Test Tone

Test Tone 33: High Impact Movement Night! Sonic Seizure Extravaganza!
The night explodes, people. This is one you certainly won't want to miss, if you have a penchant for sound, performance and visuals which are pushed right up against the extremities. Sensory overload and intense audio explorations brought to you courtesy of a host of local and international artists.
Featuring: Chikanari Shukuka (sound / dance / feedback / performance), Ome Zombie (Akihiko Ando + Emi Nobuko) + Cleaning Lady (saxophone / no-input mixing board) from Australia, Eli (Kenji 'Noise' Nakamura + Kousuke Sone + Hiroshi Takahashi), Death-logic: Analogic (Takuya Sakamoto + Osamu Nakamura + Shin Oshiro) + DEATHANOVA (Yoichiro Shin from Optrum)


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Artist Information:
Chikanari Shukuka
(sound/dance/feedback/performance)
Ask anyone who has seen her perform and chances are, they will remember Chikanari Shukuka in all of her jaw-dropping instensity. Working with microphone feedback, extended vocal techniques, clanging cymbals, multi-effectors, and erotic elements of modern dance, Shukuka's performances are at once sensual and dark, challenging and captivating. Gaining attention internationally, she recently performed at Alternativa Festival in the Czech Republic and at 'The Japanese Experience', hosted by Theatre de Nimes in France. She has also been invited to perform at the 16th edition of Sibiu Internation Theatre Festival in Romania next spring. While describing her method of expression as "improvised sound and dance creating melted space and time," she adds, "When I dance, I dance to my sound. What else to do?"

Ome Zombie
(Akihiko Ando + Emi Nobuko)
Ome Zombie is the tumultuous hell-child of mercurial saxophonist Akihiko Ando (Kuruu Crew) and shambolic drummer Emi Nobuko (Tsurabami). Traversing the unpaved musical landscape of hardcore, noise-rock, free jazz, and lo-fi psychedelia, Ome Zombie crashes into mountains of sludge, stumbles through swamps of viscous drone, and twists through valleys of beautifully tangled harmonies. Every performance features the duo with a guest musician in tow, and this time around, Australian multi-tasker Stephen Richards aka Cleaning Lady will provide the necessary skronk and splatter as he alternates between saxophone and no-input mixing board. A rare chance to see two heavy units battle it out on (relatively) foreign soil.

Cleaning Lady
(saxophone / no-input mixing board) from Australia

Eli
(Kenji 'Noise' Nakamura + Kousuke Sone + Hiroshi Takahashi)
Taking the definition of free jazz to a whole new level, Eli will be sure to offend most music purists. But for those who like their jazz scattered with artillery fire, clusterbombs and landmines, this saxophone trio will quench the most tilted depths of your soul. Frontman and tireless promoter of the groundbreaking 'Black & Gold' event, Kenji 'Noise' Nakamura is well-known for his napalm-laced sax improvisations (and overall punk-ass attitude). With Kousuke Sone on bass and the grindcore drumming of Hiroshi Takahashi, Eli will both awaken and devastate your senses, leaving you excited (and maybe a bit frightened) about the future of free jazz.

Death-logic:
Analogic (Takuya Sakamoto + Osamu Nakamura + Shin Oshiro)
+ DEATHANOVA (Yoichiro Shin from Optrum)
With a multi-faceted presentation mixing epileptic visuals with furious drumming, Deathalogic might just live up to their name. A mad collaboration between audiovisual research unit Analogic (Takuya Sakamoto + Osamu Nakamura + Shin Oshiro) and Optrum's frenetic drummer Yoichiro Shin, the sensory experience might be likened to watching that Pikachu episode that sent a number of children into convulsive seizures.
Total visual overload matched with deft musicianship to deliver an experience that is difficult to capture in one sitting. Seconds anyone?