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Tetragrammaton 2010 China Tour

Subvalent — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 04:42:32 +0000

Tetragrammaton joins Dickson Dee for 2010 China Tour

All those residing closeby to HK, Foshan, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen please note the dates below. Tetragrammaton will be on tour during the first week of April, playing a series of dates in southern China with Hong Kong-based artist Dickson Dee. Two limited-edition tour CD-Rs will be available at these shows.

2010-04-01 @ Osage Soho, Hong Kong
2010-04-02 @ 191space, Guangzhou
2010-04-03 @ Ninliho Gallery, Foshan
2010-04-04 @ Dawang Culture Highland, Shenzhen

Tetragrammaton

Japanese free psych/drone unit Tetragrammaton is one part 70s free improv (from the school of Kaoru Abe and Masayuki Takayanagi) and one part new millennium blissed-out drone/noise (a la Hototogisu and Vibracathedral Orchestra).
Mixing hurdy-gurdy, soprano saxophone, drums, percussion and (tabletop) guitar, the instrumentation might be well-suited to the folk-music of Eastern Europe, but falls more decisively into the camp of Fushitsusha or Borbetomagus.
Frequent guest spots have included Chie Mukai, Mitsuru Tabata (Acid Mother’s Temple, Zeni Geva), butoh legend Mitsutaka Ishii, Hiroshi Hasegawa (aka ASTRO) Damo Suzuki (ex. Can) and improvising cellist Yasumune Morishige.
The three members, TOMO, Cal Lyall, and Nobunaga Ken are also involved in a number of other projects, ranging from harsh noise to world folk music to electronica.

Dickson Dee

Dickson Dee has been involved in the music industry for more than 20 years. His career started with importing European independent labels to Hong Kong, China and Taiwan, which he then followed up by establishing his own music label and organizing concerts. He contribution to the development of independent music in Hong Kong, China and Taiwan is world-renown.
In 1996, Dickson’s debut solo album “PAST” was released under Tzadik label (USA). Since then, he began his creative work in earnest with musical styles ranging from the avant-garde to experimental, music concrete, electronic, new classical, industrial noise, dance, electronic world jazz and more. He has performed under different names and formed many bands. For example, he uses DJ Dee for electronic experimental music, Li Chin Sung for music concrete and avant-garde, PNF for industrial noise, Khoomi Sound Machine for electronic world jazz, and Dickson Dee for his electro-acoustic, sampling cut ‘n’ paste and turntable activities. He has collaborated with many artists such as Zbigniew Karkowski, Otomo Yoshihide, Sainkho Namtchylak, Maja Ratkje, Sachiko M, Werner Dafeldecker, Patrick Pulsinger, Cdrk, Tujiko Noriko, Tetsuo Furudate, Yoshida Tatsuya, Keiji Haino, Adachi Tomomi, Astro, Makigami Koichi, Kang Taehwan , Lawrence English, Electronicat , Park Je Chun, Jonas Hellborg, Uwe Dierksen, VJ Milosh, Dr Das, and many more.
Dickson set up his personal label Dicksonia Audio in addition to Noise Asia, which concentrates on the release and publishing of his own works. This provides more freedom and convenience to further develop his creativity.
Aside from concerts, Dickson also appears in arts academies and universities for workshops and lectures to share his experiences with students, hoping to trigger their interest on sound art and music.

Chie Mukai + Tetragrammaton join Test Tone Compilation

Subvalent — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 07:27:57 +0000

Medama TT-02 Artists:

1. Ryuta Kawabata 2. Marko Ciciliani + Yoshio Machida 3. Tenniscoats + Ikuro Takahashi 4. KO.DO.NA 5. Samm Bennett + Hiroyuki 6. Tsuki no Umi 7. Lead Sister II 8. Chie Mukai + Tetragrammaton 9. Nick Hoffman + Takahiro Kawaguchi 10. Yusuke Kamijima (Yorune Yolearn) 11. Yuki Kaneko

Release Date:

October 27th, 2009

More info:

Test Tone Anthology

Chie Mukai + Tetragrammaton join Test Tone Compilation

To mark the 50th event in the Test Tone series at Tokyo’s SuperDeluxe, Medama Records is releasing 3-disc anthology of live recordings, including a rare outing that matches Tetragrammaton with the legendary Chie Mukai. Other gems include performances from Damo Suzuki, Tenniscoats, Zbigniew Karkowski and Christophe Charles, L?K?O, Muddy World, Yoshio Machida and many more.

