K2 - Lost Land Of Chiba
K2 is one of those legendary Japanese noise acts that I’d expect every noise head to have some kind of relationship with. Active since the early ‘80s, K2 has been a stable on the global noise scene. I personally never consciously collected K2 releases, but have a bunch of them anyway. It’s just one of those bands whose records you end up buying every now and then because they never really let you down.
I guess most people know them mainly for their unrelenting junk metal assaults of the 90s, and that is certainly my favourite part of their vast discography, but the current phase is pretty interesting too on its own terms if you like the wondrous world of modular synthesis.
Lost Land Of Chiba is a concept album dealing with the typhoon that hit east Japan in 2019. I was not overly familiar with the current phase of K2’s sound, but going into it I expected a kind of digital noise sound based on the cover art which (to me) is kind of reminiscent of techno releases of the early 2000s. This expectation was partly honed, as the album consists mainly of modular synthesis and mixer feedback manipulations.
Though split into three separate tracks, two very long pieces surrounding a shorter one in the middle, the sounds and atmospheres blend into each other and create a whole experience, making it pointless to describe the tracks individually. The overall atmosphere is controlled and subdued compared to earlier stuff. You get some howling and screeching feedbacks for sure and some pounding rhythmic parts as well, but the overall atmosphere is more bleak, cold and clinical. It reminds me of the cold and monotonous blips and echoes you hear at a hospital.
Mixing the noisy cut-up feedback with rhythmic parts and even some more “empty” echoing parts, Lost Land Of Chiba balances the thin line between chaos and structure perfectly. At one time feedbacks are cut up and randomly put together with cacophonic results, at another sharp rhythmic structures interlace to create pounding almost industrial sounds – at times the beats are even almost danceable (but just almost).
This way of letting the music zone in and out of chaos creates a dynamic album which may not be super noisy compared to older stuff by K2, but which is an enjoyable and complex listen. There is never a dull moment and the soundscape is ever-evolving and dynamic without ever really cascading into pure chaos. In sum, Lost Land Of Chiba is a mature noise record from one of the Japanese masters. It is the sound of someone who has mastered his craft over almost four decades and is now in complete control. If you like modern noise and enjoy cold and bleak atmospheres, be sure to check this one out.
