Test ToneTest Tone

Test Tone vol. 39
Night of Black Smoke and Electric Tambourines
A sumptuous evening of fine auricular dining. All the ingredients to drive your palette wild! Spicy, full-bodied and less-fattening!
Featuring Missing Man Foundation + Akihiko Ando, Ryu Konno + Hiroki Chiba, Yasufumi Suzuki + Tatsuhisa Yamamoto / Installation: MASARU AIKAWA



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Artist Information:

Yasufumi Suzuki a.k.a. AEN (Commune Disc) + Tatsuhisa Yamamoto (drums and metal)

Indeed, it's about time that Yasufumi Suzuki took part of the Test Tone series. As director of the Commune Disc label and curator of the monthly SOUNDROM event at Super Deluxe, he keeps close quarters with many performers we know and respect. As an artist in his own right he produces resplendent solo work, very often the result of his two old tape recorders overdubbed into layered and sublime pieces of music. As a live performing artist, he is a fearless improvisor, taking the stage in a number of contexts with musical innovators from Japan and overseas.
This time around, he will be joined by bombastic drummer Tatsuhisa Yamamoto, who despite a string of sold-out shows with indie supergroup Natsumen, still finds the time to take part of these evenings with his signature 'drums and metal'. From psych jazz and progressive rock to scumcore and noise, Yamamoto has developed a reputation for holding his own in a number of unorthodox musical settings, while still keeping his unique voice as a drummer.
A meeting of two spectacular performers that promises some very fine moments of precarious and imaginative improvisation.

Yasufumi Suzuki a.k.a. Aen (commune disc) / (SOUNDROOM)


Tatsuhisa Yamamoto

Ryu Konno (turntables / electronics) + Hiroki Chiba (contrabass / electronics)

It's always inspiring when you find that two very different instruments can hold such impressive combined potential in the hands of the right musicians. Such is the case when the contrabass work of Hiroki Chiba meshes with the singular turntablism of Ryu Konno. Both performers come armed with an array of electronic gadgets, but still manage to keep the music surprisingly deft in its delivery, twisting through illbient beats one minute, then stumbling into piles of dense psychedelia the next. With well-honed musical sensitivity, they coax a virtual travelogue from their instruments.
Guaranteed to leave some long-lasting images from their rich sonic palette, this duo is coming into a musical language all of their own.

Ryu Konno (Turntables&Electronics/ RefRain Records)


Hiroki Chiba (contrabass/electronics)

Missing Man Foundation (Peter Slade / Cal Lyall) + Akihiko Ando (Kuruu Crew / Henrytennis)

It has been a year or two since Missing Man Foundation released Test Tone Sessions, an album recorded largely in the formative months of the Test Tone event. Since then, the event has grown exponentially in scope, and Missing Man Foundation have also changed their sound. From their beginnings in loop-based glitchy bitpop, they have turned to a more minimal harmonic concept incorporating elements of abstract electronica and drone.
With their (somewhat) familiar setup of laptop and unprepared guitar, Peter Slade and Cal Lyall will be joined by mercurial saxophonist Akihiko Ando. As a driving component of Kuruu Crew, Henrytennis, Ome Zombie, Myth Delusion Empire and other bands you have undoubtedly seen around town, Ando works himself seamlessly into music of many shades.
This night will be a chance to see him weave a bit of his artistry into another musical landscape altogether.

Missing Man Foundation (Peter Slade / Cal Lyall)


Akihiko Ando (Kuruu Crew / Henrytennis)

Masaru Aikawa (Installation)

As the entertainment industry falls into expensive legal battles over copyright infringement, we are faced with a number of questions about the nature of art. Should we really be making consumables for the masses? Are we packaging our own identity? Masaru Aikawa doesn't have any answers, but he does present a brilliant idea in his exhibition 'My 25 CDs'. Taking the appearance of a run-of-the-mill listening post at your local record shop, his latest work offers something completely out of the ordinary. This is a sneak preview of an installation to take residence at Super Deluxe in February 2009.
Two nights only. Don't miss it.