Check back soon for more release info.

Sir Julian Cope Anoints EFNT Album of the Month

Subvalent — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 07:08:55 +0000

Track Listing:

Disc One:

The Ghosts Won’t Starve
(but We Will Perish) (18:00)
Elegy for Native Tongues (07:24)
Kohelet Revisited (17:48)
Queen of the Ships (14:07)
Santa Sangre (09:36)

Disc Two (Live):

Oresteia in One Part (14:20)
Solve et Coagula (11:35)
Los Heraldos Negros (14:54)

Tetragrammaton’s Elegy for Native Tongues on Head Heritage

Tetragrammaton’s recent double album has been the kind recipient of Album of the Month honours on Julian Cope’s Head Heritage home channel. Here’s a choice culling:

The final track – entitled ‘Los Heraldos Negros’ – is a vast quarter-hour of Sonic Quakering, as though some fundamentalist Christians had formed a religion with rites based around the first Residual Echoes LP, or a coupla Titan-sized baritones were shaking the padlocked gates of the Universe, demanding to be let in, or someone had slipped a sample of Pere Ubu’s ‘Sentimental Journey’ on to the car-deck tannoy system of a Cross Channel ferry at disembarkation time, and the drivers were all gamely trying to nail the key by depressing their accelerators. Whatever it is they got, kiddies, y’all need some and that’s a fact.

For more fervid skiffling, visit the Head Heritage site for the full review.

Tetragrammaton + Mitsutaka Ishii meets Zero Jigen

Subvalent — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 04:08:37 +0000

Ceremonial performance featuring:

An incident in the fetish village by Zero Jigen + Zero Jigen Footage
Special Guest: Mitsutaka Ishii and Yoshihiro Ogura
Zero Jigen: Yoshihiro Kato with Zero Jigen female team
Sound improvisation: Tetragrammaton

Date:

July 4th, 2009

Time:

Open / Start: 19:00 / 19:30

Location:

Super-Deluxe

Zero Jigen

Active in the 1960s, Zero Jigen (Zero Dimension) were known for their ‘ritual’ street performances (gishiki), surreal imagery and public nudity. Making use of dada-esque satire, they explored radical themes that expressed urban critique through ritualistic walks through crowded streets and other acts of ‘artistic terrorism’ on the environment. Zero Jigen collaborated with a number of artists from diverse media, culminating in The Joint Struggle Faction for Crashing Expo ’70 (Banpakuhakai Kyoto-ha). Founder Yoshihiro Kato will be on hand for a special performance ceremony and agitation.

Mitsutaka Ishii

Joining Tatsumi Hijikata’s legendary Ankoku Butoh Troupe in 1961, Mitsutaka Ishii became one of butoh’s greatest international proponents after his relocation to Europe in 1971. Initially drawing inspiration from Jean Genet for his mystifying works (with the notable inclusion of Kazuo Ono and Hijikata himself for many performances), he continues to take the enigma of butoh around the globe.

Yoshihiro Ogura

Graduating from the Tama University of Arts with a degree in sculpture, Yoshihiro Ogura discovered butoh while investigating human form in his studies. Touring Russia with Tsuruyama ‘ZULU’ Kinya and TOMO (from Tetragrammaton) in 2007 brought his work increased profile overseas. He continues to work with sculpture while also collaborating with visual artists and sound creators for butoh performance.

Tetragrammaton

Japanese free psych/drone unit Tetragrammaton is one part 70s free improv (from the school of Kaoru Abe and Masayuki Takayanagi) and one part new millennium blissed-out drone/noise (a la Hototogisu and Vibracathedral Orchestra).
Mixing hurdy-gurdy, soprano saxophone, drums, percussion and (tabletop) guitar, the instrumentation might be well-suited to the folk-music of Eastern Europe, but falls more decisively into the camp of Fushitsusha or Borbetomagus.
The band has supported Keiji Haino on several occasions, and frequent guest spots have included Chie Mukai, Mitsuru Tabata (Acid Mother’s Temple, Zeni Geva), Damo Suzuki (ex. Can), Hiroshi Hasegawa (aka ASTRO) and improvising cellist Yasumune Morishige.
The three members, TOMO, Cal Lyall, and Ken Nobunaga are also involved in a number of other projects, ranging from harsh noise to world folk music to electronica.
Forming in 2006 with a bare-bones free improv lexicon, the band has moved towards dense drone-based structures and an increasingly multi-layered approach to thematic development, most evident on their most recent double-CD release from Subvalent, Elegy for Native Tongues.

