Test ToneTest Tone

Test Tone vol. 44

Oriental/Occidental: Exposures of Vocal Polemic, Bass Calamity and Electronic Bliss

Featuring: Edmund Oak aka Jonatan Bengta (from Denmark), Meri Nikula (from Finland), Masaya Sasaki, Dowding Club Pentagon Royal Garden featuring Dowding Club + Keigo Iwami (bass) + Hiroki Chiba (bass) + Matsutsugu Hattori (drums) / DJ: Evil Penguin



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Artist info:

Edmund Oak aka Jonatan Bengta (Denmark)

Wrapped in gongs, Hawaiian-inspired slide guitar and oblique, meditative chord patterns, composer and singer Jonatan Bengta creates a dark, intense, seductive music under the moniker Edmund Oak. With a style that originally comes from the folk singer/songwriter tradition, he also finds influence in 70s Ethiopian jazz and experimental music. His debut album, Queen Odea Escapes, was recorded in Copenhagen's St. Matthew Church with an unusual instrumentation of cello, bells, gongs and even a choir. We'll be treated to an evening of Bengta's newest material, which by his own description is "new, black and crispy"... What could he possibly have in store for us?

Masaya Sasaki

Musician and poet, Masaya's work seems to be stripped of all unnecessary complexities, highlighting subtle themes and an inventive sense of rhythm and space. With a musical concept that is based in electronica, he works with minimal forms that can sometimes be likened to the early compositions of Terry Riley or Philip Glass. Repeated listens to much of his work will reveal melodies slightly modulating over time, and rhythmic elements slowly slipping into the music, disappearing as inconspicuously as they surfaced.
With a new album called Music is Not Means set for release this spring, Masaya will be showcasing a fresh body of new music, bound to be as scintillating as his work up until this point.
Myspace

Meri Nikula (Finland)

With a diverse background in music, theater, dance and the visual arts, Meri has explored a wide breadth of expression, on equally-wide terrain, living and studying in the Netherlands, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Ghana and most recently, Japan. In addition to visual pieces and experimental performance, she has also explored the musical traditions of Brazil, Africa and her native Scandinavia as a vocalist and flute player, while also working in genres ranging from classical music to free improvisation and noise. Most recently, she is finding new inspiration as a sound artist with a concept she calls vocal mosaic, where she creates layered collages with her voice. Treating us to a solo vocal performance, Meri is bound to captivate and beguile listeners on the evening.

Dowding Club Pentagon Royal Garden

featuring Dowding Club + Keigo Iwami (bass) + Hiroki Chiba (bass) + Matsutsugu Hattori (drums)
Naoto Sekijima and Akihiko Taniguchi, the two enigmatic sound artists behind Dowding Club, are back in a heavyweight formation that is as bent as it is brilliant. By adding Hiroki Chiba (acoustic bass), Keigo Iwami (acoustic bass) and Masatsugu Hattori (drums), they seem to have put together a bit of a supergroup, dubbed Dowding Club Royal Pentagon. With Sekijima also playing his self-made acoustic bass, there is sure to be enough low end for even the most finicky club-goers. And with all of the musicians deeply involved in a range of other projects, it might be some time before you have the opportunity to see this again. Now's your chance.


About Test Tone...
Test Tone is a free monthly event that promotes varied and, we hope, interesting live music to a wider audience in Tokyo. We wanted to create an event that highlights the diversity of great music and visual art being made here and give more people an opportunity to see and hear it.

To make Test Tone as accessible as possible we wanted a central Tokyo space with a good sound system; a place where people would want to come and hang out, eat, drink and meet people. And listen to some live music that they may not otherwise get exposed to. As a further encouragement, we wanted to make the event free—not only for the audience, but for the performers too.

All this could easily have been an order too tall were it not for the exceptional people at Super Deluxe that made it all possible. Their enthusiasm for live music and visuals and faith in the event, allowing us complete creative freedom in booking artists, has allowed Test Tone to grow into something even broader in scope than we could have hoped for back in February 2005 when we proudly presented volume 1.

Our aim is to create a wider community. To further that, please get in touch if you are interested in playing, or want to be kept up to date with Test Tone events.

Finally, we'd like to say thanks to everyone that has been involved with Test Tone, especially all the artists that have made the events such a continuing success.