Live From Tokyo 10 Most Recently Updated Pages

Asuna - Contemporary Art ~ Contemporary Music

Lewis Rapkin — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:23:34 -0700

An artist and a musician, Asuna blurs the border between art and music with an entertaining collage of sonic potpourri. His live performance had a subtle aesthetic ingenuity that pushed it into the stratosphere of performance art.

Asuna stood behind a table that was a jungle of electronics, wires and an array of colorful plastic toys. A lamp to one side of the table gave Asuna a certain picturesque quality that is often lost in the bright lights of common live performance.

The toys not only added to this atmosphere, but they were also used as instruments to add original texture to the music. The toys also gave the performance light-hearted warmth and brought smiles to the faces of the audience. On the other side of the table, blinking lights, electronic bangs, gargles and whizzpops characterized Asuna’s performance with the likes of other sound artists. See Dill, Makoto Oshiro + Yasufumi Suzuki Duo, and Shigehiro Tsubota for other examples of “sound artists”. Although there were times when Asuna’s performance had an overt beat or a pulsing groove, the majority of the show did not have a beat slamming the audience with a familiar time signature. However, Asuna’s performance had rhythm and a distinct flow. Each segment blended into one another with a stylistic pace and the show moved along in a lively manner. Conscious of all aspects of his sound and performance, Asuna had an authority over his music that sometimes seems ambiguous with other sound artists. Everything was intentional and each aspect of sound, aesthetics, rhythm and pitch came together to make a comprehensive art. Asuna has the big picture figured out and he uses sound as his medium for materialization. Asuna has been experimenting with the boundaries of art and music since 1999 and he continues to release contemporary art and music. A great example of Tokyo sound art, check out Asuna for a taste of this niche-culture.

Pop versus Noise in Tokyo

Website: http://fox.zero.ad.jp/cocoa/asuna.html

BUY ON AMAZON: Room Note

News

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 23:02:35 -0700

Hello and welcome to LiveFromTokyo! Check back here for updates and news about our documentary on underground music in Tokyo! This is also the place to check for new artists, articles, videos that we're covering. Click "read more" to view full articles, short video clips and photos of each artist. Be sure to stay updated with our RSS feed and subscribe to our Newsletter. Enjoy!

NEWS

Optrum- Hardcore Fluorescent Light

“We play instruments that can’t really be called instruments. I play a fluorescent light tube and he plays lasers that shoot out of a drum kit” (read more)

Muneomi Senju

Muneomi Senju (千住宗臣) - "Tribal Fusion Techno Jazz"

...a fascinating blend of tribal roots rhythms and modern technology. Mixing the rhythmic sensation of dancing around a fire in the jungle with the sleek urban sounds of Japanese electronics, Senju masterfully explores new possibilities for drumming. (read more)

Kuruucrew - Krautrock is from Germany. Wasabirock is from Japan.

If the Krautrock motorik is supposed to make you feel like driving a Volkswagon on the Autobahn, then Kuruucrew’s Wasabirock will make you feel like drifting a Honda through Shibuya Crossing decapitating suited salarymen and Japanese school girls. Wipe the blood from the windshield and turn up the radio, the Wasabirock motorik of the 00’s is tearing a rampage through the Tokyo underground. (read more)

d.v.d lights up BankART Festival in Yokohama:

The innovative electronic art trio blends the borders of music and visual art with a rhythmically saturated sound of retro-digital compositions and vibrant geometric visuals. (read more)

Sexy Synthesizer - Welcome to Club Nintendo

But I thought video games were for dorks? What are all these Tokyo hipsters doing here dancing in the colored lights to Nintendo sounds and gazing at Space Invaders projections? As if they don’t get enough color light stimulation just walking the streets! Daft Punk-like vocoder vocals, 8-bit melodies and funky house beats will get your hips moving and bring a smile to your face as you get lost in a future fantasy from the Japanese game culture of the 80’s. (more)

PARA - "We're NOT a Jamband"

Kansai-based super group PARA is one of the latest projects of ex-Boredoms member and Japanese underground guru Seiichi Yamamoto. Joined by prodigious drummer Muneomi Senju (ex-Boredoms, Urichipangoon) and a slew of Osaka based all-stars, the level of musicianship in PARA is on par with the best in Japan. "We play dance music you never heard," Yamamoto said...(read more)

Moja - Manica-Rock Duo

Japanese Lightning Bolt? Moja has been shattering eardrums for around three years in Tokyo and their riff heavy, distorted thumping and clanging is sure to get your head banging. The power duo consisting of drummer Masumi and bassist Haruhiko crank out psychotic rock with enough earth rattling force to rearrange your organs and give you a sonic lobotomy. (read more)

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Featured Artist of the Week

Lewis Rapkin — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Lighting up the Tokyo underground, Optrum’s mixture of hardcore attitude and fine art sensibility is yet another example of innovative Japanese creativity blending borders in music culture.

