subvalent.com

Subvalent on Bandcamp

Subvalent — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 09:37:45 +0000

Subvalent releases now available on Bandcamp

Subvalent has entered the digital realm of sound dispatch with a dedicated Bandcamp site for older material and some upcoming releases. In addition to Tetragrammaton‘s Elegy for Native Tongues and Jahiliyyah’s Anon Nehrut, we have made available a Tetragrammaton China Tour special release, Live at the Flying Teapot. Visit us here.

Cal Lyall

Subvalent — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 11:59:26 +0000

Releases:

With Tetragrammaton:
Elegy for Native Tongues
Point of Convergence
With Jahiliyyah:
Anon Nehrut
Compilations:
Test Tone Anthology: Disc One
Test Tone Anthology: Disc Two
Test Tone Anthology: Disc Three

Links:

MySpace
SoundCloud
Test Tone
JOLT

Musical nomad since first discovering the malleability of 4-track tape, Cal Lyall is a guitarist and sound artist currently based in Tokyo, Japan. An early interest in diverse musical forms led to intense travel and study throughout Southeast Asia and the Subcontinent, including lengthy visits to India, Pakistan and Iran. Creating a musical universe constructed from field recordings, stringed instruments, microphone systems and other electronic debris, he continues to explore the possibilities of traditional forms in numerous projects (Tetragrammaton, Jahiliyyah, Palimpsest, Missing Man Foundation), incorporating influences ranging from free-flowing drone to ecstatic improvisation.

He also performs as a solo artist with a number of distinctive artists, such as Tetuzi Akiyama, Tim Olive, Chihei Hatakeyama, Kelly Churko, Yoshio Machida, Government Alpha and Chie Mukai, among others. With an active performance schedule in Japan and past tours through Thailand, Laos, China and Korea, he also heads up the Subvalent record label, oversees the Tokyo Hub of Jolt Sonic Arts (Australia) and organizes the long-running Test Tone series at Super-Deluxe in Nishi-Azabu, Tokyo.

Tetragrammaton – Point of Convergence

Subvalent — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 05:18:31 +0000

Track listing:

Disjecta Membra (14:34)
Portrait of Turab – Part 1 (5:07)
Temporality of Action (12:42)
Sol de Paula (9:03)
Silybin Therapy (10:23)
Portrait of Turab – Part 2 (11:45)

Mind-blowing drone/trance/freak session from a Japanese trio who know how to levitate planets. Tetragrammaton features Ken Nobunaga, TOMO and Cal Lyall navigating improvised cosmo-drones of such beautiful complexity and dazzling depth that at points it feels like a masterclass in spontaneous devotional tectonics. Moving from amazing bursts of psych guitar noise and ritual no-mind ala Hijokaidan-meets-Holy Angels to delicious void-gobbling spirit breath of the calibre of Kodama/Taj Mahal Travellers/Ghost et al, the pace of ideas and the flawless organic logic barely lets up as the players flit between hurdy-gurdy, saxophone, gongs, guitar, Rhodes piano, waterphone, crystal bowls, percussion, hydrophone, bells and vocals.
The recording is a lush, hi-fi studio set that reveals endless microtonal detail and odd tonal confluence, allowing the group to generate some fantastically powerful and primal setting of black electricity and monolithic electro-acoustic activity. Haven’t been this blown away by a ‘drone’ release since, I dunno, Axolotl’s Telesma? A major new Japanese outfit and one, that on this evidence alone, that is at the apex of free electro-acoustic sound. Highly recommended.
- David Keenen, Volcanic Tongue

Part freeform psychedelic rock exploration, part dronological soundscapery, Tetragrammaton’s Points Of Convergence is a beautiful and frightening trip into the void-dark expanses… that this trio is Tokyo-based is no surprise, seems like if Utech hadn’t put this out, PSF should have.
- Aquarius Records

Format: CD (500 Limited Edition)
Catalog no: URCD032 / Shokyo Ontei 5
Released: November 27, 2010
Recorded: Summer 2010, Japan
Price: $16 (includes free shipping worldwide)

