Asian Meeting Festival 2017

The Asian Meeting Festival (AMF) was started by Otomo Yoshihide in 2005 with the hope of promoting a robust creative interaction between Japanese and other Asian musicians. With the festival nestled within the auspices of Ensembles Asia, and with the inclusion of Yuen Chee Wai from Singapore and Hong Kong-based dj sniff as curators since 2014, AMF has evolved into one of Asia's foremost experimental, improvisational and noise music festivals. For the 2017 edition, AMF will tour through Fukuoka, Kyoto and Sendai, and will hold its finale in Sapporo at the Sapporo International Arts Festival (SIAF).

Project director
dj sniff
Yuen Chee Wai

Concert

Day1 Fukuoka

Date Thursday, Sep 14 19:00 open/ 19:30 start
Place UTERO
Charge Adv: 2,000 yen / Door: 2,500 yen (+1Drink)
Ticket http://amf2017fukuoka01.peatix.com/
Line up Alice Hui-Sheng Chang (Tainan), Arnont Nongyao (Chiang Mai), C. Spencer Yeh (New York), Caliph8 (Manila), dj sniff (Hong Kong), Musica Htet (Yangon), Nguyen Thanh Thuy (Hanoi), Yii Kah Hoe (Kuala Lumpur), Yuen Chee Wai (Singapore)
Guest DORAVIDEO / Yoshimitsu Ichiraku (Yamaguchi), DJ-SPEEDFARMER (Kita-kyushu), Hajime Yoshida (Fukuoka), Shogo Takenaga (Omuta)

Day2 Fukuoka

Date Friday, Sep 15 18:00 open/ 18:30 start
Place Fukuoka Asian Art Museum
Charge Adv: 2,000 yen / Door: 2,500 yen (includes ticket to exhibition - Welcome to Art in Myanmar!)
Ticket http://amf2017fukuoka02.peatix.com/
Line up Alice Hui-Sheng Chang (Tainan), Arnont Nongyao (Chiang Mai), C. Spencer Yeh (New York), Caliph8 (Manila), dj sniff (Hong Kong), Musica Htet (Yangon), Nguyen Thanh Thuy (Hanoi), Yii Kah Hoe (Kuala Lumpur), Yuen Chee Wai (Singapore)
Guest DORAVIDEO / Yoshimitsu Ichiraku (Yamaguchi)

Day3 Kyoto

Date Tuesday, Sep 19 19:00 open/ 20:00 start
Place METRO
Charge Adv: 2,000 yen / Door: 2,500 yen (+1Drink)
Ticket http://amf2017metro.peatix.com/
Line up Alice Hui-Sheng Chang (Tainan), Arnont Nongyao (Chiang Mai), C. Spencer Yeh (New York), Caliph8 (Manila), dj sniff (Hong Kong), Musica Htet (Yangon), Nguyen Thanh Thuy (Hanoi), Yii Kah Hoe (Kuala Lumpur), Yuen Chee Wai (Singapore)
Guest Kayu Nakada (Osaka), Takafumi Okada (Okayama), YTAMO (Kyoto), YOSHIMIO (Nara)

Day4 Sendai

Date Thursday, Sep 21 18:00 open/ 18:30 start
Place Sendai Mediatheque
Charge dv: 2,000 yen / Door: 2,500 yen
Ticket http://amf2017sendai.peatix.com/
Line up Alice Hui-Sheng Chang (Tainan), Arnont Nongyao (Chiang Mai), C. Spencer Yeh (New York), Caliph8 (Manila), dj sniff (Hong Kong), Musica Htet (Yangon), Nguyen Thanh Thuy (Hanoi), Yii Kah Hoe (Kuala Lumpur), Yuen Chee Wai (Singapore)
Guest Atsushi Arakawa (Koriyama), Koji Shibuya (Sendai), Momo (Sendai), U-zhaan (Tokyo)