“We play instruments that can’t really be called instruments. I play a fluorescent light tube and he plays lasers that shoot out of a drum kit,” optron (light tube) player Ito said (translated).

The duo was initially thought of as an art unit, but they never considered themselves to be that. They’ve been playing in the underground live house circuits of Tokyo for years and have now established themselves as a hardcore band that will share the bill with other rock bands.

While the language barrier made any kind of technical explanation of the “optron” impossible, basically Ito plays a fluorescent light tube that has been modified to convert light signal into sound signal.

Adorned with knobs, switches and an output to an amplifier, Ito’s optron is a one-of-a-kind piece of equipment. Run through a slew of guitar effects pedals and into an amplifier cranked to 11, the overall sound is a heavy barrage of noise accompanied by an equally heavy barrage of light.

Most live houses in Tokyo have extremely professional light systems, but Optrum’s homemade light show tops them all. The link between visual and audio is obvious and every surge of noise is complimented by a surge of light. In the dark spaces, green lasers shoot in all directions from Yochiro Shin’s kick drum in a chaotic manner that reflects his maniac drumming style.

Regardless of a total lack of melody, the sensational performance is completely entertaining and will leave you with one word. Badass.

Optrum- Hardcore Fluorescent Light

Lewis Rapkin — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Lighting up the Tokyo underground, Optrum’s mixture of hardcore attitude and fine art sensibility is yet another example of innovative Japanese creativity blending borders in music culture.

Regardless of a total lack of melody, the sensational performance is completely entertaining and will leave you with one word. Badass.

Krautrock is from Germany. Wasabirock is from Japan.

Lewis Rapkin — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Someone once called them a “Violent Neu!” and that’s not a bad assessment. However, there is nothing vintage about Kuruucrew’s mix of relentless rock assaults and noisy head-banging cacophony. Neu! and other Krautrock bands of the 70’s are often defined by their experimenting with electronics over a steady motorik drum beat. (Motorik, which means “motor skill” in German refers to the 4/4 drum beat that can be seen in many Krautrock songs from the 70’s.)

Kuruucrew takes the same trance-inducing repetitive groove of Krautrock’s motorik and modernizes it into a hardcore rock sensation that grinds your head to a pulp. In addition to the stone solid rhythm section, wailing saxophone lines run through effects pedals from saxophonist Akkun (also from Henrytennis) and flagrant guitar massacres from Murata make Kuruucrew worthy carriers of the Japanoise torch.

The track “6/4” off of Kuruucrew’s latest album Battle Disco is probably the best example of this modernization of Krautrock to embrace the more hardcore/noisy tendencies of modern rock music. The track still maintains some psychedelic textures provided by Murata’s eerie guitar work and the driving rhythm pulls you in and carries you through the nine-minute rock-trance.

Kuruucrew’s live performances are quite impressive. It’s pretty unique to see a heavy rock band with a saxophone carrying the melody. We had the opportunity to see them perform at the underground rock club Earthdom and at Aoyama Cay. While Earthdom generally has some hardcore/noisy acts (I’d seen Haino Keiji, Kirihito, Optrum etc.) the show in the posh district of Aoyama seemed a little out of their jurisdiction.

We ran into guitarist Murata later at a show at Shibuya O-Nest and he was saying that the high society of Aoyama is fucked. I guess it makes sense that the noise-rockers don’t feel at home in the Beverly Hills of Tokyo.

In any case, both shows were a wild ride and one of the few heavy rock shows I’ve seen that had a trance-inducing affect. But be careful when getting lost in Kuruucrew’s music, you may snap out of it to find your ears bleeding and your brain washed.

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/kuruucrew

Website: http://www.kuruucrew.com/

Muneomi Senju

Lewis Rapkin — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

“Tribal Fusion Techno Jazz”. That’s a quote from ex-Boredoms/Voordoms drummer Muneomi Senju when asked to describe his music. We had the chance to see Senju perform a couple times because this guy plays with everyone! In addition to his solo performance, he also plays drums in PARA (led by ex-Boredoms member and Japanese underground guru Yamamoto Seiichi), Urichipangoon, and Combopiano to name a few.

Senju has been exploring the possibilities of the drums in his solo work by attaching electronic triggers to his drum set and running them through a computer. These drum triggers link to sounds and sequences that provide a full-bodied orchestra of electronics and rhythms.

We’ve seen a similar kind of drum trigger system in other Tokyo acts such as d.v.d and Doravideo, but instead of linking the triggers to visuals, Senju attaches the signal to sounds and sequences. We asked for a technical description of what was going on, but like a true magician, he was unwilling to reveal his secrets.