All About Mimi: New Miminokoto Release Party

Subvalent — Wed, 06 May 2009 09:48:25 +0000

Featuring:

New Miminokoto: Junzo Suzuki (guitar) + Takuya Nishimura (bass) + Koji Shimura (drums)
Tetragrammaton + Hiroshi Hasegawa (Astro)

Date:

May 28th, 2009

Time:

Open / Start: 19:00 / 19:30

Location:

Penguin House

New Miminokoto present Psychedelic night of 1000 nights

Revealed in the name change, New Miminokoto has undergone a bit of a transformation, most notably by bringing in labyrinthine blues guitarist Junzo Suzuki as their leading figure. Their new album All About Mimi is now out on PSF records:

Another first release on PSF for Miminokoto, a Tokyo-based garage psychedelic rock trio who have previously released a string of acclaimed albums on the Alchemy, Gyuune, Siwa and Last Visible Dog labels. This is the group’s first album since Junzo Suzuki (20 Guilders, Astral Travelling Unity, ex Overhang Party) took over on vocals and guitar. The key to this group has always been their deep sense of song — a densely emotive core around which the songs surge, billow and break. That core is retained here with an even harder psychedelic edge to the guitar. Includes two covers of songs by the late Jutok Kaneko of Kousokuya. Forty minutes, seven tracks. - Alan Cummings

Our Love Will Destroy the World Japan Tour

Subvalent — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 06:53:40 +0000

Featuring:

Our Love Will Destroy the World (ex- Birchville Cat Motel) aka Campbell Kneale (New Zealand), Kikuri (Keiji Haino x Masami Akita), Tetragrammaton (TOMO + Cal Lyall + Nobunaga Ken), Muddy World, L?K?O (DJ), onnacodomo (Visuals)

Date:

April 10th, 2009

Time:

Open / Start: 19:00 / 19:30

Location:

Super-Deluxe

Our Love Will Destroy the World

(ex. Birchville Cat Motel aka Campbell Kneale)

After creating an unparalleled body of work under the name Birchville Cat Motel, Campbell Kneale embarks on his first tour of Japan under his new moniker, Our Love Will Destroy the World.
Coming from the deep reaches of Lower Hutt, on the rocky coast separating North and South New Zealand, Campbell has made a name for himself worldwide, collaborating with Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo, Steven Stapleton (Nurse with Wound), Anla Courtis (Reynolds), Neil Campbell (Vibracathedral Orchestra), Matt Bower (Hototogisu, Skullflower) and many more.
His loud and glorious compositions/dronescapes have been acclaimed by many (gaining huge support from UK-alternative music magazine The Wire), and his legendary live performances are renowned for being ‘challenging, brash, fragile, evocative, haunting, breath-taking’ and utterly timeless.
This is a rare chance to see a crucial figure in the modern noise/drone/psych scene at his heartiest and heaviest, and his first performance in Japan for several years.

* As a special bonus, there is guaranteed to be a number of rare Birchville Cat Motel releases (and others from Campbell’s Celebrate PSI Phenomenon label) for completionists who never got the Screamformelongbeach mini CD-R when it first came out.

Kikuri (Haino Keiji + Akita Masami)

Once described as the sound of a György Ligeti choral piece being performed on the rim of an active volcano, this unique collaboration between legendary improvisor Haino Keiji and sonic iconoclast Akita Masami (aka Merzbow) has made its way across the globe, but has rarely been seen in Japan.
Kikuri is the latest in a wellspring of collaborative activity for both artists, with Haino matching minds with the likes of Faust, The Melvins, Pan Sonic and Peter Brotzmann, and Akita’s work with Mike Patton (as Maldoror), Lee Ranaldo and Otomo Yoshihide. The two of them facing off is destined to epic in some way.
It would seem at first that self-described ‘bluesman’ Haino Keiji might make strange bedfellows with noise juggernaut Merzbow, but setting them together has resulted in a singular sound that captures the best of both artists. Haino’s explosions of raw emotive power seem to have found a tumultuous yet fitting home in Akita’s tectonic plates of sound. Akita’s penchant for instant composition and his remarkable sense of form makes a perfect foil for Haino’s spiritual intensity.
With their intense touring schedules, it may be some time before Kikuri surfaces in Japan. Don’t miss it this time around.