Day5 Sapporo

Date Saturday/Holiday, Sep 23 16:30 open/ 17:00 start
Place Sapporo Art Park, Large Practice Room
Charge Free by SIAF passport presentation, Door: 2,000 yen
Reserve http://siaf.jp/news/6936.html
Line up Alice Hui-Sheng Chang (Tainan), Arnont Nongyao (Chiang Mai), C. Spencer Yeh (New York), Caliph8 (Manila), dj sniff (Hong Kong), Musica Htet (Yangon), Nguyen Thanh Thuy (Hanoi), Yii Kah Hoe (Kuala Lumpur), Otomo Yoshihide (Tokyo), Yuen Chee Wai (Singapore)
Special Guest Keiji Haino (Tokyo)
Guest Nonoko Yoshida (Iwamizawa), Ryoji Hojito (Sapporo), Yuji Katsui (Tokyo)
Foods Taiwanese Restaurant Gotou 15:30 open
Organizer Sapporo International Art Festival Executive Committee / City of Sapporo, The Japan Foundation Asia Center

Day6 Sapporo

Date Sunday, Sep 24 14:30 open/ 15:00 start
Place Sapporo Art Park, Large Practice Room
Charge Free by SIAF passport presentation, Door: 2,000 yen
Reserve http://siaf.jp/news/6936.html
Line up Alice Hui-Sheng Chang (Tainan), Arnont Nongyao (Chiang Mai), C. Spencer Yeh (New York), Caliph8 (Manila), dj sniff (Hong Kong), Musica Htet (Yangon), Nguyen Thanh Thuy (Hanoi), Yii Kah Hoe (Kuala Lumpur), Otomo Yoshihide (Tokyo), Yuen Chee Wai (Singapore)
Special Guest Oren Ambarchi (Melbourne)
Guest Ikuro Takahashi (Sapporo), shimettainu (Sapporo), TENTENKO (Tokyo)
Foods Taiwanese Restaurant Gotou 13:30 open
Organizer Sapporo International Art Festival Executive Committee City of Sapporo, The Japan Foundation Asia Center

AMF in TANGO

Feedback Presentation

Reflecting on "the Sound Tour" in Tango.

Date Monday/Holiday, Sep 18 16:00 start
Place former Go elementary school
Line up dj sniff (Hong Kong), Yuen Chee Wai (Singapore), AMF2017 tour member, Moderator: NAKAGAWA Katsushi (Associate Professor of YOKOHAMA National University)
Collaborator ART CAMP TANGO 2017

Sound Tour (Invitation Only)

AMF goes to Kyotango with a series of immersive sound tours to be held in collaboration and conjunction with ART CAMP TANGO 2017. Sound artist Akio Suzuki will guide the participating AMF musicians through the sacred and inspiring spots which richly embody the sounds scattered throughout Tango. The musician will then use methods such as field recording, site specific performance, etc. to further deepen the understanding of a very special site specific sound experience.

Date Sunday, Sep 17 and Monday, Sep 18
Place Around of Kyotango
Collaborator ART CAMP TANGO 2017

