Test ToneTest Tone

Test Tone vol. 70

Interpolation Sounds

Featuring Miura Ichi-go (perc) + TOMO (hurdy gurdy), Wormhole
feat. Yoko Arai (piano), Michio Karimata (sax, flute), Pearl Alexander (bass), Hiroshi Shimizu (perc), Marcos Fernandes (perc), Denki Slime feat. Atsuhi Goto (trombone), Yasuyuki Takahashi (trombone, composition), Ryusaku Ikezawa (drums, percussion), and DJ Evil Penguin



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Artist information:

Miura Ichi-go + TOMO

A much-anticipated collaboration between two masters of traditional forms, this sees hurdy-gurdy man TOMO meet the virtuosic percussion work of Miura Ichi-go.
Steeped in Americana while living in Missouri at an early age, TOMO eventually made his way back to Japan where he developed the experimental and minimalist/psychedelic sensibility in his work. His latest release, a majestic solo guitar outing entitled Butterfly Dream and Other Guitar Works, helped to place him in company the likes of James Blackshaw and Loren MazzaCane Connors.
By fusing Brazilian, Irish, Indian and Middle-eastern percussion styles, Miura Ichi-go has created an original voice for himself in a number of contexts, either playing solo or with one of his groups (Manhã, Tribal Beat, Cine Romantista). Moving from tabla to pandeiro to berimbau without losing a beat, his live performances also make use of judicious loops to create hypnotic, multi-layered pieces that explore the full potential of his genre cross-stepping.

miura1.net
tomo-official.com

Wormhole

Formed in 1994 as an improvisational vehicle for the duo of percussionists Marcos Fernandes and Robert Montoya, Wormhole continues its mission of creating "globally-informed" experimental music after close to 20 years of exploration. With their beginnings in San Diego, the group's many incarnations led them to collaborations in dance, soundtracks, ambient installation work and more. After relocating to Japan in 2008, Mr. Fernandes choose an all-star ensemble to continue where he had left off, enlisting pianist Yoko Arai, reedist Michio Karimata and shamisen player and vocalist Yumiko Tanaka to reform Wormhole. The experimental collective took yet another step into new sounds when bassist Pearl Alexander and percussionist Hiroshi Shimizu joined the group in 2010.

feat.
Yoko Arai (piano)
Michio Karimata (sax, flute)
Pearl Alexander (bass)
Hiroshi Shimizu (perc)
Marcos Fernandes (perc)

myspace.com/wormholeeffect

Denki Slime

Spilling some New Orleans gumbo onto a plate of free jazz, Denki Slime takes two tumultuous trombones (Atsushi Goto and Yasuyuki Takahashi) and throws them into the path of the volatile drumming of Ryusaku 'Rutang' Ikezawa.
Taking swift leaps from brass band themes into improvised scuttlebutt, then tumbling down the stairs into a skulking spy-thriller soundtrack, Denki Slime has the chops to pull Sun Ra's Arkestra from the cosmos one minute, and then unload some staggering Meshuggah-esque riff the next. Everything you never expected to hear from a brass band and more.

feat.
Atsuhi Goto (trombone)
Yasuyuki Takahashi (trombone, composition)
Ryusaku Ikezawa (drums, percussion)

myspace.com/electricslime

DJ Evil Penguin

Master of disguises, Mexican top-hats, ambient rockabilly to minimal Hawaiian Kumulipo chants, the Evil Penguin poses the primordial question of evanescence against a backdrop of New Wave folk. Celebratory, subliminal, moment-to-moment. A Tasmanian treasure with a penchant for open spaces.

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.