Li Jianhong’s Japan Diaries, Day Four

by Ben

Speaking of Li Jianhong, here’s his account of the fourth day of his Japanese tour last year.

December 12, 2006
I first went to buy a transformer for my Boss ME-50 effects pedal. The electricity used in Japan is 110 Volts, so it’s not the same as in China.

Then I took my equipment and, accompanied by Marqido and itta, set off to find Zbigniew Karkowski. Before I left for Japan, Karkowski sent me a note inviting me to come and make a collaborative CD with him. He lives in Higashi-Nakano 東中野, not too far from Marqido’s place.

Today’s weather wasn’t so great, a nonstop drizzle. When we got to the Higashi-Nakano subway stop, we saw Karkowski waiting for us from far off, wearing a dark overcoat, looking cooler than I had seen him before! I’m very happy to have a chance to meet up with him while I’m in Japan.

His house isn’t very big either, but comfortably furnished. What made me happiest upon entering was something I hadn’t smelled in a long time: cigarette smoke, indicating I was free to smoke here. In a lot of places in Japan smoking is prohibited, so for two days I hadn’t had a proper smoke.

Karkowski grabbed a beer, and he offered us a wide choice of tea. I joined Karkowski in drinking beer, while Marqido and itta drank tea. Since there wasn’t enough recording equipment at Karkowski’s house, we didn’t record that day, so we made a date for the 18th after I returned from Osaka, when he could borrow a friend’s recording booth and we could record something together. So we spent the afternoon just chatting together. After beer, we turned to harder alcohol, so that by the time we left, my face was flushed deep red and I was feeling more than a little tipsy.

Karkowski gave me five of his CD’s, and we listened to a classical work of his that was recently performed in London. It was really great! He combined his laptop with string instruments to imposing effect; I might go so far as to say psychedelic. This was the first time I’d heard one of his classical pieces.

When we returned home the rain had stopped. In the evening, after we’d had a rest, we planned to head to Kichijōji 吉祥寺 to find something to eat and browse for second hand CD’s.

As we were leisurely strolling around, we discovered a shrine standing among the tall buildings, with all sorts of tomb steles made of wood and stone, uncannily peaceful and eerie amid the city’s noise and flashing neon lights. On the door was written “Cloud Cave Mountain Moon Window Temple,” and underneath was a series of inscriptions mentioning “Zen meditation club,” “aikido,” “tea ceremony,” “calligraphy club,” “tai chi,” etc. China also has a Cloud Cave Mountain, a tourist destination. But this place appears to be at least a place to rest and drink tea, if not a meditation center.

We browsed a few musical instrument shops and CD stores. We saw all the latest models of synthesizers, effect pedals, and the like. You’re welcome to play the instruments in the stores, and a lot of new equipment is plugged into speakers especially to allow people browsing in the shops to play. If you’re happy with what you hear and would like to buy an instrument, they’ll get out a brand new one for you, or if you don’t have money and just want to play, that’s also no problem. If you’ve got the time, you could easily spend a whole day in those instrument shops. In a second-hand CD store I uncovered a few soundtrack albums such as Natural Born Killers and From Dusk Till Dawn, and also some Yoko Ono 小野洋子. Everything was super cheap; each CD cost less than 20 RMB.

On our way back, we saw a few young people performing in the entryway to the Kichijōji subway station. There was traditional rock, Japanese punk, reggae, etc. Even though it was a winter night, the air was filled with the springtime scent of youth. Marqido said there are people performing here every night, so I said, great, let’s come back tomorrow and perform ourselves, so we can earn some tips to fund our trip to Osaka.




Li Jianhong’s EVP on ArtReview.com

by lawrence

‘EVP’, Li Jianhong’s piece for the China Power Station show at the Battersea power station, London last year, is currently available for online listening on the front page of the newly-overhauled, 2.0-savvy www.ArtReview.com. I wonder if Ou Ning is behind this.




2pi Festival 2007 – 5th Anniversary

by Dajuin

2pi Music Festival (二皮音樂節), the must-see, can’t-miss annual party extravaganza surveying the cutting edge of the Chinese experimental/laptop/sound art/noise scene, is celebrating its fifth anniversary on November 24, 2007 in Hangzhou.

“2pi”, pronounced “er pi”, stands for “The Second Skin,” the name of the record label operated by festival founder/organizer Li Jianhong.


Li Jianhong at 2pi Festival 2006


Torturing Nurse at 2pi Festival 2006

The event this year will run marathon-style from mid-afternoon all the way till midnight, with over a dozen sets featuring artists from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, and Australia.



Time: Nov. 24, 2007 (Saturday), 15:30 - 24:00
Venue: LOFT49
Address: 49, Hangyin Road, Gongshu District, Hangzhou

For complete GNO live coverage of last year’s 2pi Festival 2006 with photos and recordings, see here.

