'Onkyo' seems like as good a term as any. 'Electro-acoustic' is way too general and vague. 'Noise' is almost too specific or carries too much baggage within a certain generic frame of reference -- but at the same time is too general and vague as well. Most categories have these poles: you either whittle them down to such intricate specifics that they only apply to a tiny handful of artists, or you expand the meaning so that it could just about refer to anything. Otomo said he conceptualizes both too much and too little information as important aspects of his musical ventures. In that sense, it's all about extremes. It does run the risk of becoming an undifferentiated plane of immanence -- the catatonia of minimalism or the chaotic schizophrenization of maximalism. But he balances it well; he's a slim customer. 'Consume Red' is a monumental intensity -- enough repetition with subtle, microscopic variation, and also enough balls-to-the-walls insanity, to keep your sensorium busy as a beehive and your nerves crackling like a chorus of Schreberian birds. I'd like to think that with onkyo there is a concern for over-all form rather than just purely textured moments succeeding one another in unmotivated sequence. I've definitely felt it with Otomo. There are probably practitioners of the genre whose purism allows for no formal development. Or at least they won't admit that such development occurs in spite of them. --cormwate bob np: Messiaen - Des Canyons aux Etoiles

From: <jkudler@wesleyan.edu> To: <zorn-list@mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: onkyo Date: Tue, 29 Oct 2002 14:22:36 -0500

hey andy, i've seen "onkyo" used more and more lately, generally referring to a mostly japanese school of improvisors, like sugimoto, nakamura, etc. my understanding of the term (vaguely gleaned from several articles) is that it means sound as sound, as divorced from any symbolic or linguistic meaning. that could be totally wrong, though. it does seem like that term is generally used more to label a specific school or aesthetic than a genre or sound. not sure who popularized it, but i'm not aware of too many improvisors elsewhere that throw that term around.

there's an article on the signal to noise website about electro-acoustic improvisation from a year or two ago, and the author (gil gershman, list-member?) talks about naming that kind of stuff and, i believe, onkyo. http://www.signaltonoisemagazine.org/archives/7.html

you might also find some article or interviews poking around www.japanimprov.com

for what it's worth, jesse

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Message: 13 Date: Tue, 29 Oct 2002 08:54:01 -0600 (CST) From: James Miller <jam189@mizzou.edu> Reply-To: jam189@mizzou.edu To: zorn-list@mailman.xmission.com Subject: Otomo Yoshihide in St Louis

...

Anyway, does anyone know more about the 'onkyo' concept?

Andy

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