Test Tonehttp://www.soundispatch.com/ttsnews/Copyright Test TonesNews Sound Experiments Test Tone vol. 55: Deep Impact! Songs of Destruction from Planet Nibiru March 9th, 2010 (Tuesday) 20:00 to 25:00 at Super Deluxe, Nishi Azabu, Tokyo. An evening of multinational obliteration featuring: N'toko (from Slovenia) + Yoshio Ootani Slovenian national freestyle champion twice-over, N'toko (aka Miha Blažič) has taken the micro-sampled hip-hoppery that guys like Prefuse 73 and Funkstorung needed hours of editing to achieve and has reproduced it live at the mic (think Jamie Lidell and Canibus' test tube child). With his roots in freestyle, N'toko has recently moved into the Japan improv scene, and he'll take this opportunity to work with one of the community's inexhaustible stalwarts, saxophonist and electronic sound artist Yoshio Ootani (from sim/mas). A true first meeting, this should be compelling on all fronts, especially for those who are curious as to what might come out of the laboratory beakers. N'toko Yoshio Ootani Chung-Han Yao (from Taiwan) Currently an artist-in-residence at the Tokyo Wonder Site, Taiwanese artist Chung-Han Yao explores the connections between video, installation, space and wide-ranging media. His second visit to Japan with his laser-light-sound performance, he continues to create spectacular works that cover a number of disciplines, using laptop, infra-red beams, electronics and fluorescent lamps to stunning effect. This installation/performance requires an large amount of space and begins in absolute darkness. Using the multi-channel system in the venue and making full-use of the space, you may want to take a peek even if you've had the chance to see his remarkable work before. Chung-Han Yao Naoki Murakami + Yoichiro Shin (DeAthAnovA) + Yoshihito Shinma Always seeming to take the path of most resistance, Optrum drummer Yoichiro Shin (aka DeAthAnovA) has put together a unit of terrifying unpredictability – again. His session mates on this somewhat blind date include two fantastic improvisors from the cream of the current Tokyo post-punk scene. Naoki Murakami (te_ri, Destorio) has blown many a mind with his signature fluorescent-light guitar explorations, and Yoshihito Shinma (bass) has been tearing holes in the fabric of the punk continuum with his band Fukuro. With Shin's trademark laser-lights pulling the sensory assault into wonderfully controlled mayhem, prepare for a freaked-out and heavy delivery of sight and sound. Naoki Murakami Yoichiro Shin Yoshihito Shinma (Fukuro) Veee Deee Possibly best left described by San Fransisco independent music shop of legend, Aquarius Records, Veee Deee "spit out fierce fiery ultra thick blasts of snarling buzz and in-the-red psychrock chaos." Indeed. It is hard to believe that the meager combination of guitar and drums could result in the bone-crushing heaviness that they put to tape (and recreate live in the flesh). One of Japan's best kept secrets with a penchant not to be upstaged. You've been warned. Veee Deee Aï-Hz (Visuals) French visual performer Aï-Hz divides his time between Tokyo and Paris, creating expansive eye candy in a universe that weds noise-pop-poetry with visual creations. After a number of residencies (YCAM, Anticlockwise) and providing videos or real-time visual performance for a number of artists (Optron, Mutron, Riow Arai), Aï-Hz has defined an captivating vocabulary of form, and produced a wholly original body of work. Aï-Hz Evil Penguin The Evil Penguin has, with two shakes of the lamb's proverbial tail, decided to spin that which will make the world turn in your direction. Tue, 02 Mar 2010 11:31:07 +0000http://www.soundispatch.com/ttsnews/home/test-tone-vol-55/http://www.soundispatch.com/ttsnews/home/test-tone-vol-55/ Sound Experiments Test Tone vol. 54: Multiplex Mandelbrot Escapades in 3-D February 9th, 2010 (Tuesday) 20:00 to 25:00 at Super Deluxe, Nishi Azabu, Tokyo. A multimedia evening of extraordinary phenomena featuring: Suzueri + Satoru Higa Predating the resurgence of 3-D media in a visionary way, Satoru Higa creates phenomenal works that pull you into another universe completely. With the signature red and blue glasses provided in advance, Suzueri's sublime accompaniment serves as a fitting backdrop to the anaglyph landscapes appearing before your eyes, courtesy of Higa's deftly prepared visual experience. Reaching out to grab the wayward shapes spinning in the empty space around them, the audience looks a little bit like confused cats facing off with flashlight beams. A beautiful and perplexing audiovisual experience. Suzueri Satoru Higa Takmi Ikeda + Yasunori Tani + KO.DO.NA Representing somewhat the new wave of Japanese improvisors, this trio will no doubt offer some unexpected surprises. Musician/programmer Takmi Ikeda has created a singular and expressive