Sunday 23 February 2020, 7.30pm
Always a pleasure to host another excellent line-up from Chinabot – a platform and collective created to change the dialogue surrounding Asian music.
"In 2017, a digital diaspora community, a multi-disciplinary label and network of Asian artists decided to cooperate on a new way to collect and promote exciting Asian music. We want to show a slice of what we like, the cultures we come from and our own ideas. We’re an online community and a virtual home celebrating the music that falls between the gaps -- a place for adventurous listening.
Chinabot is positioned at the junction point between the influence of Asian music on contemporary/traditional sounds, music outside the mainstream and the development of experimentation. We work with composers, sound artists, improvisers and musicians to develop projects that rearrange the furniture of the musical world. We want to question our assumptions about what music is and where it can go."
"A stellar beginning to a new project well worth keeping an eye on as it gathers speed" – The Quietus
The living Lumumbas is the project of Imran Khan and Damien (OS 125), the darker and more organic regions of inner space are explored via a slightly modified Sitar from Pakistan, effected stuff, assorted handmade percussion and electronics. drawing inspiration from oriental and industrial music evokes a bleak and troubled age that, ironically, can best be surmised as a post-apocalyptic era that we have as yet to arrive upon.
For this occasion Imran Khan will perform solo with his modified sitar and percussion.
Pak Yan Lau is a Belgian musician with roots from Hong Kong. She works with prepared pianos, toypianos, electronics and sounding objects. Her practice focuses on acoustic, electro-acoustic and electronic music with improvisation and sound as the most important building stones. She is active in different projects from grooving (‘Going’) till abstract structuring (‘Lauroshilau’, ‘Duo pour 454 Chordes’) made music for dance theater, shadow theater (The Fabulous Choi Sisters), photographs (Stills) and documentaries. Lau has collaborated with musicians such as Chris Corsano, Paolo Angeli, Lynn Cassiers, Mette Rasmussen, Rie Nakajima, Andreas Trobollowitsch, Giovanni Di Domenico, João Lobo, Yuko Oshima, Norberto Lobo, Akira Sakata,etc… As soloist, she has released her project ‘Books’, a triple 10” LP art object, cased in a wooden box (released by Silent Water), where she explores prepared piano (Book of Wood) / synth, sampler, electronics (Book of Star )/ toypianos, pendules, electronics (Book of Toy).
For this occasion she will be performing a set with toy piano's, synth and electronics, fusing elements from Book of Toy and Book of Star.
Phạmbinho NTS resident pops into Cafe OTO with a bag full of non-exotic wax. The British-Vietnamese selector will be showcasing the depths of his crate by showcasing a variety of sounds from Asia and the diaspora by taking you through pre-75 Sài Gòn, music from the dancefloors of Bandung, Japanese Jazz, 7 inches from Diyarbakir, with a couple of Trịnh Công Sơn numbers thrown in, plus many more.
"“Phạmbinho is a man who knows no moderation when it comes to vinyl consumption and thus makes him think he knows everything. He is a tad bit passionate about every genre, but his knowledge is far from comprehensive it actually veers closer to superficial, yet he is articulate enough to make others think otherwise. We’re really unsure as to what he’s got planned, for all we know he could rap acapella, he could a nonstop thumping Vinahouse set, when we pushed him for an answer he said: “I’ll just play somefink non-exotic mate.”