Reviews

The point that Tetragrammaton makes on “Point of Convergence” is simply that all music has power, and that power can be used for high, low, or no purpose at all. The trio explore a dizzying array of sounds, all of which force the listener to pay attention, to invest in it; there are hidden gems in every beat.
- Mike Wood, Foxy Digitalis

Tetragrammaton’s blurring of global sounds and psychedelia (offers) a heady mix that, as more exotic instrumentation is introduced, begins to take the form of a Hermann Nitsch ceremony gatecrashed by members of Harry Partch’s orchestra.
- Edwin Pouncy ,The Wire

Released on Utech Records, this is anutha mutha of considerable cosmick aplomb, often veering between Yatha Sidra’s legendary Krautrock epic A MEDITATION MASS and the demented heathen ritual of Finland’s Hääre, by way of early Cluster, even Kluster! Indeed, deploying such arcane instruments as hurdy gurdy, gong, waterphone, hydrophone, quaard plums and veli bowls at times even pitches Tetragrammaton into that same timeless territory as Taj Mahal Travellers, Marginal Consort and East Bionic Symphonia. Yup kiddies, if This Heat had experienced those six-hour-long Buddhist gagaku rituals, the result woulda been something like these six compelling cosmick Ur-gropes.
- Julian Cope, Head Heritage

If you can endure the overall shapelessness of their assaults, and indeed even count that approach to be a blessing and a boon, then by all means strip naked and dive into their black pools of musical asphalt, from which you’ll emerge caked in briny tar and embedded with exotic shellfish.
- Ed Pinsent, Sound Projector

Imagine Skullflower in a murky swamp you may be somewhere close.
- Norman Records

Tetragrammaton create pure and unadulterated, ingenious music – it is miles ahead of some of the other so-called ‘experimental’ or ‘out-there’ drone or improv based music – these musicians don’t need to show off with shallow, bombastic pyrotechnics or pop-softened, emotionally manipulative atmospherics – they self-evidently have authentic, vital artistry free-flowing through their veins and this album is a towering and sublime sound-sculpture formed from the life-blood of their multifarious, prodigious energies and talent.
- James DC, Musique Machine

For devotees of Fushitsusha, Taj Mahal Travellers and Acid Mothers Temple – Point of Convergence merges ecstatic jazz, esoteric ritual and spooky sonorities into a coherent and exhilarating whole.
- Oliver Laing, Cyclic Defrost

Following their double-disc studio/live debut Elegy for Native Tongues, Japanese improv-psych trio Tetragrammaton have entrusted Utech to deliver this second fabulously foggy meld of cyclical dirge, miasmic psychedelia and abstract freedom. Wrapping itself around the air like smoke rising from a fistful of Buddhist incense sticks, Point of Convergence should appeal to anyone who’s baked a brain cell or two digging folks like Hototogisu, Vibracathedral Orchestra and Double Leopards.
- Andrew Carden, Rock-a-Rolla

Tetragrammaton’s Point of Convergence on Utech Records

Subvalent — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 11:02:03 +0000

Track listing:

Disjecta Membra (14:34)
Portrait of Turab – Part 1 (5:07)
Temporality of Action (12:42)
Sol de Paula (9:03)
Silybin Therapy (10:23)
Portrait of Turab – Part 2 (11:45)

Band Members:

TOMO – Hurdy-gurdy, saxophone, waterphone, crystal bowls, percussion, voice

Cal Lyall – Guitar, Rhodes piano, hydrophone, gongs, percussion

Nobunaga Ken – Drums, percussion (gongs, bells, bowls, frame drum), voice, taisho-koto

