Anode
(Tzadik) Used CD $12.00 (Out-of-stock)
“It sounds like an avalanche. Things are falling everywhere, and sine waves howl, terribly overwhelmed by the rest of this cacophony. There are watery sound effects (probably from Sachiko M’s and Tetuzi Akiyama’s microphones), and a scummy residue from what sounds like large Asian cymbals. This is distinctly symphonic music: each part is essential, as Yoshihide has chosen the perfect arrangement, and each movement contains specific instructions for the musicians as to what they are allowed to play, and even to whom they’re allowed to listen. Conceptually, it’s similar to John Zorn’s game pieces, where the rules determine the outcome of the music as much as the actual sounds produced (at least in theory). The second half of the suite is almost a mirror image of the first, as the third movement continues the static ambience of the second, and the final movement witnesses the reemergence of the full ensemble: percussion crashing, microphones squealing, sine waves howling, and a general tumbling sensation prevailing.” From 2001. Includes obi
Bits, Bots And Signs
(Erstwhile) Used CD $7.00 (Out-of-stock)
“Recorded in March 2000 in St. Gallen, Switzerland, where the trio generated gently pulsing rumbles, piercing whistles and lingering whines, fusing the varied sounds into a series of expansive panoramas. A brittle fabric of sound, unifying notions of instant composition with the radiating randomness of live electronics.”
Cathode
(Tzadik) Used CD $7.00 (Out-of-stock)
“Modulation #1” and “Modulation #2” play on different tones produced by sampled sine waves and shô, a traditional Japanese mouth organ. For “Cathode #1,” Yoshihide recorded ten musicians performing a graphic score separately and later assembled the piece using speed variation, tape direction, splicing, and overdubbing. The resulting work reveals a very mature composer. For “Cathode #2,” he sampled eight musicians without any preconceived plan, and created an ambient collage through a technique inspired by Bob Ostertag’s groundbreaking album Say No More. From 1999. Includes obi
LASSE MARHAUG / PAAL NILSSEN-LOVE / YOSHIHIDE OTOMO
Explosion Course
(Pica Disk - PICA032) LP $22.50 (Out-of-stock)
Intense energy, progressive and sustained, made with guitar (Otomo), turntable and electronics (Marhaug), and drums (Nilssen-Love). Edition of 500
DEREK BAILEY / TONY BEVAN / PAUL HESSION / YOSHIHIDE OTOMO
Good Cop, Bad Cop
(No-Fi) CD $15.00 (Out-of-stock)
This incredible document unites four legendary performers in some outstanding musical freedom, recorded at the Frakture Festival in Liverpool, 2003. Bailey and Otomo have famously sent shockwaves through international notions of improvisation over the years, while Bevan and Hession are rightly regarded as part of the very backbone of British free music. Sleeve designed by John Wiese.
SACHIKO M / TOSHIMARU NAKAMURA / YOSHIHIDE OTOMO / KEITH ROWE
M / Nakamura / Otomo / Rowe
(Erstwhile - ERSTLIVE05) 3xCD $41.50 (Out-of-stock)
This document of the centerpiece show of AMPLIFY 2004: addition (the "four-hour quartet”) contains three individually packaged slimline CDs in a slipcase with original artwork by Keith Rowe, which wraps around the entire box, front, side, and back, as well as liner notes from all four musicians and numerous pictures from Yuko Zama. “The middle section of this concert sports some of the most effectively noisy utterances I've heard from these musicians,” marvels Dusted, “Even out-harshing Rowe's seminal Harsh. Extremities of frequency are both piercing and nauseating, the huge span of space between them never empty and often crowded by what can be described as organized sound. Only in rare instances are individual instruments readily identifiable -- a guitar plucked, the lower frequencies of the sounds transformed into dull echoing thuds before disappearing again into the miasma.”
MARTÍN ESCALANTE / YOSHIHIDE OTOMO
Soto
(Sploosh) LP $18.00
Three tracks recorded in Kyoto — one guitar-sax duet and a solo by each. All three feel like getting trampled by psychotic mules. Just lay there and take it.
The Night Before The Death of the Sampling Virus
(Extreme) Used CD $10.00
Disjointed voices, a rush of sounds and then silence, almost sinister. There is a dazzling array of sound sources, intended for playback in random shuffle mode — live recordings, the prerecorded, the appropriated, etc., the common thread being the voices of the Japanese people. Notable inclusions in this area are Yamatsuka Eye and Tenko, with their distinctive abilities. Otomo is careful in his selections, leaving some alone in their spare original states, manipulating others are into a cacophonous fury, the light and dark. From 1993
We Insist?
(Sound Factory) Used CD $12.00 (Out-of-stock)
No rest for listener in this free-form, high-velocity opus from 1992 that stands alongside Des Pas Et Des Mois by Martin Tétreault, René Lussier and Michel F. Côté as one of the crucial albums of turntablism and contemporary music in general.