Texture, rhythm and movement in all of its disguises, this anthology disc captures the myriad of expression that has become the hallmark of the Test Tone series at Tokyo’s SuperDeluxe. Focusing on riveting improvisation and stark electronica, the music collected here covers a lot of ground, from balloon duets to helicopter compositions and other experiments in noise. Challenging and evocative, this presents wide-angle snapshot of Japan’s current wave of international sound pioneers.

In the fragmented urban playground of the city, free barter and the unexpected encounter of ideas creates a wellspring of creative engagement. Drawing from this, the Test Tone series aims to offer a venue for diverse and challenging artists to bring their ideas to a larger community. As a free event open to the public, we hope to bypass the old economies in order to create new ones, while encouraging collaboration in all forms. A collage of media, sound and art in a space available to anyone off the street, the event is a bazaar of potential collisions, where passersby are treated to the unexpected. For all of this, we found our home base at Super Deluxe, a unique space in Tokyo’s midtown, providing a relaxed atmosphere within its modular interior. The event continues to be a celebration of off-kilter creativity in the city: from installation pieces to performance art and visual collaborations; from noise, electronica, ambient sounds and free rock to disorderly jazz and manipulated field recordings. To date, close to 500 artists have been a part of the event, together creating opportunities for unexpected improvisation, collaboration, and festival spirit.

Format: CD in Recycled Papercard Mini-LP Sleeve
Catalog no: MEDAMA-TT01
Price: $18 (includes free shipping worldwide)

http://www.subvalent.com/test-tone-anthology-disc-two/ http://www.subvalent.com/test-tone-anthology-disc-two/#comments Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:39:31 +0000 Subvalent http://www.subvalent.com/?p=295

Track Listing:

“Up” live at TT13 - Ryuta Kawabata (8:22)
TT38 - Marko Ciciliani + Yoshio Machida (8:27)
Live at TT45 - Tenniscoats + Ikuro Takahashi (7:34)
“soof” live at TT38 - KO.DO.NA (4:39)
Live at TT42 - Samm Bennett + Hiroyuki (Kalimba) (8:45)
Live at TT29 - Tsuki no Umi (4:53)
Live at TT49 - Lead Sister II (4:11)
Live at TT38 - Chie Mukai + Tetragrammaton (6:36)
“EVP” live at TT46 - Nick Hoffman + Takahiro Kawaguchi (7:08)
“Hikari/Hana” live at TT34 - Yusuke Kamijima (5:51)
“rut” live at TT26 - Yuki Kaneko (5:36)

Surrounded by murmurs, footsteps and other environmental accompaniment, these recordings capture the immediacy of resplendent sound on location. This disc could be as much an acoustic exploration of the performance space as it is an aural exploration of the ambient and meditative forms in each track. Beautifully packed into this second disc in the Test Tone Anthology series, steelpans, kalimbas, bells, metronomes and family-sized tuning forks all seem to find a resounding home within the walls of Tokyo’s SuperDeluxe.

In the fragmented urban playground of the city, free barter and the unexpected encounter of ideas creates a wellspring of creative engagement. Drawing from this, the Test Tone series aims to offer a venue for diverse and challenging artists to bring their ideas to a larger community. As a free event open to the public, we hope to bypass the old economies in order to create new ones, while encouraging collaboration in all forms. A collage of media, sound and art in a space available to anyone off the street, the event is a bazaar of potential collisions, where passersby are treated to the unexpected. For all of this, we found our home base at Super Deluxe, a unique space in Tokyo’s midtown, providing a relaxed atmosphere within its modular interior. The event continues to be a celebration of off-kilter creativity in the city: from installation pieces to performance art and visual collaborations; from noise, electronica, ambient sounds and free rock to disorderly jazz and manipulated field recordings. To date, close to 500 artists have been a part of the event, together creating opportunities for unexpected improvisation, collaboration, and festival spirit.

Format: CD in Recycled Papercard Mini-LP Sleeve
Catalog no: MEDAMA-TT02
Price: $18 (includes free shipping worldwide)

http://www.subvalent.com/test-tone-anthology-disc-three/ http://www.subvalent.com/test-tone-anthology-disc-three/#comments Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:51:56 +0000 Subvalent http://www.subvalent.com/?p=300

Track Listing:

TT41 - Oncenth Trio (8:04)
TT41 - Nikkasen (7:35)
“Blockade” live at TT45 - Mir (5:55)
“Beleth/March” live at TT48 - Muddy World (7:37)
TT21 - Damo Suzuki’s Network (9:15)
“Siryo” live at TT43 - OreWaKonnaMonJanai (6:12)
TT25 - Tone Blues (8:36)
TT41 - L?K?O + Keigo Iwami + Buttercup Metal Polish (6:10)
TT39 - AEN + Tatsuhisa Yamamoto (5:53)
TT41 - Kuruu Crew (6:12)

This third disc in the Test Tone Anthology series pulls no punches, offering an insider’s view of what goes on outside of business hours in downtown Tokyo. An exhilarating dose of tumultuous noise-rock, leftfield jazz freakouts and other explosive encounters make this a compilation for the truly brave at heart. With performances by L?K?O, Kuruu Crew, Damo Suzuki, Muddy World, and a legion international guests, this could in fact be the album that finally completes your collection. Everything you wanted to know about the underground but were afraid to ask.

