MIKAMI, KAN - Barking Practice///White Lines

Two new heavy-hitting blasts from Japans indefatigable master of the psychedelic, surrealist blues. After a recent European tour and an hour-long special on Japanese television, the wonderfully titled Barking Practice /// White Lines finds Kan Mikami back in the studio in one-take guitar and vocal mode. Theres a depth of song spirit on display here that beggars belief -- the guitar bites in all the right place, and Mikamis voice is tuned to a new pitch of hard-won soulfulness, in turns bristle-harsh, lush, fractured, deep as all hell. Staggering work. Includes English lyrics and some fabulously atmospheric photos by Paolo Patrizi. - FE.