Profile

Alice Hui-Sheng Chang (Tainan)
Alice Hui-Sheng Chang (Tainan) Born 1984 in Changhua, Taiwan. As a vocalist working with extended techniques, Alice builds intimate exchanges with her audience through improvisation. She creates an array of timbres and textures by controlling tension in her throat and alternating the passage of air and vocalisations. Alice often performs in collaboration with artists from various background or mediums. Alice graduated from RMIT University's MFA program (2006), and a MA in Therapeutic Arts Practices at the MIECAT Institute (2014), both in Melbourne, Australia. Since 2003, Alice has performed across countries in Asia, Oceania, and Europe. Alice has been involved in supported residencies in Australia, Taiwan, France, Portugal and Austria. Her music has been published by labels including Antifrost, Audition, Trente Oiseaux, Homophoni, Sub Rosa, Subjam/KwanYin, Syrphe, and others. Alice is currently based in Tainan, Taiwan. She is the founder of Ting Shuo Hear Say, a community venue and organisation focused on listening, arts and discursive education.
Arnont Nongyao (Chiangmai)
Arnont Nongyao(Chiangmai) Born 1979, Bangkok. Arnont graduated with BFA from the Faculty of Fine Art, Chiang Mai University in 2003. Although Arnont graduated with a painting major, he currently works with various media which spans sound, video, installation, site specific work and public art. Arnont's work engages with his interest in vibration - he works on diverse art experimental projects, all vibration-related. Some of his selected solo exhibitions include Unstable(ry) Life (Bangkok-Quebec exchange program organized by AVATAR at MANIF D'ART, Quebec 2016), Pinky Soundy Bicycle Roaming in Yokohama Koganecho Bazaar 2015 (Site C-studio, Yokohama 2016), TRANCE (Gallery VER, Bangkok, Thailand 2014), Imaginarium - Water Cave (Faculty of Fine Arts, Chiang Mai University 2011). Selected group exhibitions include Oscillation (curated by Vuth Lyno, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 2016), Continuous Drift (curated by Sven Anderson, Meeting House Square, Dublin 2016), 16th Media Art Biennale WRO 2015: Test Expo- sure (Wroclaw, 2015) DRIFT - A series of experimental sound projects Project #1: Duration (Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre, Bangkok 2014), PROXIMITY (part of inSPIRACJE International at 13 MUZ, Szczecin 2014) and Cross Stitch (Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre, 2013).
C. Spencer Yeh (New York)
C. Spencer Yeh (New York) C. Spencer Yeh is recognized for his interdisciplinary activities and collaborations as an artist, improviser, and composer, as well his music project Burning Star Core. Recent presentations of work include Modern Mondays at MoMA NYC, Sound Horizon at the Walker Art Center Minneapolis MN, Ed Atkins: Performance Capture at the Kitchen NYC, The Companion at the Liverpool Biennial, 99 Objects at the Whitney Museum NYC, Great Tricks From Your Future at D-CAF in Cairo Egypt, Borderline Festival in Athens Greece, Kinomuzeum at Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw Poland, All Ears Festival in Oslo Norway, the Berwick Film and Media Arts Festival, the Lausanne Underground Film and Music Festival, and LAMPO at the Renaissance Society in Chicago IL. Yeh also collaborated with Triple Canopy for their contribution to the Whitney Biennial in 2014. He was a 2015 Artist-in-Residence at ISSUE Project Room NYC, and was included in the performance program for Greater New York at MoMA/PS1. Recent recordings include Solo Voice I-X (Primary Information), Wake Up Awesome, with Okkyung Lee and Lasse Marhaug (Software Recording Company), and "Long Pig" by New Monuments, his trio with Ben Hall and Don Dietrich (Bocian). Yeh also volunteers as a programmer and trailer editor for Spectacle Theater, a microcinema in Brooklyn NY. His video works are distributed by Electronic Arts Intermix. He is also a contributing editor to Triple Canopy and BOMB magazine, as well as contributing to The Third Rail and Personal Best.
dj sniff (Hong Kong)
dj sniff (Hong Kong) dj sniff (Takuro Mizuta Lippit) is a musician and curator in the field of experimental electronic arts and improvised music. His musical work builds upon a distinct practice that combines DJing, instrument design, and free improvisation. He has performed internationally at various venues and festivals around the world, and has released 12 DJ mixes and 4 albums, which includes collaborations with Evan Parker, Otomo Yoshihide, Martin Tetreault, and Paul Hubweber. His work has been reviewed in the New York Times, All About Jazz, The WIRE, and MusicWorks. During his appointment as Artistic Director of STEIM (2007 - 2012) in Amsterdam, he curated and produced over 100 projects including large-scale international festivals and award winning art works. Since 2012, he is based in Hong Kong where he is Visiting Assistant Professor at the School of Creative Media CityU HK, and is Co-Director of Ensembles Asia / Asian Music Network.
Caliph8 (Manila)
Caliph8 (Manila) Arvin Nogueras aka Caliph8 is a sound and visual artist. He explores the implication of merging, summing and hybridization, creating a new cultural syntax out of the debris of the already-given. His influences span from true school hip-hop, experimental, folk, no wave, sound art, new music and ethnomusicology among others. He combines all of these elements and creates a hybrid permutation of gut wrenching aural blast, creating an open-ended tension between the output and the listener. For the past 22 years, he has been active in Manila and overseas, primarily involved with the local visual and sound art scenes. He founded the sound platform Subflex (2003 to present) where he curates the shows featuring a plethora of diverse unpopular sound performances ranging from traditional, new music to experimental and noise. Caliph8 has exhibited and performed in different museums and art spaces such as The Cultural Center of the Philippines, Asian Culture Center South Korea, LO-FTF in Copenhagen, XP in Beijing, The Shelter (Shanghai), Dommune in Tokyo, Institute of Lower Learning, Saigon, Green Papaya Arts Project, Manila, 1335 Mabini, Manila, The Drawing Room, Manila among others. In 2015 he released a vinyl version of his album called Stillborn Etudes on Dub Temple Records (Brisbane), a cassette tape called Derelict Features of the Domain on SVBKVLT (Shanghai) label in 2013 and a CD release Realized Patterns & Splintered Sequences from O-Rich (Tokyo) 2015.