For more information, visit:

2pi Festival Official Site

Maps & Contact phone number

Facebook Group: 2pi Records

Last.fm

YouTube: search “2pi”




Li Jianhong’s Japan Diaries, Day Three

by Ben

December 11, 2006
At noon, the head of the PSF record label Hideo Ikeezumi 生悦住英夫 invited everyone for lunch. He’s such an ordinary looking, middle-aged man, completely contrary to my expectations. While eating we talked a bit about Chinese music, and he said he didn’t really care for Cui Jian 崔健. He asked me what kind of rock music I like, and I said I’ve always liked rock from the 60’s and 70’s. He smiled and said, “Me too!”

This Tokyo tour was arranged by PSF as a promotion for the Japanese re-release of D!O!D!O!D!’s “Ghost Temple.” Since in the end drummer Huang Jin 黄锦 [the other half of D!O!D!O!D!] didn’t come along on this trip, Hideo Ikeezumi said he’d like to put together a Japanese D!O!D!O!D! He originally called Tatsuya Yoshida 吉田達也 to be the drummer, but Tatsuya Yoshida was unavailable, so he arranged for Shoji Hano 羽野昌二 to collaborate with me. Hideo Ikeezumi said Shoji Hano was Japan’s best free jazz drummer. He’s made a lot of collaborative recordings with Peter Brötsmann, as well as with Derek Bailey. I recall that the Improvised Music from Japan website had an entry introducing his work. Also collaborating with us on this performance was Munehiro Narita 成田宗弘, a very important guitarist in the new wave of Japanese psychedelia. Together with bassist Asahito Nanjo 南条麻人, he founded the most famous group in this movement, High Rise. (And I’d like to put to rest the common misconception back in China that Asahito Nanjo has given up bass for guitar.)

To tell the truth, I’m really looking forward to tonight’s show. I’ve heard High Rise’s stuff, but I’ve never heard Munehiro Narita play solo, and now we have an opportunity to listen and learn from each other. Shoji Hano has also been renowned for a long time, so to have the chance for this kind of collaboration is certainly cool.

After eating, we went to the PSF label’s Modern Music CD store. This musical stronghold is already becoming quite legendary. I had heard it was small and crammed full of CD’s, but I didn’t imagine it would be this small and crammed this full; there wasn’t room for four or five people to turn around. The store stocks a full range of albums besides the PSF releases. There’s all kinds of early Japanese progressive rock, as well as every kind of experimental classical, jazz, etc. I finally saw that 50 CD Merzbow boxed set, a really thick box sitting in the corner of the room.

At Modern Music, there’s a strong feeling of being pressed for time. You really want to choose something, but you feel there’s no way of choosing. You want this one, but you also want to buy that one, and in your excitement, time swiftly slips through your hesitating fingers. Since we had to perform in the evening, we had no time to waste, so in the end, I didn’t buy anything. Hideo Ikeezumi gave me a copy of a live Fushitsusha 不失者 concert from 1991 on DVD and a G-Modern magazine. He also gave me a big pile of D!O!D!O!D! CD’s that he said was to sell at my concerts in Japan.

Sound check was at 4pm, and the venue was Showboat in Kōenji 高円寺, a renowned bastion of live performance in Tokyo. Upon entering, I saw Shoji Hano and Munehiro Narita already sound checking. Shoji Hano’s hair is grey, but his spirit is lively. When he speaks, you can see he’s really just an old rocker. Munehiro Narita is comparatively sedate and quiet. After introducing ourselves, we went on stage to try to make some noise, and the initial results weren’t bad.

In the evening, the first to perform was 10, comprised of Marqido and itta. 10 as always maintained their own kawaii direction, a kind of pop experimentalism. Their music is unpretentious and highly concentrated, but not extreme.

Next up was the Japanese version of D!O!D!O!D! with me and Shoji Hano. His drumming was always changing unpredictably, with lots of suspense, and since it was our first time playing together, I wasn’t playing as irascibly and extreme as back home. Between the two of us, we looked for ways to achieve a better synergy. The performance had some very good passages, as well as some transitions that didn’t come out smoothly. But overall, it was a very good improvised collaboration.

Next up was Munehiro Narita’s solo set, just as intoxicating as I expected. Each step he took was more daring, each layer more far out. His guitar had a strongly individualized timbre, imposing and threatening, a tightly integrated sound.

The last performance was a trio free improvisation with me, Shoji Hano, and Munehiro Narita. This time it felt more relaxed than our previous performance. As much as possible, I tried to distinguish my tone from Munehiro Narita’s. We also took turns soloing against each other, just like a rock concert, ha! For me, this was the evening’s most brilliant set.

Hideo Ikeezumi was also very happy. He said, “Today all three of you were really impressive; for your first time playing together, it wasn’t bad at all!” Then he gave me a few thousand yen for our late night snacks.

About 15-20 people attended the concert, more or less. Apparently, all over the world, the audience for avant-garde concerts is the same. Marqido said this wasn’t a bad turnout, and my albums were selling for 15000 yen, so I made a small fortune. I also bumped into a friend from Hunan. What are the odds of that?




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