performance concept based on algorhythmic interplay, which he continues to push to new audiovisual dimensions that boggle the brain. He'll be accompanied by resplendent trumpeter KO.DO.NA and angular guitarist Yasunori Tani for an altogether unique encounter. Takmi Ikeda Yasunori Tani KO.DO.NA Satoshi Yashiro + Yuki Kaneko + Cal Lyall + Nozomu Suwa (16mm filmworks) Spending the better part of 10 years in New York City, filmmaker Nozomu Suwa collected an impressive amount of 16mm footage from the city and surrounding areas. From this material, he has pieced together 3-minute film segments in subtle yet often unexpected ways. The resulting works have a dreamlike quality that captures the rhythm of the city as well as the character of the filmmaker himself. For this screening, improvising musicians Satoshi Yashiro (motallica), Cal Lyall (Jahiliyyah, Tetragrammaton) and Yuki Kaneko (balen disc, PhaseRubRec) will be on hand to provide a fitting soundtrack. Satoshi Yashiro Yuki Kaneko Cal Lyall Evil Penguin Grand wizard of vinyl and interstellar treasure hunter, the Evil Penguin extracts the tastiest gems from his cosmic vat of recordings long forgotten. Pure listening pleasure. Tue, 19 Jan 2010 01:51:48 +0000http://www.soundispatch.com/ttsnews/previous-events/test-tone-vol-54/http://www.soundispatch.com/ttsnews/previous-events/test-tone-vol-54/ Sound Experiments Test Tone vol. 53: Festive Lifeboat Excursions January 9th, 2010 (Saturday) 19:30 to 25:00 at Super Deluxe, Nishi Azabu, Tokyo. A New Year change of climate. Bring in the sinking New Year with ocean-sized party music courtesy of: Praha Depart Over five years ago, the founding members of Praha Depart lugged their gear all the way from Hokkaido to Tokyo, in search of the perfect combination of new wave and grunge rock. What they found was something a little more surprising. Hooking up with their current drummer in 2006, their sound keeps all you would expect from a post-millennium Teenage Jesus & the Jerks, yet remains entirely listenable and loveable thanks to a good dose of latin-fused bounce and stumble. Praha Depart Government Alpha + Yoshiyuki Ichiraku + Cal Lyall + Keigo Iwami In a first-time meeting, four performers from weird and wonderful musical locales battle it out in an ocean of slippery improvised sludge. Ramshackling, nay, swashbuckling fun guaranteed. Government Alpha Yoshiyuki Ichiraku Cal Lyall Keigo Iwami Umibachi New Wave pioneers from Tokyo guide us through brand new dance steps in a feast of riff-heavy psychedelic pop. Krautrock-influenced meditational groove from the city's urban core. Tight, spaced-out and stunningly executed. Umibachi SHIT A new concept in post pretentremendrumics and a road map to post-tantric pataphysical brainsnack flavourings. Featuring members of Ryusenkei Body, VEEDEEE, Jahiliyyah, OKHP and many more, a sizzling improvised space-out! Evil Penguin Grand wizard of vinyl and interstellar treasure hunter, the Evil Penguin extracts the tastiest gems from his cosmic vat of recordings long forgotten. Pure listening pleasure. Tue, 19 Jan 2010 01:08:09 +0000http://www.soundispatch.com/ttsnews/previous-events/test-tone-vol-53/http://www.soundispatch.com/ttsnews/previous-events/test-tone-vol-53/ Sound Experiments Test Tone vol. 52: Adventures Unpredictable December 8, 2009 (Tuesday) 20:00 to 25:00 at Super Deluxe, Nishi Azabu, Tokyo. Pathways from the Occidental to the Accidental featuring: Robert Piotrowicz (Poland) One of the most prolific artists on the Polish experimental improv scene, Robert Piotrowicz is involved in a range of musical activity, from electro-acoustic studio and theater composition to interdisciplinary art projects and sound installations. As an instrumentalist and composer, he has collaborated with a number of aural mavericks, including the likes of Kevin Drumm, Tony Buck, Lasse Marhaug, Xavier Charles and Zbigniew Karkowski. He continues to tour extensively, playing major festivals in both Europe and North America as a soloist and collaborator. Robert Piotrowicz Anna Zaradny (Poland) Saxophonist, improvisor, composer and sound artist, Poland's Anna Zaradny has used her classical training to create artistic work in many fields. As an instrumentalist and composer, she uses extended saxophone technique in tandem with with computer-based structure to create everything from purely acoustic improvisation to complete compositions in the electronic medium. As a visual artist, she works with photography and video to create abstract pieces with multiple layers of form and meaning. In her work, she tours extensively and has collaborated with artists such as John Butcher, Tony Buck, and John Hegre, while working closely with Robert Piorowicz at home on the Musica Genera label and annual festival. Anna Zaradny Ryusenkei Body + Hiroki Chiba Forming in 