Musica Htet (Yangon)
Musica Htet (Yangon) Born in Yangon, Myanmar. He was trained in Contra Bass extended technique and studied experimental music when he was in school in LaSalle Singapore. He started his first solo noise performance in 2014 in Yangon, and is now channeling his energies into helping Yangon develop a stronger noise and experimental music scene. Most of his work and research focus on the experimental music scene in Southeast Asia, while his further studies are in audio networking and surround-sound mixing technologies. He is currently working as a classical recording engineer and foley artist. His first noise track released overseas was in the compilation Not Your World Music: Noise In South East Asia.
Nguyen Thanh Thuy (Hanoi)
Nguyen Thanh Thuy (Hanoi) Nguyen Thanh Thuy is a leading đan tranh player / improviser in both traditional and experimental music. She was born into a theater family and was raised with traditional Vietnamese music from an early age in Hanoi. She studied at the Hanoi Conservatory of Music and started working with new music since 2000, collaborating with many musicians and composers around the world. She has received many distinctions and has recorded several CDs as soloist with orchestra and solo CDs. Since 2012 she is carrying out an artistic doctoral project at the Malmö Academy of Music concerned with gesture in traditional Vietnamese music.
Otomo Yoshihide (Tokyo)
Otomo Yoshihide (Tokyo) Musician, born in Yokohama, Japan in 1959. He is known for composing music for a wide variety of genres from experimental to pop and jazz music. He has received attention from all around the world for his different activities, including his successful career as a soundtrack composer for film and TV. In recent years he has been producing works for exhibitions and special types of concerts collaborating with various other artists under the name ENSEMBLES, while also focusing on unique public-participative projects as well. In 2012, after the Great East Japan Earthquake, he started in Fukushima, PROJECT FUKUSHIMA!, where he had spent his teenage years and received the Ministry of Education's Award for Fine Arts in the category of Promotion. Another of his many works, the theme music for the popular TV series Amachan, has received many honorable prizes, including the Best Composer Award for the Japan Record Award in 2013. In 2014, he launched ENSEMBLES ASIA with the Japan Foundation to create a stronger network through Asia woven by music.
Yii Kah Hoe (Kuala Lumpur)
Yii Kah Hoe (Kuala Lumpur) YII Kah Hoe is a Malaysian composer and Chinese dizi and xiao improviser. Yii was the winner of 11th BOH Cameronian Arts Awards (Malaysia, 2014), the winner of Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra Forum for Malaysian Composers (Malaysia, 2007), the 3rd Prize in the International Composition for Chinese Orchestra (Singapore 2006), the finalist of International Composers Competition Città di Udine (Italy, 2010). Yii has been recognized as one of the major voices among Southeast Asian composers of his generation. Yii's music is perceived as bold and avant-garde with his works using sounds and rhythms of many traditional instruments from various ethnic cultures. The sensitivity of space that Yii mastered as a fine art artist in his younger years is evident in his music. In the fall of 2015, Yii was the Scripps Erma Taylor O'Brien Distinguished Visiting Professor at Scripps College in Claremont. Yii engaged in music education and the organization of a contemporary music collective, concerts and a festival in Kuala Lumpur, contributing intellectually and socially in the field. Yii was the festival director of Kuala Lumpur Contemporary Music Festival 2009, the festival director of SoundBridge festival 2013, the president of Society of Malaysian Contemporary Composers (2014 - 2016) and a senior lecturer at SEGi College Subang Jaya, Malaysia since 2000.
Yuen Chee Wai (Singapore)
Yuen Chee Wai (Singapore) Born in 1975. Musician, artist, designer based in Singapore. Often inspired by ideas drawn from philosophical and literary texts, and perspectives glimpsed through the filmic eye and photographic lens, Yuen's stylistic oeuvre in improvised music is marked by internalised reflections on memory and loss, invisibility and indeterminacy. In 2008, he teamed with Otomo Yoshihide (Japan), Ryu Hankil (South Korea), and Yan Jun (China) to form FEN (Far East Network). FEN focuses on the continuing multifaceted networks and collaborations between Asian countries. Since its inception in 2014, Yuen is part of Ensembles Asia as Project Director for Asian Music Network, to which he co-curates the annual Asian Meeting Festival (AMF) in Japan. He is also a member of the avant-rock band The Observatory (Singapore), with whom he plays guitar, synth and electronics. With nine albums to date, including the most recent August is the cruellest (2016), The Observatory has also conceived a vanguard of initiatives such as the annual festival Playfreely, which gives artists new creative avenues for performing and working together. Both FEN and The Observatory continue to tour extensively, performing in Europe, America and Asia regularly, and has presented in MIMI Festival, Lausanne Underground Music and Film Festival, All Ears Festival and Ftarri Festival.

