Wednesday 17 June 2015, 8pm
Tokyo-based guitarist Junzo Suzuki makes a welcome return to OTO. Perhaps best known for his involvement in the underground psych bands Overhang Party and Miminokoto, his solo music is stripped down form of 'ghost' blues and improvisation that recalls Loren Connors and his fellow countryman Hisato Higuchi.
“Some of [Suzuki's] convulsive six-string punctuation touches on the ferocious folk-poetry of Kan Mikami but there’s also a ton of exquisitely dilated space which Junzo navigates with endless interlocked webs of chiming six-string guitar that’s the equal of Christina Carter or Hisato Higuchi. His vocals touch on the more quizzical, breathy style of Keiji Haino and the tracks feel like they plot the vaguest contours of folk-blues logic before piloting deeper into increasingly unanchored explorations of single notes and sudden machine gun retorts isolated in dark, black space.” – Volcanic Tongue
Junzo Suzuki is a Japanese guitarist/vocalist perhaps best known for his involvement in the underground psych bands Overhang Party and Miminokoto. His solo music is stripped down form of 'ghost' blues and improvisation that recalls Loren Connors and his fellow countryman Hisato Higuchi.
His second full length CD 'Buried Sky, Spider Torn to Pieces' was released on Junzo's own Plunk's Plan label. He also performs with 20 Guilders, Nasca Car, Pouring High Water and Samm Bennett's Ghost Steppers.
Grimm Grimm musical project by London-based composer, recording artist, and producer Koichi Yamanoha, originally from West Tokyo, Japan. His music blends experimental pop elements with futuristic lyricism, weaving music box-like timeless melodies with ethereal soundscapes and electric textures.
Throughout his releases, Yamanoha has explored different nuances within his style. He incorporates a contemporary sound while drawing inspiration from baroque folk and 18th-century English 'infinite canons' forms, where repetitive patterns create an endless, cyclical feel. The melodies, often lingering at the end of his songs, echo like nursery rhymes—prayer-like motifs that invite listeners into a meditative, trance state. He has collaborated with a diverse range of artists, producers and labels —including ATP Recordings, Café Oto, Josephine Foster, Laetitia Sadier, Marta Salogni, Kevin Shields, Klein, and Hideo Kojima—through which his work has become firmly rooted in the experimental and avant-garde music scenes, as well as in the worlds of film and video game soundtracks. — Helen Clifford