Point of Convergence: Now Available on Utech Records

Trapped on an ocean of disparate languages, sound gravitates towards meaning, escaping the obsolescence of mother tongues by denying the slow decay of time. In the biblical tale of the Tower of Babel, God punishes the tower builders by scattering them across the earth, unintelligible to each other. As they departed their blissful prison of same-think, they became drunk with new songs, washing down their newfound ‘auditory cheesecake’ with sectarian babble. In as much as their speech had been confounded, they were offered a musical re-enchantment through floating words, alveolar clicks and talking drums. By refusing the past, their music ceased to exist in time, choosing instead to create it.
Employing hurdy-gurdy, crystal bowls, bells, voice, drums and waterphones, Tetragrammaton revisits the bedraggled unlanguage of the castoff nomad builders with quantum force. Climbing into gilded time capsules, the three members soon reappear uttering unknown tongues and blowing ancient horns, drenched in the embryonic saliva of Thoth, that Egyptian God of knowing-it-all. Point of Convergence is arguably the group’s finest outing yet, capturing stripped-down harmonic explorations, overdriven dronescapes, meditative underwater recordings and a judicious dose of blown-out psychedelia.

- Utech Records

Format: CD (500 Limited Edition)
Catalog no: URCD032 / Shokyo Ontei 5
Released: November 27, 2010
Recorded: Summer 2010, Japan
Price: $16 (includes free shipping worldwide)

Reviews

Imagine Skullflower in a murky swamp you may be somewhere close.
- Norman Records

TOMO

Subvalent — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 12:07:03 +0000

Releases:

Butterfly Dream and Other Guitar Works

Links:

Homepage (Jp/En)
MySpace

Born in Tokyo in 1972, Tomo moved to small-town Missouri at the age of 17 where he discovered early blues, country, bluegrass, ragtime, Hawaiian music and Dixieland jazz, learning guitar picking styles from a local banjo player and record collector of old Americana. In the years to follow, his interest in folk music and tuning systems spread to other instruments, and he became a proficient player of the oud, saz, sitar, banjo, violin, biwa and hurdy gurdy. After several years of developing his eclectic and personal style in the US, he returned to Tokyo and embarked on a series of solo and collaborative performances in local cafés and live houses. While his style came to be influenced as much by Middle Eastern and Indian folk music as these early American folk traditions, his live performances were also a platform for developing the experimental and minimalist/psychedelic approach in his work.

Primarily concerned with temperament in music, his musical sensibilities are influenced by an understanding of pitch and harmonic overtone structures, with a particular regard for the tuning systems used in folk traditions and early music from around the globe. With a keen interest in traditional forms, he also pays close attention to the relationship between temperament and stream of consciousness states that can be derived from sound. To this aim, he uses aspects of minimalism, drone, ambient music and electronica as elements in his work, subject to his own interpretation. On the basis of these influences, he aims to reach the essence and roots of music.

Interview with TOMO

Subvalent — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 11:42:03 +0000

In recent years, there has been something of a revival in the Japanese folk/psych scene. Musician and multi-instrumentalist TOMO is one of the more active players upholding this movement, pushing it into the new millennium with an impressive array of projects centering on drone, minimalism, and even a bit of noise rock. He talks about his new solo guitar album, Butterfly Dreams and Other Works.

You spent some time in the United States when you were young. Is this where you discovered traditional forms of American music?
I used to live in the state of Missouri, in a small town near St. Louis. There was a guy who lived in my neighborhood, a record collector of old American music like early blues, country, bluegrass, ragtime, Hawaiian stuff and some New Orleans jazz (like Dixieland). He was also a decent guitar and banjo player and introduced me to finger-picking styles on the guitar. I was really impressed with his playing, and discovered the potential in using finger-picking techniques to cover the melody or mode, bass, and beat at the same time. I found that a single guitar could cover the instrumentation of a full band.

Later, when I explored more guitar music, like classical, flamenco, and a range of folk from around the world, I realized that this is really the nature of the acoustic guitar. I think this is because—compared to other instruments—the acoustic guitar is stuck with a number of negative elements, like poor volume, harmony, and resonance. In short, the acoustic guitar isn’t really compatible with ensemble music—it’s really a solo instrument in the first place. I feel that the acoustic guitarist should be aware of these negative factors, and must become responsible for them, and deal with the risks.