Special Guest

Keiji Haino
Saturday, Sep 23 Sapporo Art Park, Large Practice Room
Keiji Haino Born in 1952 in Chiba. Inspired by Antonin Artaud, he had initially aimed for the theatre, but an encounter with The Doors stimulated him into music, where he examined and absorbed an extremely wide range of music from early blues, especially Blind Lemon Jefferson or European medieval music, to popular songs across the world. In 1970 he joined Lost Aaraaf, named after Edgar Allan Poe's poem, as a vocalist. Meanwhile, he started to work on home recordings and was self-taught on the guitar and percussions. In 1978 he formed the rock band Fushitsusha, and that opened up a completely new, powerful and profound dimension in hard rock. Since 1988, after a recuperation period from 1983 to 1987, he has been active internationally in various forms which include solo, units such as Fushitsusha, Nijiumu, Aihiyo, Seijaku, Vajra, Sanhedrin, Nazoranai and Hardy Soul, DJ as "experimental mixture", as well as sessions and collaborations with artists from numerous different backgrounds. He draws performance to the extremes, using the guitar, percussions, the hurdy gurdy, diverse wind and string instruments, local instruments from across the world and DJ gear. Through keen physicality and unique techniques, he delivers incomparable sound that is full of shamanism without transcendency, as well as raging intelligence and awareness. He has released more than 170 recordings and performed live at least 1,500 times with countless musicians including Loren Connors, Barre Phillips, Derek Bailey, Lee Konitz, Misha Mengelberg, Rashied Ali, Kang Tae Hwan, Kan Mikami, Kazuki Tomokawa, Motoharu Yoshizawa, Tatsuya Yoshida, Tori Kudo, Reiko Kudo, Chisato Yamada and Gozo Yoshimasu.
Oren Ambarchi
Sunday, Sep 24 Sapporo Art Park, Large Practice Room
Oren Ambarchi Oren Ambarchi's works are hesitant and tense extended song forms located in the cracks between several schools: modern electronics and processing; laminal improvisation and minimalism; hushed, pensive songwriting; the deceptive simplicity and temporal suspensions of composers such as Morton Feldman and Alvin Lucier; and the physicality of rock music, slowed down and stripped back to its bare bones, abstracted and replaced with pure signal. From the late 90's his experiments in guitar abstraction and extended technique have led to a more personal and unique sound-world incorporating a broader palette of instruments and sensibilities. Ambarchi has performed and recorded with a diverse array of artists such as Fennesz, Charlemagne Palestine, Sunn 0))), Thomas Brinkmann, Keiji Haino, Alvin Lucier, John Zorn, Manuel Gottsching/Ash Ra, Merzbow, Jim O'Rourke, Keith Rowe, Akio Suzuki, Phill Niblock, John Tilbury, Richard Pinhas, Evan Parker, crys cole, Fire! and many more.

Since 2001 Ambarchi has toured Europe, North America and Japan regularly and has performed at major festivals such as ATP (UK), Sonar (Spain), Mutek (Canada), CTM (Germany), INA GRM (France), Roskilde (Denmark), Etna Fest (Italy), Festival De Mexico (Mexico) and many more including a recent live collaboration with the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra at the Tectonics festival in Reykjavik. His acclaimed trio with Keiji Haino and Jim O'Rourke performs in Tokyo annually with many of their concerts documented on Ambarchi's Black Truffle label. Ambarchi has released numerous recordings for labels such as Touch, Editions Mego, Drag City, PAN, Southern Lord, Kranky and Tzadik. His release Quixotism was listed in The Wire magazine's top 50 releases of 2014 and that same year Pitchfork named him Experimental Artist Of The Year.

