Singleversity #63

Audiversity’s weekly column on music we stumble across during our sonic adventures. No random numbers, just straight audio goodness.

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Japan's Nisennenmondai are fairly well known in the Japanese underground noise scene and have been jamming together since they first formed at a Tokyo university in 1999. The trio have a new album coming out later this month on Oslo's Smalltown Supersound, but Neji/Tori is really just two older EPs put together with new artwork by Smalltown roster member Kim Hiorthøy. Thankfully, there are a handful of videos on YouTube that showcase the group in a live setting. My personal favorite: "Ikkkyokume" is a seven-minute jam that actually appears on both EPs in slightly different variations. This video is a full-on version from 2004 that quite aptly demonstrates the capabilities of the three ladies behind that wall o' sound.

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One of the bands Nisennenmondai has opened for during one of their Japanese tours is Audiversity favorite Battles. Probably the most recognizable character from that band is big-haired journeyman Tyondai Braxton, who went from being a promising avant-garde solo artist to being a critical element in one of the most unique bands of the decade. Battles hadn't even formed when Braxton released his third solo record in 2002, History That Has No Effect. "Hold Onto Distance" is probably one of the least abstract songs on the record, but it's clear that the challenging creativity that makes Battles so vital now was already ingrained in Braxton at that point. The chipmunk vocal tricks, on the other hand, still appear to be a little further off...