Hepatopolitika

A beautifully confounding album, Hepatopolitika was the first major statement by Kusafuka Kimihide’s K2 project, after a batch of self-released tapes (many of which were compiled by the recent Burst After Burst box set). Released on the legendary, mysterious Praxis Dr. Bearmann label, it’s a surprisingly open, spacious collection of material, particularly given the ferocity and density of K2’s later ‘metal junk’ recordings. Here, Kusafuka seems to channel musique concrète’s editorial thumbprint — jarring juxtapositions, disrupted silences, tape cuts — and reframe it within a junk aesthetic, always an admirable thing to do. Other K2 may be ‘definitive,’ but Hepatopolitika is extraordinary.