His latest release is Hubris and features crys cole, Mark Fell, Arto Lindsay, Jim O'Rourke, Keith Fullerton Whitman and Ricardo Villalobos amongst others.

Guest

DJ-SPEEDFARMER
Thursday, Sep 14 UTERO
DJ-SPEEDFARMER DJ-SPEEDFARMER is a solo project by Kokura-based NAKAMURA TOYOMI since 2000. He explores a freeform music through noisy improvisations using turntables and records.
DORAVIDEO
Thursday, Sep 14 UTERO
Yoshimitsu Ichiraku Friday, Sep 15 Fukuoka Asian Art Museum
DORAVIDEO Developed by Yoshimitsu Ichiraku, DoraVideo is a computer system controlling drums, as well as a solo moniker of his. Having suffered from waist pain, Ichiraku stopped drumming and restarted his music career when Tkrworks released DORAnome, a real-time remixing instrument of music / image. Unlike the music from other musical instruments, Ichiraku's compositions are an expression of unique music techniques fused around with his own ideas. With DoraVideo, Ichiraku is well received in rock music, jazz, media art, film and art festivals worldwide. In 2005, he was nominated by the digital music department where he won the Honorary Mention in Ars Electronica. In June 2007, he was invited to participate in La Biennale di Venezia, and also attended the World Expo in Spain on behalf of Japan in August 2008. In 2009, he took part in the performance of SMAP x SMAP. In the field of new media art, Ichiraku's works sometimes incorporate common, coarse, and even vulgar entertainment. Currently, with the instruments sponsored by Vestax and Cacio, he is developing a new work called DORAnome3.
Hajime Yoshida
Thursday, Sep 14 UTERO
Hajime Yoshida Born in 1970, Hajime Yoshida is the guitarist and vocalist of rock band PANICSMILE, which formed in 1992. Since 2013, he moved to Fukuoka and has worked as the booking manager for live house UTERO. Other than PANICSMILE, he plays in bands such as Marukin, Okumura Yusuke & Not Sports, Shiranuga. He is also active in improvisational projects such as Okubo-T & Waku Waku Food Court, Bausonars, Akamushi, and he releases from his own label Headache Sounds.
Shogo Takenaga
Thursday, Sep 14 UTERO
Shogo Takenaga Since he bought his first CDJ-50 when he was 17, Shogo Takenaga has been obsessed with the stuttering sounds it makes when the pause button is pushed. Later on, he was inspired by a noise performance his band shared the bill with and started to perform with the CDJ. In parallel to actively performing solo, he formed the Denshi-Takujo Ongakudan in 2001 and Deshi-Takuan in 2009. Since 2007, he has been responsible for music venue Fuji in Omuta, and has hosted countless artists domestically and internationally.
Kayu Nakada
Tuesday, Sep 19 METRO
Kayu Nakata Born in Tokyo, 1980. Kayu Nakada graduated from Senzoku Gakuen College of Music Composition department. His composition methodology consists of allowing the circuitry of the synthesizer and the circuit board of a rhythm box short circuit in real time, a technique that views circuit bending as a metaphor of a prepared piano. He moved to Osaka in 2016 and is currently a running member for the art space FIGYA.
Takafumi Okada
Tuesday, Sep 19 METRO
Takafumi Okada Takashi Okada leads his band THE NOUP on vocals and playing drums and synthesizer. Since 2017, he joined the band Goat as drummer and percussionist. His solo project under his own name is minimal electronic music made with analog synthesizers. He also organizes DIY events called NOUP PARADE and various film screenings.
YOSHIMIO
Tuesday, Sep 19 METRO
YOSHIMIO YOSHIMIO is an original member of one of the world's most radical experimental music group BOREDOMS from Japan. While Yoshimi is known as a drummer, she is a multi instrumentalist who also plays guitar, keyboard, trumpet, and using her own voice. She is also the leader of the experimental band OOIOO, a member of Free Kitten with Kim Gordon (ex-Sonic Youth), and her latest band called Saicobab - a spiraling grind raga core band that uses electronics mixed with an ancient numerological music method. Yoshimi has contributed to innumerable session works and participated in many musical adventures outside of her usual projects. She created an original score for the abstract documentary film Yunnan Colorfree and has written music for TV commercials under the name YOSHIMIO. Yoshimi is truly a multi-disciplinary artist. Besides music, Yoshimi is the head designer / creative director for the fashion line Emeraldthirteen. With her creative work in music at the base, she projects authenticity in her entire vision. Whether she is projecting her voice, channeling the characteristic vibrations of an instrument, or designing clothing, Yoshimi propels a primeval expression with vivid color cohabiting space between many dimensions without force, to create a devotedly multidimensional sensitivity to forge a non-discriminate expression, harnessing the inherent force propelling from herself and the mediums she uses to create.