The overall sound makes for a fascinating blend of tribal roots rhythms and modern technology. Mixing the rhythmic sensation of dancing around a fire in the jungle with the sleek urban sounds of Japanese electronics, Senju masterfully explores new possibilities for drumming.

Senju mentioned that one of the most exciting things about music culture in Japan is that there are so many artists searching for something new. It is not only that there are all of these people focused on finding something new for music, but that these likeminded people are starting to find one another. He believes PARA to be an incarnation of this notion.

He expressed his interest in finding new avenues for expression on the drums. He believes that drums have a lot more potential that we traditional use them for. Specifically, this mixing of drums and electronics has become an avenue for expression that he intends to explore and experiment with.

Senju is a young talent in the Japanese underground, but with an impressive resume of collaboration with artists ranging from Damo Suzuki to The Boredoms/Voordoms to PARA, he is on his way to being one of the most important musicians in Japan. His attitude toward innovating and creating something new is the epitome of what’s interesting about Japanese music culture and probably music culture in general. Seriously, keep an eye out for this guy because he will most likely be among the next generation of legends making wholly new music from Japan.

Website: muneomisenju.com/

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 00:36:58 -0700

Mission

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:43:09 -0700

Mission

Live From Tokyo is an American organization interested in introducing music from Tokyo to a broader audience. We returned to Japan in August 2008 to finish a documentary on music in Tokyo that was started in Spring 2007 by Lewis Rapkin. In addition to the documentary, we recreated the website (livefromtokyo.net) that will highlight music from Tokyo and create a place where anyone interested can access and learn about music culture in Japan.

Tokyo is a bustling city that is bursting at the seams with people and culture. Surrounded by TV monitors blaring the newest pop music and youth fashions, the multi-colored neon lights seem to radiate information as they blink in sync with the thousands of ants crossing the street. The city of Tokyo is undeniably an international hub for business, culture, music, fashion, etc. etc. information. Information is raining down from the skies and everywhere you turn you are bombarded with advertisements, sounds, sights and the conglomerate monster of mass media. Tokyo’s reputation for cutting edge technology and style, mixed with persistent borrowing from other cultures, must be reflected somehow in the music scene.

How does pushing the envelope in terms of invention and innovation coexist with a dedication to absorbing and integrating Western culture? Tokyo is a futuristic haven for urban culture, yet there is so little presence or awareness of this music culture in America. In 2008, we find ourselves well into the iPod generation of hyper-connectivity. The Internet has become a household portal into the endless information of the world. Record companies have been steadily losing their power and listeners are accessing music in a new way. In the past, it took a conglomerate record company to produce, promote and distribute an artist to their audience, but in today’s world, the artist can accomplish much of this on their own. A new paradigm of music culture is upon us. In this environment, how is it possible that music from Tokyo continues to experience such difficulty breaking into American markets?

We’ve all heard of the British Invasion of the 60’s and now it’s time for a Japanese Invasion. Live From Tokyo intends to harbor this invasion with a documentary film and a website for curious music enthusiasts to learn about music from Tokyo.

-Lewis Rapkin

Videos

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 09:52:09 -0700

VIDEOS

Keep updated by subscribing to our youtube channel. Click here to see our latest videos!

Check out some videos from the 2007 footage (click links):

Tokyo's quiet/trendy audiences and Melt-Banana live

Tiny Town Stop Motion Animation

Pop vs. Noise music

Language Barrier, Originality and eX-Girl live

Henrytennis

d.v.d. plays live pong

ECD and DJ Illcit Tsuboi

Zoobombs - boom!

Tokyo's quiet/trendy audiences and Melt-Banana live. Featuring interviews of: Makoto Oshiro, DMBQ, Don Matsuo (Zoobombs), Takehisa Ken (Kirihito). Melt-Banana live at Pink Noise Futako Tamagawa, Tokyo 4/28/07

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Animation by Lewis Rapkin. Music by Henrytennis

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Pop vs. Noise. Featuring live performances by: The Moist Towelletes live at Loop, Shibuya 4/12/07, Tokyo. Asuna live at O-Nest, Shibuya 5/31/07. Optrum live at Earthdom, Tokyo. interview: Makoto Oshiro. animation: Lewis Rapkin

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Language Barrier, Originality and eX-girl live. eX-Girl live at Warp, Kichijoji, Tokyo 4/7/07. Interviews of: Don Matsuo (Zoobombs), nhhmbase

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Henrytennis live at O-Nest Shibuya 6/21/07

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d.v.d. play live pong. d.v.d. live at Super Deluxe, Roppongi, Tokyo 7/31/07. Animation by Lewis Rapkin

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ECD and DJ Illcit Tsuboi live at Shelter Shimokitazawa, Tokyo.

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Zoobombs - Interview of: Don Matsuo Live Performance: Zoobombs live at Shelter, Shimokitazawa, Tokyo 4/26/07 Animation by Lewis Rapkin

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