Today’s Music & Updates — nehan, Swans, Lilac Angel
This is a wild concept and performance by nehan, a recently founded Japanese improv group. I gave this a look / listen earlier this afternoon and while it’s a slow burn sound wise, the intro and presentation is altogether fascinating. It’s like junkyard neuro-jazz with a rock outro.
From Drag City:
“The debut record from nehan (an evening with nehan) is a technical feat that borders science fiction: led by Masaki Batoh (Ghost, The Silence), the avant-garde rock quintet improvises each performance off the rhythm of a 9hz brain wave emitted from a test subject in a deep hypnosis. Batoh — who's also an acupuncturist — had the idea for a machine that could generate sonic data based on brain waves back in 2010. He used this machine to record the 2012 album Brain Pulse Music before forming nehan in August 2022 to fully explore the concept.”
The album, an evening with nehan, is releasing 1/26 via Drag City.
Links:
Drag City: https://www.dragcity.com/artists/nehan
Pre Order: https://www.dragcity.com/products/an-evening-with-nehan
Stream "ocean side (edit)”: lnk.to/nehan
Got my tickets.
Swans is playing at Union Transfer on 4/13, touring in support of 2023’s The Beggar.
I had the pleasure of seeing Swans perform when Michael Gira and Co. were touring for The Seer. Annihilative artistry. I won’t lie and say that Swans gigs aren’t something to endure at times, but witnessing that ensemble generate cycles of their brand of humongo-drone terror was a privilege.
Straggler from 2023…
A member of the Arizona-based noise-rock band Lilac Angel reached out to me about the band’s five-song EP called I Try Human. Caught it a little late, so it slipped off the radar. If your tastes lean toward noise rock bands with an amplified emotional core like Unwound and Sunny Day Real Estate, I’d give this a EP a shot.
Bandcamp: https://lilac-angel.bandcamp.com/album/i-try-human
Sincerely,