YTAMO
Tuesday, Sep 19 METRO
YTAMO YTAMO (Ryoko Araki) is a Japanese musician. She was born in Shiga and now based in Kyoto. At the age of five she started learning the piano, painting and ceramic art. As a result, her productions, performances and any other of creations show a high level of originality. Her latest album MI WO was released by Someonegood (ROOM40) on 18 March 2016 in Australia.
Arakawa Atsusi
Thursday, Sep 21 Sendai Mediatheque
Arakawa Atsusi Born in Miharu-cho,Fukushima. After university he moved to Koriyama Fukushima and formed the band Redd Temple. In 2013 he set up the rehearsal studio "studio tissue ★ box" in Koriyama and it quickly became an important gathering point for many musicians touring past the Fukushima area. He was fascinated by the encounters with a variety of music and people and that eventually led to him developing his own style of playing the guitar and viola, both in improvisation and in his band. He currently plays in ReddTemple, lasnotrikalkulo, jamps and spinks.
Koji Shibuya
Thursday, Sep 21 Sendai Mediatheque
Koji Shibuya Koji Shibuya was born in Hokkaido, 1970. After editing zines, he aspired to become a poet but abandoned that dream soon after. He moved to Sendai in 1994 and started his activities in music. He formed his group Yumbo in 1998. Yumbo has released four albums with all songs written and composed by Shibuya. Other than Yumbo and playing solo, Shibuya has played in MaherShalal Hash Baz, and has collaborated with Tenniscoats and Hiromichi Hosoma (kaerumoku) in live performances.
Momo
Thursday, Sep 21 Sendai Mediatheque
Momo Momo originally from Sendai formed her band TADZIO in 2010. In 2011 they released their first album from P-Vine, which was critically acclaimed for their rock, hardcore, and garage rock sensibility. That same year they played with Hair Stylistics (Masaya Nakahara) at Fuji Rock Rookie A Go-Go. Since then they have been covered by UK's SPINE TV and invited to play at the FAR EAST FILM FESTIVAL in Italy, JAPANfestival Thailand, and have toured Korea and Australia. After releasing their 2nd album in 2014 and a 7 inch in 2015, TADZIO disbanded in 2016. From 2017 onwards Momo plays solo, often under the moniker of NASA.
U-zhaan
Thursday, Sep 21 Sendai Mediatheque
U-zhaan U-zhaan studied tabla with Anindo Chatterjee and Ustad Zakir Hussain. From 2000 he joined ASA-CHANG & Junrei and released four albums including Hana and Human with no shadow. He left ASA-CHANG & Junrei in 2010 and released Kawagoe Rendevous, Mr. Morning Night as U-zhaan × rei harakami from his own website. He has also released three albums from his site as "salmon cooks U-zhaan." He has played tabla on numerous artists' work including Yanomami, Tavito Nanao, UA, HIFANA, Ohashi trio, Tetsuya Komuro. In 2011, he published Mumbai Now, which is a collection of his tweet during his stay in India in 2010 and it became a best seller. In 2013, Mumbai Now 2 was published.
Yuji Katsui
Saturday, Sep 23 Sapporo Art Park, Large Practice Room
Yuji Katsui Yuji Katsui is recognized as a pioneer for pushing the boundaries and exploring new possibilities of the electric violin through various bands and projects such as: ROVO, KOMA, TWIN TAIL, Katsui Yuji x U-zhaan, and FISHMANS. He moved to the UK to take on the role as Sound Director for the exhibition Visions of Japan at Victoria Albert Museum as part of the 1991-1992 Japan - UK Festival. After returning to Japan, he organized one of the first rave parties in Japan called Water. In 1996, he formed ROVO with Seiichi Yamamoto. With a unique style of dance music played by a band, ROVO lead the alternative music and outdoor festival scene in Japan that developed during the late 1990's. After collaborating with Juana Molina and Fernando Kabusacki in 2002, he has continued to have active exchange with the new music coming out of Argentina. In 2009 he played with Steve Hillage on psychedelic rock band GONG's 40th anniversary album 2032. Since then he has played on releases by SYSTEM 7 and in 2013 released Phoenix Rising LP under ROVO and SYSTEM 7. Between 2013-14 they actively toured Asian and Europe and played at Fuji Rock Festival'14. In 2016, ROVO released XI (Eleven) to celebrate their 20th anniversary.
