Improvised Music from Japan

(Improvised Music from Japan, IMJ-310-312)
Purchase price in Japan: 2,500 yen (2,625 yen with tax)
(Outside Japan, prices vary.)

• Bilingual English-Japanese
• 128 pages; 21cm (H) x 15cm (W)
• 3 CDs included
• Mastered by Toshimaru Nakamura, November 2009

Improvised Music from Japan 2009 takes a look at improvised/experimental music festivals and concert series in Japan. Covered in the book are 33 of the many festival/series events taking place around the country. The articles (some written by the organizers themselves, others based on interviews of the organizers conducted in person or by e-mail) reveal the ideas, aims and feelings of the people on the small improvised/experimental music scene who work tirelessly to hold these events on an ongoing basis. There's also an appendix with photos taken at the 2008 Ftarri Festival Tokyo. In addition to the 128-page book (all bilingual English-Japanese), there are 3 CDs with a total of 31 tracks by 31 artists/groups, for an amazing range of music.

page
4: Test Tone by Cal Lyall
7: AFTERWARDS--Makoto Oshiro/chihei hatakeyama e-mail interview by Yoshiyuki Suzuki
8: Asian Meeting Festival by Otomo Yoshihide
18: archetype--Yoichiro Shin e-mail interview by Yoshiyuki Suzuki
19: SOUNDROOM--Yasufumi Suzukie-mail interview by Yoshiyuki Suzuki
20: Now Music Arts (NMA) by Yoshiaki Numayama
24: Ongakusai by Taichi Furudate
25: series by Satoshi Kanda
26: Yokohama Impromusica Fes'--Minol Umemoto interview by Jun Numata
32: Another Perspective on Free Improvisation at Sound Cafe dzumi--Hisashi Terauchi e-mail interview by Yoshiyuki Suzuki
34: Open Your Ears/Kurikura Music Meeting by Kyoko Kuroda
38: Jazz Art Sengawa--Koichi Makigami interview by Jun Numata
44: tide/perch by yuki kaneko
46: Magical Mystery Hour by Junichi Uchida
47: nami to kami by Atsuhito Inukai
48: Avant-garde Action Music Festival by Hirohito Taneguchi
51: Ompasha Live--Satoshi Nakazawa e-mail interview by Yoshiyuki Suzuki
52: P-hour by Takeshi Tamura
57: PARARA by Katsura Mouri
58: Deep Listening Chair Festival by Shota Hirama
60: ATAK NIGHT--Keiichiro Shibuya interview by Yoshiyuki Suzuki
71: KOH-CHO-KAI by Tetsuro Yasunaga
72: The Multi-dimensionality of Music by Tomomi Adachi
74: Arts Festival of the New Generation by Masato Kouchi
78: Instrumentalize by Minoru Sato
80: PERSPECTIVE EMOTION by Chie Mukai and Tetsuya Miyata
86: Against by Shayne Bowden
93: Experimental Music Recital by Hayato Kurosawa
94: Taku Sugimoto Composition Series/Chamber Music Concert by Taku Sugimoto
103: Segments Project by Kazushige Kinoshita
104: Ftarri Festival
110: Track notes

Disc 1

1. Katsura Mouri - Chess Piece (2:41)
   Recorded at KM2 Studio, Kyoto, February 2009
   Mixed and edited by Katsura Mouri
   
   
2. Jyurin - Untitled (6:57)
   Matt Richelson: guitar
   Shayne Bowden: electronics
   Recorded live at art space tetra, Fukuoka, June 14, 2009
   
   
3. Takahiro Hirama - ratiug (4:33)
   Takahiro Hirama: iBook G4; GarageBand; MIDI piano; 4'33" aif file; e, a, d, g, b, e (each second)
   
   
4. Riuichi Daijo - Dead Pan Smiles #59-04 (4:20)
   Riuichi Daijo: guitar
   Recorded live at PlanB, Tokyo, June 26, 2009
   
   
5. Taichi Furudate - from contact mic to contact mic (6:59)
   Taichi Furudate: compact mixer, 4 contact microphones
   Recorded by Taichi Furudate at his home, August 12, 2009
   
   
6. Suzueri/Jyoji Sawada/Takuji Kawai - aLiCe (5:22)
   Suzueri: vocal
   Jyoji Sawada: contrabass
   Takuji Kawai: piano
   Composition by Jyoji Sawada; words from a poem in Through the Looking-Glass, by Lewis Carroll
   Recorded by Isamu Iguchi at IAMAS in 2005
   Mixed by Hidenobu Ito in 2009
   Originally released on the album Licentia Poetica (Elegant Disc, ELECD-10) on November 4, 2009
   
   
7. hum [masaya sasaki + yuki kaneko] - Isolate Tiny Oscillation (7:00)
   Recorded by hum at Hiyodori Studio, July 2009
   Mixed by hum
   
   
8. Mimiz - edit 090111 (7:00)
   Satoshi Fukushima: processing
   Kensuke Tobitani: instruments
   Yoshihisa Suzuki: instruments
   Recorded live by Mimiz at Enban Jamboree, Shibuya O-nest, Tokyo, January 11, 2009
   Edited by Mimiz
   
   
9. Hiroyuki Ura - Attitude (2:08)
   Recorded by Hiroyuki Ura at his home, May 26, 2009
   
   
10. Segments String Quartet - sky (15:10)
    Kazushige Kinoshita: violin
    Hiroki Chiba: violin
    Nanko Kumon: cello
    Yoko Ikeda: violin
    Composition by Kazushige Kinoshita
    Recorded live at Segment Project Vol. 6, Loop-Line, Tokyo, September 25, 2009

