Osaka's busiest man, Norihito Kodama,
released fifteen Discogs-accredited records in 2009 alone – an
impressive surge from a scene newbie. This latest miniature disc
comes from the fledgling Hikikomori label, a counter-intuitively
Danish label that takes its name from a Japanese social phenomenon
in which afflicted individuals withdraw entirely from society. I'm
not sure how all that confusing muddle fits together, but this brief recording
certainly shows evidence of a sound-crazy individual.
NRYY's six tracks range widely in terms
of content, but maintain a constant devotion to the noisy and
abrasive. Its most vicious passage is the devilish "Insect in
Headphones," which messes about with treble-heavy feedback noise and
general screech n' squall; aggravate neighbours and roommates alike!
Expert "Mischief of Evil Crumb Crust," meanwhile, uses a sample of
crusty scraping to design a nifty little bit of atmospheric
industrial sound. On the more original (or, at least, novel) end of
matters comes several tracks which
revel in a more "songlike"
demeanour. Among these are the folk-cum-metal-cum-noise triumph
"Kiss"
and sinister "Psycho Romance," which builds a chaotic (and
occasionally even rhythmic) noise symphony around a twinkly
music-box melody. Meanwhile, disc highlight "Wind & Cloud"
destructs a traditional-ish melody with power chords and unceasingly
contorting white noise accompaniment.
I always enjoy when a noise
artist ventures into different realms of sound; notions of melody and rhythm
need not run against noise music's grains, and here NRYY
explores a curious intersection
between song and abrasion. I'm looking
forward to Kodama's future exploits, which, if
nothing else, promise surely to be plentiful.
