121 Ludlow
Second Floor, New York, NY, 10002
United States
Monday May 13th @ SPECTRUM
8PM show: http://ticketf.ly/17fpGfE
☰ Masaki Batoh —— of legendary Japanese psych band GHOST
☰☰ DJ Ning Nong (Heaven Street)
10PM show: http://ticketf.ly/11ueKrZ
☰ Masaki Batoh, with special volunteer 
☰☰ Driphouse
Masaki Batoh is the frontman of the prestigious Tokyo experimental band GHOST, and an acupuncturist by trade. BRAIN PULSE MUSIC is experimental bioelectric procedures that uses electronic and musical processes developed by Batoh to reconcile the spirit and the body. The project is the result of years of research into the bioelectric functions of the human brain combined with the traumatic aftermath of Japan’s Great East Earthquake.
See it in action:
| SPECTRUM |
121 Ludlow @ Rivington St | Lower East Side, Manhattan
JMZ-Essex, F-Delancey | 8pm | $12 adv $15 dos | all ages
http://dragcity.com/artists/masaki-batoh
http://spectrumnyc.tumblr.com
http://newspectrum.org
http://adhoc.fm
The Brain Pulse Music recordings (out 2/28/12 via Drag City) are the furthest incursion Batoh has made into the deep space and mystery of the human condition. The acoustic recordings are the purest expressions of his traditional folk influence that he has released in over twenty years of music-making, a deep and soulful expression intended to calm and aid in the healing of all around him.
“Human beings lie but their brain waves never lie.” – Masaki Batoh, 2012
BPM is the result of years of research into the bioelectric functions of the human brain combined with the traumatic aftermath of Japan’s Great East Earthquake.
When Batoh initially conceived the idea for this project, it was purely out of interest to realize music from extracted brain waves. There have been perform- ers in the past who have made similar claims, but they have utilized electric current, static electricity and blood flow volume in the brain. BRAIN PULSE MUSIC is contrived from brainwaves, in the purest sense of the word. Notes included in the album package further explain the science behind Batoh’s methods. Batoh’s intention was to create a machine, similar in function to an effects pedal, which would interface with the brainwaves in a therapeutic way allowing the user to make adjustments to normalize brain wave levels. This could prove to be an effective means of treating depression and anxiety disorder but could also help everyone else get their righteous heads together as well.
The album was to be made entirely of BPM machine music; the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011 altered this plan while emphasizing the importance of it’s deepest concern. The recording session was postponed as the studio was closed due to aftershocks that continued to shake the grounds of Tokyo. Scheduled blackouts and radioactive contamination forced residents to temporarily evacuate the city. Although Tokyo is some 230 km away from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant, radiation levels reached above 0.34μSV and placed the city under serious danger. Meanwhile, thousands of lives were lost, and the stricken northern regions of Japan were devastated.
Since that day, patients complaining of mental instability increased at Batoh’s acupuncture clinic, and people were ridden with anxiety. With his family still in evacuation as he concentrated on treating his patients, the concept of this album slowly began to come into focus. What was initially to be an austere demonstration of experimental bio-electric procedures was fully realized as part of Batoh’s ongoing effort to use electonic and musical processes to reconcile the spirit and the body.
All seven BPM tracks are a prayer/requiem. They are a “tamashizume” (a requies- cat) and “tamafuri” (reinvigoration of the withered soul) to the victims of the Great East Japan Earth- quake. Two pieces are composed of BPM machine recordings; the remaining five are rhythms and melodies commonly heard in religious rituals and provincial festivals using traditional Japanese instru- ments. This seems to have been a natural reaction for Batoh, considering these rituals were quite often carried out to appease gods thought to cause epidemics and disasters — for instance, the famous Gion and Aoi festivals held in Kyoto both originated as a purification ritual addressing the gods that bring about calamity upon the people.
The BPM recordings are the furthest incursion Batoh has made into the deep space and mystery of the human condition. The acoustic recordings are the purest expressions of his traditional folk influence that he has released in over twenty years of music-making, a deep and soulful expression intended to calm and aid in the healing of all around him. And so from the rubble of Japan’s damaged bodies and minds, the power of BRAIN PULSE MUSIC has emerged.
A concomitant objective of BPM is to donate the proceeds from the sales of the album to the disaster victims through Japan Red Cross.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.