Test ToneTest Tone

Test Tone vol. 71

Expansions in Ambience

Featuring: Shigehiro Tsubota + Cal Lyall (guitar duo), Nigel Wright (from New Zealand), Manuel Knapp (Vienna) x Mitsuru Tabata (guitar) x Takumi Ito (sax), and DJ Evil Penguin



Test Tone Homepage

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

Artist information:

Shigehiro Tsubota + Cal Lyall (guitar duo)

Shigehiro Tsubota studied contemporary music at Berklee College in Boston, USA, and subsequently lived in New York to meet many of the vanguard musicians of the late 1980s and early '90s. Since his return to Tokyo, he enjoys working in an enigmatic artistic area existing somewhere between performance art and free jazz. Often playing solo using a simple setup—usually just a guitar and microphone—Shigehiro delivers a sonic world of slashing, staccato phrases, punctuated by punk-inspired vocals that would make Mark E. Smith proud. He'll be joined by guitarist and Test Tone curator Cal Lyall, who might chop away at some crooked rhythms of his own.
Shigehiro Tsubota
Cal Lyall

Nigel Wright (from New Zealand)

Known for his expansive sound pieces, New Zealand native Nigel Wright has been involved in a range of creative activity as an audio and visual artist for close to ten years. Dense layers of tonal drones underpin the field recordings, guitar, and tape loops that Wright uses as source material for his laptop-based live performances. He has also worked with audio/visual pieces, his first work premiering at the Auckland International Film Festival in 2006. On his first trip to Japan, this show is bound to be an evocative and lovely way to land.
Bandcamp / myspace / Interview

Manuel Knapp (from Vienna) x Mitsuru Tabata (guitar) x Takumi Ito (sax)

Considering the fact that both Mitsuru Tabata (Zeni Geva, Amazon Saliva, AMT) and Takumi Ito (Ryusenkei Body, Tsuki no Wa) have been on the scene since before the Tamagotchi, it's surprising that the forces of preternatural music haven't brought them together before. As much as Tabata is known for his fuzzy, tripped-out guitar pyrotechnics, Takumi Ito is known for his complex approach to composition and stark saxophone style. These two will be joined by Viennese artist Manuel Knapp, who is back in Japan for some concerts with the legendary Hiroshi Hasegawa (aka Astro). Manuel will be on hand to provide some judicious crunch and rumble, and to lay down the necessary noise mojo - if necessary.
Manuel Knapp
Mitsuru Tabata
Takumi Ito

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.