K.K. Null - Atomik Disorder
(Neurot)
Kazuyuki Kishino Null has been releasing music since his first cassettes appeared in 1982. His work with twisted rock outfits Zeni Geva and YB02 soon followed, as did collaborations with loads of noise/improv heavy hitters, both from Japan and abroad. Null's dense, aggressive guitar torture has gained him fame as one of Japan's biggest names in noise.
One of Null's most recent discs, Atomik Disorder finds Null floating in his own industrial vision of outer space. Distorted, insistent rhythms drive some of the music like the inner workings of a complicated machine. An array of science-fiction electronics augments the music with all sorts of glitchy bleeps and sweeps. Null forsakes sheer power on much of Atomik Disorder for a more spacious type of industrialism, with reverb-like delay on some of the beats, and more empty space than one might expect. The straightforward synth-panic of track five's rhythm is something that wouldn't be out of place in any sort of synth-based industrialist's musical palette.
There's a definite sense of paranoia and fear in much of Atomik Disorder, which is a definite plus, but Null's use of electronic beats and noisy rhythms is too often firmly entrenched in clichéd industrial territory to give this music much of a distinctive feel. This is a disappointment, considering the verve with which Null has made a name for himself in the past.
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