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Phew & Oren Ambarchi + Akiko NakayamaJP

Phew & Oren Ambarchi + Akiko Nakayama<sup>JP</sup>
Phew & Oren Ambarchi + Akiko NakayamaJP

Phew was a founding member of the legendary punk band Aunt Sally. After the band’s breakup in 1979, she continued her career as a solo artist, releasing a collaborative single with Ryuichi Sakamoto in 1980, and her first solo album, “Phew,” with Conny Plank, Holger Czukay of CAN, and Jaki Liebezeit in 1981. In 1992, her third album, OurLikeness, was released on MUTE, again at Conny’s studio, with Jaki Liebezeit of CAN, Alexander Hacke of Einstürzende Neubauten, and Chrislo Haas of DAF. Since the beginning of the 2010s, she has released a series of works that combine voice and electronic music, and has gained international recognition as an electronic artist. She has also released collaborative works with Ana da Silva (Raincoats), Seiichi Yamamoto (ex. Boadams), and others. In 2021 her latest album New Decade was released on Traffic/Mute. In 2022, two cassettes from the desktop punk unit 106 with Dowser N were released. In 2023, Our Likeness was reissued on Traffic/Mute.

Oren Ambarchi's works are hesitant and tense extended songforms located in the cracks between several schools: modern electronics and processing; laminal improvisation and minimalism; hushed, pensive songwriting; the deceptive simplicity and temporal suspensions of composers such as Morton Feldman and Alvin Lucier; and the physicality of rock music, slowed down and stripped back to its bare bones, abstracted and replaced with pure signal. From the late 90's his experiments in guitar abstraction and extended technique have led to a more personal and unique sound-world incorporating a broader palette of instruments and sensibilities.

Ambarchi has released numerous recordings for labels such as Touch, Editions Mego, Drag City, PAN, Southern Lord, Kranky and Tzadik. In 2003 his live release Triste received an honorary mention in the Prix Ars Electronica digital music category. In 2014, the year he released Quixotism, Pitchfork named him Experimental Artist Of The Year. His 2016 album Hubris and featured an astonishing cast of players including crys cole, Mark Fell, Arto Lindsay, Jim O'Rourke, Keith Fullerton Whitman and Ricardo Villalobos amongst others. Ambarchi's latest release is Shebang (Drag City) and features Chris Abrahams, Johan Berthling, BJ Cole, Sam Dunscombe, Jim O’Rourke, Julia Reidy, Konrad Sprenger and Joe Talia. He runs the Black Truffle label, which has over 90 releases to date.

Akiko Nakayama is a painter who depicts a beauty of conveying energy metamorphosis through several media such as installation, photography and performance. Combining the energy of movement and the vibrancey of colour, Akiko Nakayama brings pictures to life. Called “Alive Painting”, Akiko depicts the resonance between shapes and textures by using different types of liquids, each with a unique characteristic. In recent years, she has been energetically performing her “Alive Painting”, solo and collaborations at various events, including New ARS ELECTRONICA festival (2023), MUTEK Montreal (2019), Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Closing Ceremony.

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Links
akiko.co.jp/