Who would you say are your biggest guitar inspirations?
I was inspired by lots of blues guitarists, like Mississippi John Hurt, Skip James, Bukka White, Charlie Patton, Blind Blake, Blind Willie McTell and of course Lightnin’ Hopkins. Also, I love Hawaiian guitarists like Sol Hoopii and Gabby Pahinui.

Since I believe the guitar to be a descendent of the lute, I have also listened to, and have been influenced by, many of the lute players/composers during the Medieval period and the Renaissance, such as John Dowland, Anthony Holborne, Luis de Narváez, and Luis de Milán.

Among the stringed instrumentalists working in other world folk traditions, I have been particularly inspired by many Middle Eastern and Indian musicians, such as Ostad Elahi (Iranian tanbur player), Munir Bashir (Assyrian oud player), Hossein Alizadeh (Iranian setar and tar player), and the great Indian sitarist Nikhil Banerjee.

As for inspiration from contemporary guitarists, I will have to give credit to John Fahey, Robbie Basho and Peter Lang, all of whom released on Fahey’s Takoma label. Sandy Bull and Loren MazzaCane Connors are up there as inspirations too. You may find better technical guitarists out there, but these people are not only good guitarists, they are also great musicians who show us a truly original way to interpret the eclecticism found in other folk music and contemporary/experimental music, and express it in their own vision. That is what I like about them and that is what I want to do.

Can you discuss the musical ideas that you were exploring in Butterfly Dream?
I am always concerned with the issue of temperament in my music, particularly with the tunings derived from different musical systems. With temperament as a starting point, I take a different approach with each album.

I believe that musical tunings decide the direction your music will take. If you choose to base your musical ideas on chord progressions, you should probably use equal temperament to remain compatible with key modulation, although you sacrifice the quality of harmony and resonance. If you are using drone as a basis for your music, you should be aware of just intonation, which emphasizes harmony and resonance, although you then sacrifice the ability to use complicated structures of modulation.

When I started to play early American music in the finger-picking style, I realized there were open tunings aside from the guitar’s standard tuning of EADGBE. This made me aware of harmony and resonance, and I began to consider how I could use open tunings to develop my music. I tried of wide range of tunings on the guitar, and also became interested in other stringed folk instruments such as the banjo, sitar, and oud. As my vocabulary expanded, I started to adopt the tunings and picking patterns from folk and traditional music into my guitar style. I think the biggest influences were from Middle Eastern music, Indian classical music, and medieval music. Through a deep curiosity about tuning and temperament, the relationship between harmony, drone, and moiré pattern (the overlap and duration of beat and rhythm) became hugely important for me. These eventually became the foundation of my musical approach. This also accelerated my interest in minimal music, particularly the ideas explored by composers like La Monte Young and Terry Riley

In this guitar album, you may hear open tunings which are inspired from traditional folk music, and at same time, you may hear a minimalist approach coming from the overdubbing of hurdy gurdy (and other instruments). A common essence between folk and contemporary minimal music can be found in resonance and harmony. So, my hope was to combine the resonance and harmony from folk traditions and contemporary music to create a sort of alchemical reaction. That’s my perspective and vision for this album.

Compared to your amplified group work, do you take a different approach with solo acoustic guitar?
Without a doubt. I mean, if you look at the acoustic and electric guitar, these are totally different instruments. As I mentioned before, the acoustic guitar has poor volume, sustain and resonance compared to other acoustic instruments. That is why the acoustic guitar is difficult to put into an ensemble. My belief is that the acoustic guitar was simply made as a solo instrument in the first place. The electric guitar was created to solve these issues with the acoustic guitar. The idea of amplification is to create more volume, longer sustain, and richer resonance. At its point of amplification, the electric guitar became compatible with ensemble music.

