Test Tone

Test Tone vol. 55

Deep Impact! Songs of Destruction from Planet Nibiru

Featuring: N'toko (from Slovenia) + Yoshio Ootani (sim), Chung-Han YAO (from Taiwan), Naoki Murakami + Yoichiro Shin (DeAthAnovA) + Yoshihito Shinma, Veee Deee, Aï-Hz (Visuals) and DJ Evil Penguin

Test Tone Homepage

Cal Lyall and Yasufumi Suzuki Special Interview!! (JP only)

Artist information:

N'toko (from Slovenia) + Yoshio Ootani (sim)

Slovenian national freestyle champion twice-over, N'toko (aka Miha Blažič) has taken the micro-sampled hip-hoppery that guys like Prefuse 73 and Funkstorung needed hours of editing to achieve and has reproduced it live at the mic (think Jamie Lidell and Canibus' test tube child). With his roots in freestyle, N'toko has recently moved into the Japan improv scene, and he'll take this opportunity to work with one of the community's inexhaustible stalwarts, saxophonist and electronic sound artist Yoshio Ootani (from sim/mas). A true first meeting, this should be compelling on all fronts, especially for those who are curious as to what might come out of the laboratory beakers.
N'toko
Yoshio Ootani

Chung-Han YAO (from Taiwan)

Currently an artist-in-residence at the Tokyo Wonder Site, Taiwanese artist Chung-Han Yao explores the connections between video, installation, space and wide-ranging media. His second visit to Japan with his laser-light-sound performance, he continues to create spectacular works that cover a number of disciplines, using laptop, infra-red beams, electronics and fluorescent lamps to stunning effect. This installation/performance requires an large amount of space and begins in absolute darkness. Using the multi-channel system in the venue and making full-use of the space, you may want to take a peek even if you've had the chance to see his remarkable work before.
Chung-Han YAO HP

Naoki Murakami + Yoichiro Shin (DeAthAnovA) + Yoshihito Shinma

Always seeming to take the path of most resistance, Optrum drummer Yoichiro Shin (aka DeAthAnovA) has put together a unit of terrifying unpredictability – again. His session mates on this somewhat blind date include two fantastic improvisors from the cream of the current Tokyo post-punk scene. Naoki Murakami (te_ri, Destorio) has blown many a mind with his signature fluorescent-light guitar explorations, and Yoshihito Shinma (bass) has been tearing holes in the fabric of the punk continuum with his band Fukuro. With Shin's trademark laser-lights pulling the sensory assault into wonderfully controlled mayhem, prepare for a freaked-out and heavy delivery of sight and sound.
Yoichiro Shin
Yoshihito Shinma (Fukuro)
Naoki Murakami

Veee Deee

Possibly best left described by San Fransisco independent music shop of legend, Aquarius Records, Veee Deee "spit out fierce fiery ultra thick blasts of snarling buzz and in-the-red psychrock chaos." Indeed. It is hard to believe that the meager combination of guitar and drums could result in the bone-crushing heaviness that they put to tape (and recreate live in the flesh). One of Japan's best kept secrets with a penchant not to be upstaged. You've been warned.
MySpace

Aï-Hz (Visuals)

French visual performer Aï-Hz divides his time between Tokyo and Paris, creating expansive eye candy in a universe that weds noise-pop-poetry with visual creations. After a number of residencies (YCAM, Anticlockwise) and providing videos or real-time visual performance for a number of artists (Optron, Mutron, Riow Arai), Aï-Hz has defined an captivating vocabulary of form, and produced a wholly original body of work.
Aï-Hz HP

DJ Evil Penguin

Grand wizard of vinyl and interstellar treasure hunter, the Evil Penguin makes the perilous journey to the forbidden archives, extracting the tastiest gems from a cosmic vat of recordings long forgotten.

About Test Tone

A monthly experiment offering irregular art, music and performance in Tokyo.
The Test Tone series aims to offer a venue for diverse and challenging artists to bring their ideas to a larger community. As a free event open to the public, we hope to bypass the old economies in order to create new ones, while encouraging collaboration in all forms. A collage of media, sound and art in a space available to anyone off the street, the event is a bazaar of potential collisions, where passersby are treated to the unexpected.
For all of this, we found our home base at Super Deluxe, a unique space in Tokyo's midtown, providing a relaxed atmosphere within its modular interior. The event continues to be a celebration of off-kilter creativity in the city: from installation pieces to performance art and visual collaborations; from noise, electronica, ambient sounds and free rock to disorderly jazz and manipulated field recordings. To date, close to 500 artists have been a part of the event, together creating opportunities for unexpected improvisation, collaboration, and festival spirit.