2003, Ryusenkei Body has been able to combine a complex approach to musical form with a style that is genre-defying and unexpected. The band takes a binary approach to composition and performance, stepping outside of the musical form to both contradict yet interact with the original material. Stark and challenging, their performances are dense in texture with fractured rhythms that bring to mind elements of hip hop (think Prefuse 73), electronica (think mego) and great free music. On this evening, they will be joined by special guest and mercurial bass/electronics wizard Hiroki Chiba (Isolation Music Quartet, They Live, Hose II etc.) for an unprecedented matchup. Ryusenkei Body Hiroki Chiba JIM2ACHIN.E Performance Group (France) Interweaving sound, movement and image in unexpected ways, Sylvain Duigou, Yumiko Shiono and Laurent Rodriguez present the audience with absurd and dada-esque performances, enacted with beauty, humour, and poetic evanescence. With a range of influences, the group manages to pull disparate ideas into new forms of interactive media, striking a peculiar balance between deconstructionist abstraction and primordial weirdness. Lovely stuff indeed. Sylvain Duigou Yumiko Shiono Laurent Rodriguez JULIETTA (visuals) Using an array of visual sources, JULIETTA is a VJ unit coming from the joined forces of Yuki Ohta (aka De-R) and parhelion (aka JULIA). Involved with everything from club music to the experimental, the unit puts together specially commissioned works, as well as improvising visuals in a live setting. Using minimal creations from software, plus images jumping from their collection of 9 DVD players, JULIETTA has been much in demand in Tokyo for their decidedly unique yet supple imagery. JULIETTA Evil Penguin Grand wizard of vinyl and interstellar treasure hunter, the Evil Penguin extracts the tastiest gems from his cosmic vat of recordings long forgotten. Pure listening pleasure. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:10:23 +0000http://www.soundispatch.com/ttsnews/previous-events/test-tone-vol-52/http://www.soundispatch.com/ttsnews/previous-events/test-tone-vol-52/ Sound Experiments Test Tone vol. 51: Night of the Heavy Liftoff November 10, 2009 (Tuesday) 20:00 to 25:00 at Super Deluxe, Nishi Azabu, Tokyo. Sounds from Terra Firma into the Hellish Cosmos featuring: Helll As ethereal harmonies, languid melodies and somnambulist rhythms crawl along in slow-motion, you find yourself being pulled ever-deeper into the world of Helll, a five-piece 'slowcore' unit exploring beautiful and controlled improvisational forms. The music is wonderfully curious, like walking backwards through a Tarkovsky film acted out by your friends. The current lineup includes Tetsuro Yasunaga (minamo, cubic music, 12k), Sakiyo Tobita (The Medium Necks), asuna, Jeff Fuccillo and drummer Jason Funk. Helll Cojo A high-octane collision of Brazilian rhythms, electronic wizardry, and prodigious piano playing, Cojo might be a laboratory result of the merged DNA of Hermeto Pascoal and Miles Davis (circa Bitches Brew). With Mitsuo Sakaguchi (Alan Smithee's MAD Universe, Otani Yoshio MJQT, etc.) on piano, Kenji Kariu (OWKMJ) on guitar and Yoshihiko Takeda (OWKMJ) on drums, we are treated to a veritable supergroup of veteran musicians playing the music they love. Mitsuo Sakaguchi Kenji Kariu OWKMJ Space Baa With the stellar drumming of Jimanica (d.v.d, World's End Girlfriend, nhhmbase) serving as the penultimate backbone, Shibusashirazu bassist/leader Daisuke Fuwa and trumpeter Tatsumi Mitsuhide then overlay other-worldly musical delights, ranging from free-funk freakouts to rhythmic collage culled from 70s psychedelia and electric jazz, to create the sound of Space Baa. Following the late-summer release of their first album 'with love from a planet', the members have been hard to pull together due to intense overseas touring schedules. This night will have the full unit back in Tokyo to help brace you against the chilly weather. Space Baa ROKAPENIS + vextaQ (Visuals) Since 1999, visual artist Yohei Saito has been active with a bewildering array of video work, from his longstanding collaboration with dance group Baby Q, to handling big-screen visuals at the Metamorphose outdoor festival, to his mind-bending speed collages with grind-metal karaokeist Maruosa. He will be joined by visual satirist and DaDa KingZ member vextaQ in a first-time collaboration. ROKAPENIS vextaQ DaDa KingZ Evil Penguin Grand wizard of vinyl and interstellar treasure hunter, the Evil Penguin extracts the tastiest gems from his cosmic vat of recordings long forgotten. Pure listening pleasure. Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:13:28 +0000http://www.soundispatch.com/ttsnews/previous-events/test-tone-vol-51/http://www.soundispatch.com/ttsnews/previous-events/test-tone-vol-51/