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hot desking "idon't want to express anything with music," asserts toshimaru nakamura. "i don't like emotional music any more. who cares how i think or how i feel? i just want to play an instrument which doesn't haven any connection to inner emotion." for the last two years nakamura has been playing 'no-input mixing desk' in place of the guitar, which had previously been his main instrument. "with the guitar i tend to express something," he explains, "but i feel more comfortable with this." what nakamura has arrived at is an extremely minimal electronic music based on gentle growth and development. on his most easily available record outside of japan, the stefan betke-mastered temporary contemporary (for4ears) by repeat--his duo with berlin based percussionist and sampler player jason kahn--he creates unassuming soundmobiles that hang int he air and dance randomly in the light. the music arises out of a rather simple but elegant set-up, as nakamura explains: "if you connect the output of the mixing board to the input, it's going to make a loop, it's going to feed back. if you don't control it, it's going to get bigger and bigger until it becomes a huge, harsh noise. so you use subtle movements to control the feedback. every single knob on the mixing desk that you shift varies the sound. you can even play melodies, if you like." nakamura's current set-up has a precedent in the work of arcane device, who used five linked digital delays with no input signal to create elaborate feedback works. interestingly, nakamura's very conscious move towards an egoless performing style is a tendency that is spreading virus-like throughout the japanese improvising community. otomo yoshihide and sampler player sachiko m, for example, are exploring an empty electronic music in their duo filament (nakamura also has an ongoing duo with sachiko, which pairs his no-input mixing board with her no-sample sampler); and since 1994 guitarist taku sugimoto has displaced his loud, powerful playing with a sparse, silence-filled and soft-hued style. the recent release of the improvisation meeting at bar aoyama on nakamura's own reset label makes it clear how a group of people has arrived at the same shared approach. acting as hosts, nakamura, sugimoto and guitarist tetuzi akiyama invite musicians to join them in intimate, small-scale monthly sessions which nurture a cautious, tender and non-judgmental group music comprised of little movement or progression. improvised music in japan emerged in the highly politicised 1970's. in particular the scene's principal, noise guitarist masayuki takayanagi, was rigorously political in his motivation. however, as otomo yoshihide has observed, as tokyo began to thrive economically, improvised music--as with most 'alternative' music--lost its oppositional stance. this recent drift towards a music that is more introspective and anti-expressionistic, however, shows that something new is afoot. whether it marks a reassertion of the zen impulse, or an attempt to recover poise and stillnes in a world bruised and dizzied by sensory disorientation is unclear. "it seems like i just keep saying no to everything," offers nakiamura. "everything is small, tiny or 'no.' i said no to emotion. i changed to a minimal set-up with this minimal music. i play in small combinations of musicians to small audiences. i don't subscribe to a newspaper, i don't have a tv. but the information coming is still too much. i have to say no. so probably my music is that kind of statement." that nakamura is a versatile musician is evidence in his ongoing collaboration with the kim ito dance troupe, for whom he has variously contributed field recordings and chopped-up tapes of a group recorded live in the studio. but he draws a clear distinction between his work and his artistic calling. "it's not really my music," he avers. "it's much more a collaboration. it's work." live peformance is foremost in his schedule. following his recent speaker-frying set at the lmc festival in london, nakamura will be touring europe in a duo with sachiko m, then germany and austria in a trio with joe williamson (double bass) and kai wolf (guitar). he'll then be looking for a label to relase his recently completed solo cd before returning to tour england in january 2001 as part of the forthcoming japanorama festival. "on stage my ideal is to perform as little as possible," he concludes. "to do nothing makes no sense, so i do little things. i want to shift the atmosphere a little bit. i feel something and try to use myself as a filter."
phil england, the wire, october 2000 | |
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