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A Message from Test Tone:
While the catastrophe in northern Japan weighs heavy on everyone's minds, we are trying to make a slow return to normalcy here in Tokyo. We know there is a long struggle ahead for many of those in the affected areas, and our hearts are with the victims of this devastating tragedy.
We have been involved with a number of fundraising events over the past several weeks and continue to do so on a number of fronts. We will, however, keep our regular Test Tone event free of charge, and despite understandable cancellations from many overseas acts, continue this month with a challenging lineup of local artists.
For those wishing to donate funds, we encourage you to research a worthwhile charity and give generously. Looking forward to seeing you soon.

Test Tone vol. 68

The Big Bright Sum of Reverberation

Featuring: Kazuo Imai + Yoshiaki Fujikawa + ASTRO (aka Hiroshi Hasegawa) + Keiko Higuchi, Heartland, Kouhei Harada + Cal Lyall, and DJ: Evil Penguin



Test Tone Homepage

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

Artist information:

Kazuo Imai + Yoshiaki Fujikawa + ASTRO (aka Hiroshi Hasegawa) + Keiko Higuchi

Any Test Tone regular would hardly need an introduction to these four major figures in Japan's free improv scene, and for the curious, this will hopefully be a mind-blowing lesson in aural history. Legendary guitarist Kazuo Imai and equally towering saxophonist Fujikawa Yoshiaki are both known for their late 70s associations with Takehisa Kosugi (Taj Mahal Travellers) and Masayuki Takayanagi (New Direction), while they have forged names of their own through rare musicianship and uncompromising paths of expression. Hiroshi Hasegawa (aka ASTRO) first came on the scene in the early 90s, with renowned noise/improv group CCCC,  and continues to explore spaced-out analog extremities in a number of heavy settings internationally. Finally, vocalist Keiko Higuchi has become a unique voice in the jazz/improv scenes both in Japan and abroad, using her impressive range and imagination to add twists of color to a number of collaborations in recent years. Monumental goodness.
Homepage: Kazuo Imai
Homepage: Yoshiaki Fujikawa / myspace: Fujikawa Yoshiaki Trio
Homepage: ASTRO
Homepage: Keiko Higuchi

Heartland

Formed by Hirokazu 'mary' Mori and Jun Takami, Heartland carve some lovely and dense layers of sound out of their toppling piles of effects. With each taking control of a batch of frequencies in the spectrum, they manage some mammoth themes while still retaining an essence of abstract ambient sound. Harmonic ideas mesh with complex bass sounds for a wall of creepily-construed goodness. Wonderfully evocative stuff.
myspace: Heartland

Kouhei Harada + Cal Lyal

(Max/MSP + hydrophones/effects)

Many months in the planning, this collaboration will finally see the light at Test Tone. Curator, musician and good friend Kouhei Harada will meet with the underwater rumblings of Test Tone's Cal Lyall, whose recent forays into hydrophone recording, manipulation and recording have taken him into the depths of fish tanks, turtle ponds and the South China Sea. Harada will use his Max/MSP wizardry to persuade some unpredictable subtlety from these sounds of nature.
Homepage: Kouhei Harada
myspace: Cal Lyal

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.