In the fragmented urban playground of the city, free barter and the unexpected encounter of ideas creates a wellspring of creative engagement. Drawing from this, the Test Tone series aims to offer a venue for diverse and challenging artists to bring their ideas to a larger community. As a free event open to the public, we hope to bypass the old economies in order to create new ones, while encouraging collaboration in all forms. A collage of media, sound and art in a space available to anyone off the street, the event is a bazaar of potential collisions, where passersby are treated to the unexpected. For all of this, we found our home base at Super Deluxe, a unique space in Tokyo’s midtown, providing a relaxed atmosphere within its modular interior. The event continues to be a celebration of off-kilter creativity in the city: from installation pieces to performance art and visual collaborations; from noise, electronica, ambient sounds and free rock to disorderly jazz and manipulated field recordings. To date, close to 500 artists have been a part of the event, together creating opportunities for unexpected improvisation, collaboration, and festival spirit.

Format: CD in Recycled Papercard Mini-LP Sleeve
Catalog no: MEDAMA-TT03
Price: $18 (includes free shipping worldwide)

http://www.subvalent.com/golden-parabola-beauty-queens/ http://www.subvalent.com/golden-parabola-beauty-queens/#comments Sat, 06 Dec 2008 08:17:06 +0000 Subvalent http://server1.modisdesign.com/site_subvalent/wordpress/?p=54

Track Listing:

Jasper’s Black Gunion Ginger Babies (4:28)
Blue of Noon (9:14)
Wunderkammer (4:37)
…Concerning the Limbs (14:20)
Pompey, Good Night (9:39)
City Wretch (5:28)

A gritty rescue attempt before drowning in sludge. Pounding vibrations from the bomb shelter. The sound of punk rock virgins fighting for purity in the mucky aftermath. Throbbing bass as deliberate as post-apocalyptic earthworms. Beauty Queens sucks the life out of the party and spews it back in. A caustic mix of members from Jahiliyyah and the FDF, joined by Shigehiro Tsubota on horns and new languages, Golden Parabola proudly present a series of warzone transmissions from the trenches of exotic locales.

Air raid sirens overpowered by the wailing of clarinet bomb widows fused with the yelps, growls and other pre-natal vocalizations of the wolf children raised in the rubble. Make friends, the matted hair is a sign of warmth in the city.

An unwavering barrage of Garamuto drums, subterranean minefields, and garam masala stink bombs implode into a swampy mess, leaving behind a steamy residue held together by the viscous drudge of real stoner rock.

Format: CD-R
Catalog no: SDCD015
Price: $10 (includes free shipping worldwide)

http://www.subvalent.com/jahiliyyah-anon-nehrut/ http://www.subvalent.com/jahiliyyah-anon-nehrut/#comments Sun, 30 Nov 2008 16:30:07 +0000 Subvalent http://server1.modisdesign.com/site_subvalent/wordpress/?p=20

Track Listing:

Teeth Shatters Theme (02:07)
Carnival Of Souls (05:22)
The Grandmother Whisperer (00:38)
Methuselah (01:19)
Untitled (07:18)
Untitled 2 (05:52)
Bloated Infants Smile (14:04)
Celine Slaughterhouse (15:21)

Jahiliyyah presents a howling scrum of ecstatic durge from the daylight-deprived bowels of Tokyo. Replete with all the glopshod trappings you come to expect from a precarious flossing session, this remains in gran’s dentures until the tea gets cold. Ancient casiotone purges, or the best music money can buy?

Gravity gets a steely head-slogging before everybody climbs back in the leaden rollercoaster for one last shot at hitting the molten core. Allow us to present the most beautiful soundtrack to your downward spiral. This is an epic, layered, haunting, and multi-dimensional massage of all distortion-craving layers of your being. Like throaty karaoke, Anon Nehrut echoes long into the night.

Format: Limited CD-R (100 copies) in silkscreened kraftboard sleeve
Catalog no: SDCD009
Price: $14 (includes free shipping worldwide)