Toshimaru Nakamura & Sachiko M - do
(Erstwhile)
A mixing board with functionless inputs; a sampler emptied of all but its test sine sounds. In less
able hands, these elements wouldn't add up to much. Nor should they. But Toshimaru Nakamura and
Sachiko M, working in various solo, duo, and group settings, have developed the responsiveness and
instincts required to transform such self-imposed instrumental limitations into powerful musical
means. do follows un, an earlier duo encounter released on Japan's Minimalism-minded meme label. Where
un was an enjoyable and disarmingly tuneful set, do immediately throws down the gauntlet. The two
brief pieces that close the disc are actually very much in the un vein of crackle and looped feedback
whistles, but the 36:34 centerpiece is something else altogether. Sachiko M's sine pierces through
during the opening moments, sounding as indomitable as a diamond drill bit. Deft modulations focus its
intensity to a hard, laser-like pinpoint, which Sachiko M trains mercilessly upon Nakamura's broken
mixing board. Rather than recoil, Nakamura faces the sine wave's white-hot glare with steeled
concentration, absorbing its cauterizing heat into his mixer. He shapes Sachiko M's sine sound into
an equally formidable dueling device, using specialized techniques of feedback manipulation to forge
sine into sound-sword. Thus armed, Nakamura and Sachiko M engage each other in one of the most
extraordinary electro-acoustic duels caught on record to date. Nakamura refracts most of the sine
onslaught, soaking up into a broken stream of crackling digital noise what he can't deflect. In turn,
Sachiko M alters her waveform tactics to circumvent Nakamura's comparatively passive counter-attack.
The sine sounds become more insinuating, seducing their way through the absorbent barrier of
Nakamura's mixer, even as its output mutates under steady fire from her frequency fusillade. Perhaps
the most extraordinary element of do, however, is the impact of the third-party listener. While
Nakamura and Sachiko M wage war, you're able to affect the outcome. But it's not enough to move
around and bounce sound off your body. Participation in do is a matter of perception and focus. Your
level of concentration lends strength to one side or the other, fortifying Nakamura's sonic barricade
or directing Sachiko M's sine battering. The opportunity for such direct personal investment makes it
hard not to get swept up in the excitement of the battle.
Their particle-wave skirmishes outshine all similar efforts, and ultimately establish a new paradigm for interactive
improv.
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