are a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese noise music

Noise music

Noise music is a term used to describe varieties of avant-garde music and sound art that may use elements such as cacophony, dissonance, atonality, noise, indeterminacy, and repetition in their realization. Noise music can feature distortion, various types of acoustically or electronically...

 group formed in 1981. It consists of Toshiji Mikawa and Fumio Kosakai, whose stated aim is to produce "pure" noise, uninfluenced by musical ideas or even human intention, using primarily feedback

Audio feedback

Audio feedback is a special kind of positive feedback which occurs when a sound loop exists between an audio input and an audio output...

, vocals, and various electronics

Electronics

Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...

. Kosakai calls this sound "hard noise", as a nod to hard bop

Hard bop

Hard bop is a style of jazz that is an extension of bebop music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz which incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music, and blues, especially in the saxophone and piano...

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History

The group was formed in 1981 in Osaka

Osaka

is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, as the solo project of Mikawa, a member of the noise improv group Hijokaidan

Hijokaidan

Hijokaidan is a Japanese noise and free improvisation group with a revolving lineup that has ranged from two members to as many as fourteen in its early days. The group is the project of guitarist Yoshiyuki "Jojo" Hiroshige its one constant member, who is head & owner of the Osaka-based Alchemy...

. Mikawa, a bank employee, later moved to Tokyo

Greater Tokyo Area

The Greater Tokyo Area is a large metropolitan area in Kantō region, Japan, consisting of most of the prefectures of Chiba, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Tokyo . In Japanese, it is referred to by various terms, including the , , and others....

, where he joined with government office worker Kosakai (of C.C.C.C., and who would later become a regular member of Hijokaidan) to make Incapacitants a duo. Many of the group's track titles reference their professions, but because of their day jobs, the two have not often been able to tour abroad. Incapacitants are counted among the more well known of the Japanese noise bands formed in the 1980s, along with such names as the aforementioned Hijokaidan and C.C.C.C., as well as Hanatarash

Hanatarash

Hanatarashi , meaning "sniveler" or "snot-nosed" in Japanese, was a noise band created by later Boredoms frontman Yamantaka Eye and featured Zeni Geva guitarist Mitsuru Tabata. The outfit was formed in Osaka, Japan in 1984 after Eye and Tabata met as stage hands at an Einstürzende Neubauten show...

, Solmania

Solmania

Solmania is the Osaka-based noise music project of Masahiko "Masaki" Ohno , who runs the Works Fatagaga noise record label. Formed in 1984, Solmania is one of the earliest noise projects out of Japan...

, The Gerogerigegege

The Gerogerigegege

The Gerogerigegege is a music project created in 1985 in Shinjuku, Tokyo by Juntaro Yamanouchi , who runs and maintains the Vis a Vis record label in Japan.- Biography :...

, Merzbow

Merzbow

is the main recording name of the Japanese noise musician , born in 1956. Since 1979 he has released in excess of 350 recordings.The name "Merzbow" comes from German artist Kurt Schwitters' artwork, "Merzbau”. This was chosen to reflect Akita's dada influence and junk art aesthetic...

, and Masonna. The group also recorded sessions with Vivian Slaughter of Gallhammer

Gallhammer

Gallhammer is a Japanese extreme metal group that draws on black metal, doom metal, and crust punk. They formed in Tokyo in 2003. All of the members are female, which is rare in their genre. -Biography:...

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Discography

Partial discography:

• 1989: Repo
• 1990: Feedback of N.M.S.
• 1991: Fabrication
• 1993: Quietus
• 1993: Stupid Is Stupid
• 1994: No Progress (compilation)
• 1994: Ad Nauseam
• 1995: Sarin Will Kill Every Bad Aum!!! (single)
• 1995: As Loud As Possible
• 1995: D.D.D.D. (Destroy Devastating and Disgusting Derivatives)
• 1995: El Shanbara Therminosis
• 1995: Operorue
• 1996: Asset Without Liability
• 1996: Ministry of Foolishness
• 1996: New Movements In CMPD
• 1999: Default Standard
• 1999: Unauthorized Fatal Operation 990130
• 2000: Live Incapacitants
• 2004: Sec End
• 2007: 73
• 2008: Box Is Stupid
• 2009: Lon Guy

External links

• Incapacitants biography and discography at JapanImprov
• Incapacitants discography at Discogs
  Discogs
  Discogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...