
for
its
my
own
fashioning
pre-Boredoms
terms
while
Hanatarash.
outfit,
Yamatsuka
Eye's
of
had
compilation
enjoyment.Undernoise's surfaceoutragelay a gambit the contrary,RRR'sunauthorised
atrociousand amazing,the sounds
Simultaneously
much more in commonwith bootlegmoonshiners,
defiedme not to like them, yet somehowI did, turned for freedom.
who brewhigh-proof
randomdrunksand libertarians
The RRRcassettewas polarising,but it was also
on by flashes of anarchicjoy amid the audiofallout. I
firewaterin jerry+iggedbasementstills.
personaland fragile;and I had the sense that if I
think I may haveblushed.lt wasn't that Hanatarash
I would later realisethat I'd stumbledacrossthe
didn't listen closely,it might pass unnoticed.I knew
were throwingmusic rulebooksin the trash - that
nothingaboutthese groups,but it was obviousthat an exoerimentalcassettecircuitthat flourishedin the
would havebeen relativelysimple,or at least
individualwith photocopieraccessand a dual cassette 1980s and early90s. Priorto the Internet,grassroots
recognisable.No, their openingtrack soundedlike
noise culturewas internationalby necessity- there
deck could make a substantialdifferencein their
rabidforcestearingdown a house,or attemptingto
world.This scenehad a tangiblescale.lt stoodwithin simplyweren'tenoughfans in anyone place.And so it
build one with crackedpowertools and constantly
grasp,whichsuggestedthat I could activelyparticipate was held togetherby slow postal servicesand
splinteringlumber.Somebodyhad a heavythumb on
scrawledaddresses,mail ordercataloguesand tiny
in music- any music,especiallythe weird stuff the pausebutton,for the songwould periodically
consumer.Precisely labelsand kids swappingtapes.A goodzinewas gold.
ratherthan remaina well-informed
shudder,accelerateor drop out entirely.Not eventhe
Just recentlyI had the privilegeof performingin
the sort of thing a resourcefulkid in New England's
mic was exemDtfrom abuse.Intermittenthowlsfrom
Osaka,hometownto Hanatarashand generally
the bedlam.My teen mindmelted. whitewashedculturallandscapeneedsto hear.
Eyeaccompanied
regardedas Japan'scentrefor both noise and comedy.
their rock histrionicsheld
And Ruins?lmpressively,
I listenedto Eat Shitover and over,extractingmore
bent ineptitude. An AustralianexpatriateoutlinedOsaka'snoise scene
ingeniously
meaningfulsignalsfrom that noisethan an optimistic up againstHanatarash's
Eat Shitalso featuredrelentlesslyderailinganarcho- for me. "lt doesn'treallyexistanymore,"he lamented.
chaos theoristwould havethoughtpossible.Other
"There'sjust this thingcalled'scum noise',where
punkfrom YamatsukaEye'sother group,Boredoms;
materialon the comp was informedby a rampaging
amphetaminetypes screamand leap aroundlike mad.
guitars,alwaysunderneath
and the singularly
Grim'sIndustrialprimitivism;
beat or sludge-filled
Sometimesthere'll be jam sessions,whereguys
amongothers.
screams,abjectelectronicsand/or feral distortion,but inappropriateGerogerigegege,
recordthe worst soundsthey can find and playthem
tunes involveda man pleasuring
Gerogerigegege's
Hanatarash'sthree contributionswere constructed
over a massivesound system." lf that's what happens
himselfbetweenbursts of blistering,guitar-laced
from excitinglyliteral,non-musicalsounds lacking
then Osaka'sstill got a special
duringa downswing,
identiflablereferent.Somebody'shitting...something. noise:onanismas publicsport.
Thecasuallistenermightcallthis musicrepellent. wretchedringingin its ears. His Japanesewife strolled
Titleslike "FrogGirl
As somethingelse collapses.
over."l enjoyedyour set," she said with an open
But I thoughtof its force as centrifugal,pullingus
9OO00"and "My Dad ls Car" offered little insight
the noise."
smile,"especially
towardsunchartedperimetersand awayfrom any
beyond'Englishas a secondlanguage'allusionsto
Noiseappreciatedas poetrybecomesmusic. Foreign
stabilisingcentre.Contrastthis with the manygenres
mechanised
and mutatedhumans.
languageslearntgrowfamiliar.Allegedlyexoticsounds
comfortinglystifled by subculturalmoresdictating
Crypticand deranged,yes. But also strikingly
understoodon their own terms - whetherit's Nass El
acceotablemusicalconduct.
music
earnest.The anarchic,excrement-fixated
Moroccanchaabior
young
epoch-making
Ghiwane's
age
meant
at
such
a
extremities
Hitting
these
for
its
threshold
spawneda strangelydemotic
enjoyment:you either like this shit or you don't - there that everythingelse in my recordcollection- Mission Hanatarash'scalamitywaltz- can reemergeas soul,
Of Burma,DetroitTechno,PereUbu- got nudgeda bit and set up camp insideyours.n
isn't much room for debate.lssues of quality,
106THEWIRE