Highdrophobia

LP

2023

Ltd.199

First time reissue, originally released in 1986. Solmania is a Japanese noise music project founded in 1984 by Masahiko Ohno. The hallmark of this amazing artist, who builds his experimental electric guitars from spare parts, is his freakish ability to use the stringed instrument by generating absolutely unique sounds, both in his live performances and recordings. The guitars used by Masahiko Ohno are multi-neck guitars and harp guitars and take on extremely bizarre shapes, using unconventional body shapes, extra-necks, strings, and pickups in unusual places, and various extraneous gadgets such as mics or tweets

Pushing far beyond expectations of free improvisation, Solmania weaves blistering passages that incorporate touchstones from progressive, punk, metal, noise, and drone, into more intricate movements of dystopian avant-gardism, culminating as a strikingly forward-thinking expanse of sonic creativity that pushing toward uncharted ground. Still, in all this, his advanced technical and interpretive skills are always evident, and his sense of lyricism in all music, quite profound. Traveling through the winding and jagged grooves of modified noise guitar, you come across Highdrophobia. Recorded and mixed in September 1986 and released the following month on cassette on Fatagaga Tapes FTC-08 in an extremely limited edition, this rare gem finally rears its ugly head in a new analog version on 12" vinyl

With his stunning modified guitar, Solmania uses tape, radio, metal, turntable, and vocals to create three incredible sound tracks of wild noise madness, offering the listener an excellent overview of his music's development. From side A single session, with its gumtree-shaking shimmer and mottled chords, through to the wildly sophisticated free noise sculpting of side B, divided into two tracks, where a horse-galloping guitar figure transform and uplift it from standard to something deeply original. A sublime, noisy effort of left field DIY minimalism constructed from recurring guitar pieces, vocal and a peppering of diverse object as turntables, radio and invisible effects, Highdrophobia illuminates a hidden but remarkable legacy of a great performer at the begin of his creativity and consciousness in the mid of the '80s. A masterpiece of guitar drone, its dense harmonics and overtones induce trance-like states, providing one of the most creatively thrilling, immersive experiences

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