Test ToneTest Tone

Featuring: Government Alpha Zbigniew Karkowski (Poland) Tatsuhisa Yamamoto Manuel Knapp (Vienna) Masako Tanaka DJ Evil Penguin [Test Tone Homepage](http://www.soundispatch.com/ttsnews/) [Cal Lyall and Yasufumi Suzuki Special Interview!! (JP only)](http://sdlx.blogspot.com/2008/12/blog-post.html) Artist information: ##Government Alpha  Government Alpha is Yasutoshi Yoshida's experimental noise project, running strong since 1994. He first started turning heads in 1995 with a track on the Extreme Music from Japan compilation CD from UK label Susan Lawly. Since then, there has been a steady stream of Government Alpha output on compilation and collaboration CDs, as well as his own releases. In addition to sitting at the helm of long-running noise label Xerxes, Yoshida is a singular visual artist, contributing his collage work to albums, books and a range of other releases. ##Zbigniew Karkowski   Zbigniew Karkowski studied composition at the State College of Music in Gothenburg, Sweden, aesthetics of modern music at the University of Gothenburg's Department of Musicology, and computer music at the Chalmers University of Technology. He works actively as a composer of both acoustic and electroacoustic music. He has written pieces for large orchestra (commissioned and performed by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra), an opera and several chamber music pieces that have been performed by ensembles in Sweden, Poland, and Germany. He was also a founding member of the electroacoustic music performance trio Sensorband, a unit notable for its network concerts played via ISDN and Internet. Karkowski has collaborated with many experimental groups and artists, including The Hafler Trio, Blixa Bargeld, Merzbow, Stelarc, John Duncan, Aube, Tetsuo Furudate, Kelly Churko and more. ##Manuel Knapp (Vienna) + Tatsuhisa Yamamoto  Viennese artist Manuel Knapp began his studies in the visual arts, but has followed a interdisciplinary trajectory involving both experimental film and sound, his works being shown and numerous film festivals and multimedia events worldwide. He currently back in Japan for some concerts with a number of fine local artists, including his unit with legendary Hiroshi Hasegawa (aka ASTRO), called Cosmic Coincidence. On this night, Manuel will be joined by bombastic drummer Tatsuhisa Yamamoto, who despite 20+ gigs a month and 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. ##Masako Tanaka (Video works w/ Markus Popp: Sound)  Based in San Francisco until 2010, Tokyo-born visual artist Masako Tanaka has long been making waves abroad with her resplendent video compositions. Since 2007, Tanaka has been working with panoramic audiovisual systems designed by Recombinant Media Labs for learning institutions, the extraordinary results of which have been displayed at European festivals such as CTM, CYNETART, and Musikprotokoll. Tanaka also worked as the main video production head for the "Multiple Otomo" Project on the Asphodel label where she was the primary editor, assembler and visual composition coordinator/adjuster. A computer musician since the early 90s performing under the name Oval, Markus Popp was influential in so-called glitch with releases on Thrill Jockey and Mille Plateaux. Originally a three-piece, Oval disdained conventional electronic instruments – their early albums were composed through the creative abuse of compact disc players. Markus Popp returned with a new Oval album, O, in 2010. ##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.