Tetragrammaton

Japanese free psych/drone unit Tetragrammaton is one part 70s free improv (from the school of Kaoru Abe and Masayuki Takayanagi) and one part new millennium blissed-out drone/noise (a la Hototogisu and Vibracathedral Orchestra).
With a choice mix of hurdy-gurdy, soprano saxophone, drums, percussion and (tabletop) guitar, the instrumentation might be well-suited to the folk-music of Eastern Europe, but falls more decisively into the camp of Fushitsusha or Borbetomagus.
The band has previously supported the legendary Keiji Haino, and frequent guest spots have included Chie Mukai, Mitsuru Tabata (Acid Mother’s Temple, Zeni Geva), Damo Suzuki (ex. Can) and improvising cellist Yasumune Morishige.
The three members, TOMO, Cal Lyall, and Ken Nobunaga are also involved in a number of other projects, ranging from harsh noise to world folk music to electronica.
Forming in 2006 with a bare-bones free improv lexicon, the band has moved towards dense drone-based structures and an increasingly multi-layered approach to thematic development, most evident on their most recent double-CD release from Subvalent, Elegy for Native Tongues.

Muddy World

Having already received the thumbs-up from New York luminary John Zorn with a release on his benchmark Tzadik label, and following an appearance at Austin’s preeminent SXSW festival, Muddy World continue to move into fresh new territory, without any signs of slowing down.
Their sound somehow manages to mesh tight rhythms and complex song structures with passages of guitar wizardry, played deftly in a style that seems to have descended from psychedelic gypsies. If you picture Battles hiring Gabor Szabo or Sir Richard Bishop for a one-off gig, you might be getting close.
An inspiring and original band that isn’t afraid to take the next step forward.

L?K?O

Forever defying the laws of genre or pigeonholing, L?K?O has redefined the turntable for a younger generation of Japanese DJs. With a boundless array of projects that spread from hip hop to Krautrock to noise, he has made the evolved vocabularies of turntablism, from the accesible sounds of dance to hip hop to the sound experiments of Otomo Yoshihide and Martin Tétrault, a vehicle for improvisation. Much in the same way that Christian Marclay forced us to re-listen, L?K?O forces us to re-think the turntable’s role in creating new sounds. Unpredictable, mercurial and totally heavyweight, L?K?O is truly the finest of the new breed of turntable musicians.

Onnacodomo

Taking their inspiration from moments and objects from everyday life, visual unit Onnacodomo make the ordinary decidedly extraordinary. Eschewing computer-generated graphics or recorded material, the three members (DJ Codomo, Yasuko Seki and Ruka Noguchi) perform in real time using a video camera to capture their spontaneous creations.
Shimmering projections are created using water, mirrors and an array of lights, while a world of fantastic images is constructed with found photos, kitchen utensils, toys, stationary and improvised artwork.
Kaleidoscopic, absurd and unreal, onnacodomo takes you into a slightly-unhinged world that is absolutely original in its conception.

Elegy for Native Tongues Release Party

Subvalent — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 17:08:56 +0000

Featuring:

- Akihiko Ando (sax from Henrytennis / Kuruu Crew) ＋ Mori-shige (cello) ＋ Ryusaku Ikezawa (drums from Oncenth Trio / OKHP)
- Mitsuru Tabata (guitar/bass from ZENI-GEVA / AMT) ＋ Yoshio Machida (steel pan / Amorfon)
- Hiroshi Hasegawa (Astro) ＋ Junzo Suzuki (guitar)
- TETRAGRAMMATON: TOMO (hurdy gurdy, saxophone) ＋ Cal Lyall (guitar, electronics) ＋ Nobunaga Ken (drums, perc.)
- Live painting by Yumikofu

Date:

December 4th, 2008

Time:

Open / Start: 19:00 / 19:30
2000 yen + 1D * Entrance includes (2xCD) Elegy for Native Tongues

Location:

Penguin House

Tetragrammaton and Special Guests

This is an announcement that Tetragrammaton is on the cusp of releasing a new album, Elegy for Native Tongues, a double CD disc set that presents a studio recording with a second disc of live performance.

The official release party for the album takes place at Kouenji Penguin House on December 4th (Thursday). The evening will be a special night of sessions featuring some of the finest improvising musicians in Tokyo, and each audience member shall receive the new release as a gift included in the entrance fee on the evening. Tetragrammaton’s Elegy for Native Tongues will be the first release on the new drone/psych label Subvalent Records.