18 sounds of Placard

[imomus]

(Photo: Jean Snow)

Yoyogi Park is cacophonous. Here's a list of some of the things that could be heard there while the Placard festival was happening this weekend:

Saturday
1. Rain. The Yoyogi Park part of the concert was cancelled and musicians were sent to a penthouse in Aoyama instead. We got there at 7pm hoping to hear Midori's set, but everybody was still setting up the gear. Later it turned out that Midori had been so tired by the time she'd walked from Yoyogi to Aoyama that she'd just gone home instead of playing. Luckily our trip wasn't wasted: next door was Comme Meets Colette, with an exhibition of the work of Genevieve Gauckler which matched Placard's playful spirit and its Paris connections.

Sunday
Sunday was sunny. The park was filled with the following sounds, in descending order of magnitude:
1. Pop basslines from an idol talent show in the nearby NHK Hall.
2. Semis whirring away as if their life depended on it.
3. A rock band in the Yoyogi bandstand.
4. The sound of the small Placard generator hidden behind the Placard tree, supplying electricity for computers and video monitors.
5. Crows cawing.
6. People practising musical instruments too loud to be played in their thin-walled apartments.
7. Some shockingly unambitious techno music which sounded like The Orb circa 1991.
8. Cheerful conversations in Japanese and English.
9. Not-so-distant fireworks.
10. The sound of Ludo and Valerie's baby Iannis (that's Iannis as in 'Iannis Xenakis') toddling and laughing.
11. Mosquitos flying towards human flesh.
12. Heaphone spill from Placard -- techno music which sounds like The Orb circa 1991. (Just kidding, guys!)
13. The high frequency cries of bats circling above the trees.
14. The sound of fire being juggled.
15. The sound of ants creeping through the grass and up my trouser leg.
16. The sound of my hard drive having trouble playing iTunes mp3s and Quicktime mp3s at the same time.

Oh, and mustn't forget:

17. The history-making sound of Jean Snow blogging. What does blogging sound like? Well, sort of ccccchhhhhrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyvvvvvvvvccccchhhhhhhkkkkk....

Comments

Sunday in Yoyogi

[jammypack.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed the set. I especially loved all the found sounds of Japan contrasted with sounds of other countries. I wish I could hear it again (and again). Will you be releasing anything like this in the near future?

[boof-boy.livejournal.com]

You're not by any chance reading the new Toop book Haunted Weather are you?

More photos of Placard Yoyogi

[imomus.livejournal.com]

Re: Sunday in Yoyogi

[imomus.livejournal.com]

That set was basically the Summerisle Horspiel (http://www.ubu.com/sound/momus.html) mixed with tracks from Summerisle (http://www.cherryred.co.uk/baroque/momusannelaplantine.htm), plus some medieval estampies and rare ethnographic field recordings of elderly Japanese people, plus some random drones and tones.

Re: More photos of Placard Yoyogi

[(Anonymous)]

'For lo, in the Garden of Gethsemane, before the Mac has glitched twice, one of you shall betray me...'

Vice versa?

[auto-appendix.livejournal.com]

The latter half of this makes interesting reading in light of your recent tryst with Gavin McInnes:
http://www.imomus.com/ongatekeepers.html
"Irony can only go so far. In the end, even recontextualised fascism is still fascism."

Re: More photos of Placard Yoyogi

[boof-boy.livejournal.com]

I love those apple logos in the dark.

Re: Vice versa?

[imomus.livejournal.com]

You know, I am questioning my involvement with Vice. Not because I suspect it of fascism, or even ironic fascism, but because I suspect it of Rockism. In other words, because I suspect that, like Canada, it might turn out to be incapable of, or hostile to, irony. Vice might turn out to side with sincerity over artifice, to subscribe to an ideology of respect for the authentic over respect for the plastic. Vice's style would be fine if it were really trollery or devil's advocacy. What disturbs me is when it's about 'keepin' it real', in the style of Gonzo journalism or Punk Rock. 'Keepin' it real' will never do, especially here in Japan. For example, Ryan McGinley's photos are seen as good because they're 'real'; they're 'him and his friends havin' a ball'. Vice articles are 'totally punk rock' because they 'tell it like it is' and 'speak the harsh but unacceptable truth'. Whereas I'm much more into making everything up. Several of my feature ideas for Vice were rejected for being insufficiently journalistic, too fictional. Then again, they were talking about employing Jayson Blair at one point, and Gavin did talk about moving in a more fictional direction by emphasising silly pseudonyms. Oh, wait, he talked about drawing attention to the fictional nature of the magazine by making the pseudonyms more obviously fake. But isn't that also a move towards sincerity?

Re: Vice versa?

[imomus.livejournal.com]

By the way, the same questions could be asked of Placard. When we take our computers out and play them under a tree, are we betraying their highly cultural, artificial character by trying to pass them off as 'natural'? Or are we taking them under a tree to show that, in the end, 'an Apple is not an apple'?

My Vice article on Laptop Girls (http://www.viceland.com/issues_au/v1n7/htdocs/leaf.php) looked at precisely this question and concluded that it would be silly to like the new feminine, organic electronica on labels like Leaf because it's close to nature (or, worse, because women are).

Re: Vice versa?

[(Anonymous)]

I don't really see the problem. Do you worry about betraying
the artificial character of an iPod by listening to mp3s
while lying under a tree? What about when reading a book
under the same tree?

Perhaps it's a matter of form factors and that even
the notebook format recalls the "office gesture" of
laptop performance?

Would something like the Vaio U series (http://www.jp.sonystyle.com/Style-a/Product/U/index.html) be better suited for this
kind of environment?

Re: Vice versa?

[lord-whimsy.livejournal.com]

Or are we taking them under a tree to show that, in the end, 'an Apple is not an apple'?

Sir Issac may have something to say about this, I'd wager (What inspirations might come should a Powerbook land upon our craniums? Perhaps the electrons released might whisper the unified theory in our ears out of pity?)

Looked like a lovely event, in any case; it is gratifying to see technology used to such an enchanting end.

W

New noodlings from another correspondent in Japan: Ian Masters

[lord-whimsy.livejournal.com]

From his recent project, the Institute of Spoons:

http://www.eat78rpm.co.uk/spoons/you-need-a-heart-to-b.mp3

is personal being authentic?

[klasensjo.livejournal.com]

One of the most appealing things with your blog is that it is so personal. Yet, isn't this, in some way, a form of authenticity? You do play with your character, yet Momus must be the core of what is you in some way. I guess there's no conflict or...?
It would be fun to have you and PJ Harvey discuss these things. Who's keepin' it real? Perhaps she would have a different take on it given the proper context. It may just be that the Mississippi delta, or wherever she's getting her inspiration from, is her parallell world...?

fun night

[nipporn.livejournal.com]

As I was hearing your set from the headphones and looking at the park at night, i was so happy that I came to this event. You have an ability to make your audience travel different time and place. Aaand I was so desperate for that escaping moment that week!! I wanted to thank you again.

Are you going to sing at the event in Shimokitazawa? I would really love to see you perform live!

Please say "hi" to Hisae. She was so sweet to let me sit with her.