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”What is the sound of one hand
clapping?” is the famed, seemingly irrational brainteaser
used to describe the Zenbuddhist way of thinking. Hearing Otomo
Yoshihide, arguably Japan’s most celebrated experimental
musician, and Sachiko M and Toshimaru Nakamura, two other proponents
of the no input school performing at Avanto, might raise questions
of a similar nature. The term ”no input” derives from
eliminating the sound source material of their electronic music
to a minimum. Otomo’s main instruments are turntables without
records, Nakamura works a mixer with no inputs, and M (Sachiko
Matsubara) plays a sample-free sampler.
So what does music with no input sound
like? Toshimaru Nakamura has a certain affinity to the German
electronic favourites Oval and Pole, not only in comparison to
his sound but also with his interest in misusing digital technology.
In contrast though, his interviews reveal a total lack of interest
in the politics of technology. The central concern is minimization
of expression: “Who cares how I think or how I feel? I just
want to play an instrument which doesn't have any connection to
inner emotion. With the guitar I tend to express something, but
Ifeel more comfortable with this."
When Sachiko M, who calls herself a non-musician,
plays music using the high-pitched test signal of her sampler,
the end result is sheer poetry of minimalism - even on the occasions
it pierces through the audience’s pain threshold.
Otomo’s massive output includes
a wide-ranging variety of styles. He began his career in the 80’s
with free jazz and improv, then founded Ground Zero, a group that
combined noise, rock, and the 'plagiaristic' sampling aesthetic
of plunderphonics. He has also composed soundtracks for countless
Chinese, Hong Kong, and Japanese movies.
In both their solo projects and as the
Filament duo, Otomo and Sachiko M cultivate the same kind of endlessly
fascinating and sophisticated yet paradoxical logic. Experiencing
it with western sensibilities, you could do worse than try to
describe it as something in which furious intensity alternates
with the desolate landscape of an emptied mind, while all the
time both are present. AN
Friday 9.11.2001 - Gloria
21:00-3:00 - Avanto-Club: Otomo Yoshihide
(solo)
21:00-3:00 - Avanto-Club: Sachiko M (solo)
21:00-3:00 - Avanto-Club: Toshimaru Nakamura
(solo)
Saturday 10.11.2001 - Gloria
21:00-3:00 - Avanto-Club: Filament (Otomo
Yoshihide & Sachiko M)
live
21:00-3:00 - Avanto-Club: Toshimaru Nakamura
& Sachiko M
live
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