Ikue was due to perform a 4 night residency at Cafe OTO this September 2020, but due to coronavirus had to be rescheduled to some time next year. In its place she's very kindly put together this selection of new work, all made at home on her own. In it, collected samples and concurrent keyboard lines are projected like aural holograms of dreams shot through crystal. Elapsed drum patterns and gurgling digital electronics emerge and scatter themselves in a haze of tropical music concrete, before wandering into melodic patterns and glimpses of songs. Ikue says "this is where I’m in right now, being home my own" - and its clear she has formed a natural symbiosis with her laptop during this time; conjuring thick synthetic clouds of thoughts, feelings and dreams for listeners to swim through.
Tracklisting:
1 - midnight aquarium [5:56]
2 - seventh dwarf [2:50]
3 - imaginary codes [2:18]
4 - room #2 fairies [4:36]
5 - more fairies [3:23]
Ikue Mori left Tokyo for New York in 1977, began playing the drums and soon formed the legendary No Wave band DNA with Arto Lindsay and Tim Wright, appearing on the highly influential compilation No New York.
DNA dissolved in the early 80s and Mori began experimenting with drum machines, developing a singular improv style with an instrument people rarely associate with instant composition. As her technique evolved, she moved onto working with a laptop around 2000.
Over the past 3 decades, Mori has accrued an impressive reputation as an improvisor, testified by her stellar cast of collaborators, including John Zorn, Kim Gordon, Jim O’Rourke, Zeena Parkins, Mike Patton, Thurston Moore and an impressive discography courtesy of labels such as Tzadik and Mego. She regularly performs with Parkins as the duo Phantom Orchard and in various combinations with Zorn, and is a member of the trio Death Ambient with Fred Frith and Kato Hideki.
Over 3 decades since her first impact on avant garde music, Ikue Mori’s influence on musical explorers of all generations is still profound.
“Ikue Mori is one of the most respected musicians in the downtown scene, renowned for her abilities as an accomplished composer and improviser and as one of the foremost electronic music innovators” (allmusic)
