atsuhiro-ito live at Capsule

Capsule gig at vivid in Birmingham 10-03-2010

atsuhiro-ito-4, originally uploaded by nunuboogie.

Birmingham local Nic Bullen, former member of Napalm Death quietly set up a small table covered with effects pedals and an array of knobs and switches, surrounded by a number of microphones on stands. He started unannounced, and at first it was hard to tell whether the muffled breathing was preparation or he had started his vocal performance. He began to loop phrases and slowly assembled eerie soundscapes that gradually developed into disturbing noise textures rapidly peaking just before they became uncomfortably unbearable, the surge of noise reminded me of music being played backwards. He became extremely animated as he rocked and doubled up squeezing strange vocal and nasal noises into the microphone which became strangely mesmerising as though watching someone fit, then relief as he abruptly halted all noise, breathing deeply into the microphone, before he would start the process again.

The highlight of the evening was Japanese born Atsuhiro-ito, a performance artist whose music has become an essential part of his work. The set up consisted of an electrical extension lead, sampler and a fluorescent light tube also known as an Optron, which he held and played in a way that resembled an electric guitar. At times he balanced on one leg with the other bent almost in a yoga position while somehow managing to sporadically tap his bare foot on the effects pedals. It didn’t turn out to be the Intense flashing experience that I was anticipating; he was able to manipulate the tube so that it admitted light varying in spectrum from an orange to blue, according to the sensitivity / intensity of the sounds formed. The performance not only sounded electronic but also had an industrial feel and I found myself nodding along to the beats which strangely resembled the sound a light sabre would generate, it was easy to imagine I was witnessing a battle between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker. He attempted an encore but unfortunately the optron failed and all that was heard was Atsuhiro-ito saying ‘broken’