Much aube-liged

Early music by Japanese sound sculptor

Even though he's really a noise manipulator, Japanese artist Akifumi Nakajima would rather be called a sound sculptor and wants his pieces to work as designs as well. For almost exactly 15 years now, he has been active under the Aube-pseudonym and the radicality of his work has earned him quite a reputation. In stark contrast to his Japanese collegue Merzbow, who leans towards a harsh and brutal approach with references to eroticism and pornography, Nakajima searches for the beauty and regularity in the world around us. Most of his albums have been built from a single sound source, such as sounds from brain wave scans, small oscillators and others. This gives the compositions a delicate pureness and errects a new enviroment for them, in which they cease to be an accompaniment and instead become the focal point, the sun around which everything else centres. On the "luminous"-tape, he uses noises emitted by lamps to create the feeling of being alone in a dark room and the way this distorts the sound made by a single lamp. Water has been a special favourite of his and his primary inspiration in the early days. A perfect example of this is the aptly titled "Water 1990", originally released in a limited edition of 50 cassettes. Now, French label taalem have published the album anew as the second CD-R on their Kokeshidisc-sublabel. What's so remarkable about it, is the use of synthesizers, which give tracks a more regular structure and provide for lush ambiances and a finely tuned harmonic grounding. A perfect ambiant excursion and a relaxed introduction into the world of Aube.

Source: Interview with Aube
Homepage: Another very interesting Interview with Aube
Homepage: Taalem Records