With amplified instruments, you are basically as loud as the amplifier or sound system you’re using. Therefore, when I’m setting up an amplified instrument, I determine the loudest sound I can get from the sound system. With an acoustic instrument, I pay attention to the quietest sound I can get. The loudest sound of an acoustic instrument is already pretty quiet, and there’s little you can do to change this. However, you can totally control the quietest volume level (of course, this is possible with electric instruments, too). So, if you can play expressively at low volumes, then your volume range on an acoustic instrument can expand as wide as you want, perhaps even infinitely. So although your acoustic instrument can only manage relatively poor volume levels, you can still make people feel that it is dynamic if you can play expressively at low volumes.

Based on this, I tend to make decisions about the choice of instrument when creating music for a particular theme or concept in my work.

Can you tell us about the title of the album?
The title comes from a text written by the Chinese philosopher, Zhuangzi, which also happens to be one of my favorites. It tells a tale of the philosopher dreaming he was a butterfly, happily fluttering around, without knowing he was Zhuangzi. When he woke up, the philosopher could not determine if he was Zhuangzi, who had dreamt he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming he was Zhuangzi. He believed, however, there there must be some distinction between himself and the butterfly. Zhuangzi called this the transformation of things.

This story makes us reflect on the philosophical matter of identification and reality. What if, impossible as it may seem, our reality is actually constructed of layers of dreams, like dream within dreams, or a dream of a dream of a dream? What is real? What is reality? It is hard to define what reality is or what dream is. This problem of reality is also related to the question of identity. Who are you? What are you? What makes your existence real? Answering these questions are a little bit like trying to catch that butterfly fluttering around everywhere, and I wanted to write something that expressed this notion. I hope I captured a little bit of this mystery in the mood and atmosphere of the piece.

ASTRO & Suzuki Junzo – Cosmic Blues Experience

Subvalent — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 11:19:56 +0000

Track Listing:

Crack Star (19:48)
Galactic Joy (8:27)
Tumbling Dream (18:43)

Beautiful deep-space hymns to free-falling oblivion from Hiroshi Hasegawa (CCCC et al) on synthesizer and tambura machine and electric guitarist Suzuki Junko. Junko’s guitar adds some particularly elegiac acid moves to this gorgeous set, with huge blooms of reverb, the sound of pulsing analog starfields reduced to tiny smudges of light, stinging acid guitar and gorgeous harmonic arcs of drone aligning it with earlier investigations of endless psychedelic madrigal like Nijiumu’s Era Of Sad Wings and Makoto Kawabata’s Inui project. Also features Iwao Yamazaki on percussion. The second track title, “Galactic Joy”, just about sums it up with a blast of overdriven Haino-esque guitar ridden to oblivion. Comes packaged in a slim-line DVD-style case with colour artwork. The best Astro set to date and highly recommended.
- Volcanic Tongue

Format: CD-R
Catalog no: PPCD001
Price: SOLD OUT

TOMO – Butterfly Dream and Other Guitar Works

Subvalent — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 10:21:53 +0000

Track Listing:

Carnival in Full Bloom (08:51)
Butterfly Dream (21:48)
Ceremonial Music in Sheol (10:27)
Sliding Milky Way Paradise Lost Blues (09:18)
Drifting Beyond the Border Hill to Hill (02:11)
Raga en Japanesque (13:53)
Farewell Waltz (3:05)

Culminating a journey which took him from the traditional sounds of rural Missouri to the dense psychedelia of the Japanese underground, Tomo’s first solo release on Subvalent is a masterpiece of folk minimalism that calls on the spirits of Sandy Bull, Robbie Basho and Hamza El Din. Combining deft guitar fingerwork with hurdy gurdy, electric tamboura and voice, Butterfly Dream and Other Guitar Works invites the listener into a world of nostalgic melodies against a backdrop of hypnotic country blues, Nubian-tinged compositions, and understated American Primitivism.