Disc 2

1. BOBO (Ken Ando) - Black Chino (6:16)
   Recorded by Ken Ando at Otsuka Orange Studio, August 26, 2009
   
   
2. Kanta Horio - Recording 090814 (3:46)
   Kanta Horio: 2 solenoids, 2 piezoelectric elements, ATmega168P
   Recorded by Kanta Horio at 4nchor5 la6, Tokyo, August 14, 2009
   
   
3. SEED MOUTH - Repeated Gray (7:00)
   SEED MOUTH (Hirohito Taneguchi): Roland SH-09, 2 CD players, BOSS ME-50
   Recorded by SEED MOUTH at SEED Bedroom Studio, August 6, 2009
   
   
4. Mitsuteru Takeuchi - cd music (7:00)
   Recorded in August 2009
   *Please keep the CD player's fast forward button pressed down as you listen to this track. (Do not use headphones.)
   
   
5. Madoka Kouno - recorded recording (7:00)
   Recorded in Tokyo, January 2009
   
   
6. Bon-no-Kubo (4:39)
   Masahiko Ota: guitar
   Shintarou Takasugi: contrabass
   Naoto Yamagishi: drums, percussion
   Recorded by Takuya Abe at AMIGO Studio, Irima, May 21, 2009
   Mixed and mastered by Takuya Abe, May 31, 2009
   
   
7. sisforsound - Track 1 (5:39)
   Yuko Mohri: vocal, foot keyboard
   Wataru Kitamura: guitar
   Keiichi Nakano: drums
   Recorded by sisforsound at Rinky Dink Studio, Tokyo, April 28, 2004
   
   
8. Hayato Kurosawa/Hiroshi Kato - INAFUJI ver. 1 (6:57)
   Hayato Kurosawa: acoustic guitar
   Hiroshi Kato: electronics
   Recorded at Inafuji, Tokyo, June 17, 2009
   
   
9. Takuma Makino/Manabu Suzuki/Junichi Hamaji - layered music op. 1-1 (8:54)
   Takuma Makino: electric guitar
   Manabu Suzuki: self-made electronics
   Junichi Hamaji: soprano saxophone, live electronics
   Composition by Junichi Hamaji
   Recorded live at grid605, March 15, 2009
   Mixed by Junichi Hamaji, April 4, 2009
   
   
10. Koji Saito - 33 (5:30)
    Recorded by Koji Saito at his home in 2008

Disc 3

1. chihei hatakeyama - Last Night (6:56)
   Composition by chihei hatakeyama
   Recorded and mixed by chihei hatakeyama
   
   
2. Satoshi Kanda - Milk Bottle on Bass Guitar (6:37)
   Recorded in Satoshi Kanda's bedroom in Febrary 2009
   
   
3. Shinichi Isohata - Simple Drawing (3:31)
   Shinichi Isohata: guitar
   Recorded by Shinichi Isohata at his home, September 11, 2009
   
   
4. Shinjiro Yamaguchi - Hanarete (7:00)
   Recorded by Shinjiro Yamaguchi at his home in May 2009
   
   
5. Satoshi Yashiro - Rolling up a 25-meter strip of hook-and-loop tape in a room (6:53)
   Recorded in August 2009
   A recorded work reenacting, at the artist's home, an installation produced in 2007. A recording was made of the sound of a 25-meter-long strip of Velcro-type tape being rolled up by a computer-controlled motor.
   
   
6. Takehiro Nishide/Bunsho Nishikawa - Nish "Din" (3:01)
   Takehiro Nishide: guitar
   Bunsho Nishikawa: guitar
   Recorded by Bunsho Nishikawa at Bridge, Osaka, April 2006
   Edited by Bunsho Nishikawa in August 2009
   
   
7. Kanichiro Oda - Pouring into Water (two liters of water poured from a PET bottle into a river) (0:31)
   
   
8. Makoto Oshiro - Piped Unellion, Wind and a Doze (7:00)
   During my performance at an outdoor concert that was curated by a friend at a park located in Kofu, Yamanashi, the wind started to blow when I was playing around with feedbacks created between a piezo mike attached to a very thin metal panel and a speaker attached to a resonating tube. The unexpected interference caused by the wind flapping the metal panel was quite interesting, so I ended up playing along with that throughout the whole performance. This was an impressive incident, so I tried to reproduce the effect at home using the wind of a fan heater blowing towards the same setup. Contrary to what happened outdoors, the response was rather delicate in a way particular to closed spaces. The wind of the fan heater ended up making most of the sounds after I attached a spring and weight to the metal panel and hung a small piece of corallite right beside the metal panel. The only work I did during this recording was the obstructing of wind and the triggering of feedbacks. Actually, I sometimes fell asleep during the recording, which went on for a few hours, but that added an amusing spice to it so I decided to leave that portion in as the title. (Makoto Oshiro)
   
   
9. Tetragrammaton - Aim of Attention (6:53)
   TOMO: violin, hurdy gurdy
   Cal Lyall: tabletop guitar
   Ken Nobunaga: drums
   
   
10. shotahirama - Music for Narita Airport (6:47)
    shotahirama: Reaktor 5, Elektron Machinedrum, Elektron Monomachine, Waldorf Blofeld, AT2020
    Sound material recorded by shotahirama at Narita Airport in September 2009
    
    
11. Saya (7:00)
    Saya: piano
    Recorded by Saya at her home, October 14, 2009

Improvised Music from Japan home page