What: Japanese legend Phew performs a voice-only set in celebration of the release of her new album. Violinist Laura Ortman opens.
When: Monday, May 21, 2018
Where: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
Cost: $25 Door, $20 Online
Info: www.roulette.org / (917) 267-0368
Brooklyn, NY – Mingling electronics and extended vocals, Phew performs a set at Roulette in celebration of the release of her new Mesh Records album, Voice Hardcore. Phew has been a pioneer of pop and avant-garde music for nearly 40 years. Her early albums have been cited as among the “Greatest Albums of Japanese Rock ‘n’ Roll,” and her Osaka post-punk band Aunt Sally was inspired by the Sex Pistols. Voice Hardcores was recorded in eight hours over three days in Phew’s Tokyo bedroom, and she’s described the project to Pitchfork as “an attempt to make new reverberations that I have never heard before using only my body.” Violinist Laura Ortman opens.
Phew’s career began in the late 1970s as lead singer of Osaka punk group Aunt Sally (whose only full-length was released by Vanity Records in 1979). Ryuichi Sakamoto produced her first solo release in 1980, a two-song single, and in 1981 Pass Records released her debut album, a bonafide classic recorded with original Can members Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit at Conny Plank’s studio in Germany. She has forged a singular path over the past thirty-plus years, collaborating with folks from DAF, Einstürzende Neubauten, Boredoms, Anton Fier, Bill Laswell and more. Her early albums have been cited as among the “Greatest Albums of Japanese Rock ‘n’ Roll,” while her most recent albums, Voice Hardcore and Light Sleep, have received critical acclaim, finding her breaking new ground and staying at the forefront of fresh electronic and vocal music.
Laura Ortman (White Mountain Apache) is a Brooklyn-based composer, musician, and artist. She produces solo albums, live performances and film/art soundtracks and frequently collaborates with artists in film, music, art, dance, multi-media, activistism and poetry, such as Tony Conrad, Jock Soto, Raven Chacon, Nanobah Becker, Okkyung Lee, Martin Bisi, Caroline Monnet, Michelle Latimer, Raphaele Shirley and Martha Colburn.
Lineup:
Phew – Voice, Electronics
Laura Ortman – Violin, Electronics