Ryoji Hojito
Saturday, Sep 23 Sapporo Art Park, Large Practice Room
Ryoji Hojito Ryoji Hojito is an improvisational pianist living in Sapporo. Since around 1990, he developed a unique style of improvising by incorporating small objects such as empty cans, Styrofoam, scrap wood, and toys. When he was invited by Nicolai Dmitriev to play in Russia he recieved high praise, which later lead to playing in festivals in Russia, Germany, Finland, and Lithuania. While based in Sapporo he is active playing in other regions in Japan collaborating with local and international artists. Since 2000, he has been exploring the endless and spiritual possibilities in playing completely improvised duo sets with artist such as Koichi Makigami (voice), Liudus Mockunas (reeds), Tomo Yamaguchi (percussion), and Hugues Vincent (cello). Recently he has toured and recorded in France, Switzerland, and Germany and also has revisited Vilnius, Lithania to collaborate with local musicians.
Nonoko Yoshida
Saturday, Sep 23 Sapporo Art Park, Large Practice Room
Nonoko Yoshida Nonoko Yoshida was born in 1987 in Hokkaido, Japan. She studied classical piano from the age of three, and began playing the saxophone as her main instrument at age 10. In 2006, she moved to New York where she experienced a life-changing encounter with John Zorn, Ned Rothenberg and the Downtown Music Scene. Since then, she has been learning music in streets from the underground musicians themselves, attending concerts, rehearsals, recording and mastering sessions, and seeing the mechanics of making music first hand. Her band project SSSS (Super Seaweed Sex Scandal) played at Moers Festival in Germany in 2010 and had their first Europe tour. Her band project Pet Bottle Ningen has toured Japan four times and released two albums from Tzadik Label. Her collaboration includes Cyro Baptista's Banquet of the Spirits, and Ron Anderson's PAK with Yoshida Tatsuya. She has been working on sax solo project, released solo album Lotus from her own label, and toured Canada in 2014. She moved back to Japan in December 2015.
Ikuro Takahashi
Sunday, Sep 24 Sapporo Art Park, Large Practice Room
Ikuro Takahashi Ikuro Takahashi is a Japanese drummer and percussionist. He has been a central member of many groups from the Tokyo psychedelic underground from the early eighties. Some of the groups he has played with include High Rise, Kousokuya, Maher Shalal Hash Baz, Fushitsusha, Ché-SHIZU, Nagisa ni te, LSD March, Gu-N, and Akebonoizu. In recent years he has played under the name Anoyondekigoto, frequently a duo unit with his partner, the dancer Yoko Muronoi.
shimettainu
Sunday, Sep 24 Sapporo Art Park, Large Practice Room
shimettainu Shimetta-Inu is a feedback duo by Aputo and Taichi Furudate. They create uniquely distorted rhythms by feeding-back the internal mixer of a classic drum machine and utilises noise and glitches created by directly touching cables. While reflecting on their influences from noise and techno, they also find joy in the unpredictability of feedback and the oddities, harshness, and sometimes humor it creates by chance. As their name suggest, they are moist (Shimetteiru).
TENTENKO
Sunday, Sep 24 Sapporo Art Park, Large Practice Room
TENTENKO TENTENKO is born 1990, August 27 in Sapporo. She is 142 cm tall. She joined BiS in 2013, but after their breakup in 2014 she went independent. In 2016, she signed a management deal with TOY'S FACTORY / MIYA TERRACE. She has been described as a multifaceted avant-garde artist who embodies the indie spirit of Japan that has developed since the 90's. Her works freely moves between mainstream and underground, morning to midnight, appearing on TV shows, playing pop to industrial, and presenting no limits to what she can do. In August 2016, she release dher first digital single Hokago Sympathy. In December 2016, she released her first mini album Kogyoseihin. Her versatile musical talent deserves notice.