There's no reason why I should be surprised to find anything on Bandcamp nowadays… and anyone who knows me even a little, in person or online, also knows what an avid ’camper I am. Still, I admit that I was pleasantly taken aback to find a respectable representation of a favorite artist whose work I'd never sought out on Bandcamp previously: Toshimaru Nakamura, sublime master of the no-input mixing board – seriously, Google "no-input mixing board" and his name is the top result.
What it means is that Nakamura connects a mixing board's output line to its input, then manipulates the feedback that results. He's one of the purest musical minds I've ever encountered, and a performer who has interacted fruitfully with Keith Rowe and David Sylvian. If those names don't mean anything to you, substitute "a really, really wide span of artistic temperaments."
Bandcamp doesn't have an overwhelming selection: many of Nakamura's essential recordings are absent because they're on labels that don't do downloads. Still, it's a decent fistful, ranging from early albums (No-Input Mixing Board [3] is a pretty good starting point) to his latest solo disc (No-Input Mixing Board #8, evidently issued in both April and September 2013), plus collaborative projects like his endearing, enduring duo with guitarist Tetuzi Akiyama.
Green Heights, an October release on the Baskaru label and apparently the newest Nakamura recording available through Bandcamp, finds him working alongside Ken Ikeda, whose work I'm aware of but don't know especially well, and Tomoyoshi Date, who's completely new to me. The first two tracks are tranquil and spacy, like alien lullabies. Things get itchier and more tactile during the next two tracks – "Balcony II" might be my favorite for the gentle, complementary unfolding of its constituent parts – before returning to the tranquility of the initial cuts for the end. Just lovely.
Here's a nice little video produced by Sylvian's Samadhisound label, in which Nakamura talks about his work and motivations, and you can see his grandmaster concentration in action.
Comments