Kaitai Teki Kohkan (New Direction)

This recording dating from 1970 is duo free improvisation from two of the Japanese avant-garde music scene's most vital practitioners. Both have since passed on and left some of the most challenging music in the world of post- jazz improvisation. It has been said that this duo are like the Tokyo equivalent of Derek Bailey and Evan Parker and it is easy to see why. Some the New Direction Unit recordings of the '60 predate noise and free improvised music of the following decades in that they deployment of feedback-guitar and noise are frankly shocking when we consider the culture and the era in which these were produced. Fans of the extreme end of improvised music -- be it Sonny Sharrock, Peter Brotzmann, or Borbetomagus should give at least an hour of your attention to this incredible recording -- this could only be matched by the singular music of Cecil Taylor for total outward-bound energy. Exceptional recording fidelity and production on the Japanese D.I.W label, this is a must for collectors of free jazz and Japanese noise alike.