Known primarily for his hurdy gurdy and saxophone work with Japanese free drone-psych unit Tetragrammaton and for collaborations with other Japanese artists such as Junzo Suzuki (Miminokoto, Acid Mothers Temple), Hiroshi Hasegawa (Astro, C.C.C.C.) and À qui avec Gabriel, Tomo makes a confident return to the eclectic solo guitar playing of his earlier years. During an eight-year stint in small-town Missouri in his late teens, Tomo discovered blues, country, bluegrass, ragtime, Hawaiian music and Dixieland jazz, learning guitar picking styles from a local banjo player and record collector of old Americana. In the years to follow, his interest in folk music and tuning systems spread to other instruments, and he became a proficient player of the oud, saz, sitar, banjo, violin, biwa and—more recently—hurdy gurdy and soprano saxophone.

Although owing a substantial debt to John Fahey and his folk brethren on the Takoma Label, the artist’s approach to traditional forms is very much his own. This album embarks on a mesmerizing and introspective journey that begins with Tomo’s deep appreciation for the relationship between harmony, temperament and drone. Although the guitar work takes center stage, the influence of the American minimalists (a la La Monte Young and Terry Riley) is also obvious, resulting in a dreamy alchemy between folk tradition and contemporary music.

A listening experience for fans of Steffen Basho-Junghans, James Blackshaw, Loren MazzaCane Connors and Peter Walker.

Format: 1 compact disc
Catalog no: SBV004
Price: $14 (includes free shipping worldwide)

Reviews

Listeners hungry for dazzling 12-string guitar playing of the kind associated with James Blackshaw and others of his ilk should definitely do themselves a favour and investigate Butterfly Dream and Other Guitar Works by Tomo (Transcendental Organic Magical Objective). Blending elements of drone, raga, folk, and American minimalism (of the Terry Riley kind) into a bold hybrid, the Japan-based muso proves himself to be every bit a match for his American counterparts.
- textura

A truly mesmerising experience, this release deserves to be mentioned alongside the praise currently heaped upon similar artists such as James Blackshaw.
- Tasty Fanzine

That TOMO lays out over an hour of genre melting, culture melting, stress melting tunes is simply a gift of unheralded proportions. TOMO’s work here is magic, pure and simple, extending far beyond the already impressive (understatement) grandeur of its 20+ minute title track, and off into the horizon. Don’t miss this album.
- Anti-Gravity Bunny

One of the most amazing pieces is the 22 minute title track. It starts out with a harmonious mix of 6 string picking & hurdy gurdy drone and it just weaves a tremendous tapestry of surreal textures, a mid-tempo guitar pulse dancing over heaving tonal bliss. By the end of the 20 minutes, though, the guitar has mysteriously buried itself under the drone, which has gotten louder & louder until you’re left with a warm wall of static thrum glory.
- Thistle, Forest Gospel

On his new solo album, “Butterfly Dreams and Other Guitar Works” we can hear his virtuoso skills as a guitarist. On seven tracks, lasting between 2 and 22 minutes we can hear him enter and continuously develop the tradition of guitar players like John Fahey and Robbie Basho; great, fluid picking in raga/drone style. The calmness of the music embraces you, brings you into a meditative state… Few players could manage to keep the listeners attention on highest level for such a long time, but TOMO’s high skills as a player, composer and improviser makes this a surprisingly easy flowing journey.
- Stefan Eck, Terrascope

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.

Test Tone Anthology Disc One

Subvalent — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:41:12 +0000

Track Listing:

TT32 – Yukitomo Hamasaki (4:36)
TT37 – Shintaro Miyazaki (5:44)
TT16 – Almglocken (7:22)
TT44 – Meri Nikula (4:09)
TT22 – Government Alpha (4:55)
TT49 – Scriptones (3:34)
TT29 – Toque (6:11)
“Winxy/Vorpal Punani” live at TT30 – EVOL (4:52)
TT22 – Christophe Charles + Zbigniew Karkowski (5:30)
TT40 – Go Koyashiki (7:01)
TT13 – Missing Man Foundation (5:21)
TT31 – Masaya Sasaki (2:59)
TT34 – Shintaro Aoki (5:29)
TT43 – Henna Dress (4:14)

Test Tone Anthology Disc One

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.

About Test Tone

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)