K2

***Hospital Productions presents a reissue of K2's The Rust, originally released in 1996. From its imposing cover featuring massive Japanese characters fading from red to orange to yellow in a descending gradient to the title itself, rust would not have been enough for this edifice of decay. It is the rust, the final rust, the purest rust. The presentation only reiterates that this work is process driven, that it does not stop moving, clinging, falling, eroding, and covering its subject. As moisture turns metal to dust, this is KIMIHIDE KUSAFUKA's grand mastering of decay. The Rust is a four-part cut-up metal junk noise classic. Not to be confused with the typical high octane '70s psych rock-obsessed outpourings by many of Japan's more well-known noise elite, K2 has settled on a physical process of his own that gets at the inner workman surrounded by the urban accumulation of not-so-precious metals. Like the towering waterfront refinery, or the wrought iron fence outside one's door that they may pass on their way to a busy morning routine, The Rust grinds away and piles on multi-track recordings that are violent and caustic and physical yet totally arcane in their construction. Recorded 1996 in Chiba, Japan for Kinky Music Institute, The Rust appears here on vinyl for the first time, faithfully remastered by KRIS LAPKE (Alberich). Gatefold sleeve with the original artwork; Rust-colored vinyl; Edition of 250.