‘Live At Otooto’ was released in 2020 but has found its way into my ears only recently, and can’t go unremarked due to tardiness on my part. The disc collects recordings from an evening at Tokyo venue OTOOTO, each performer taking to the stage for a solo set before combining forces in an evening-ending all-in.
Shayne’s opening set conjures a piercing opening tone which is never let go: as a searing layer of distortion embraces the track its high tone continues to warble through the thick lower frequencies, eventually swallowing the denser sounds to again ring clear. The second half of the piece then alchemises that tone, subtle synth box permutations sending its upper register purity through the tonal wringer in gory slow motion, its initial viscera melted and minced into a throbbing lower spread of frequency bristle. Shayne’s high end clarity, fondness for saturation and carefully plotted movement is sure to please anyone wanting a little more gesture to the work of Rusalka, and his piece is as equally satisfying.
Not to be outdone, Rohco and Hiroshi Hasegawa each turn in transfixing performances. Rohco’s is perhaps the simplest but may also be the unassuming best, opening muffled dialogue snippets and what may be some brief clenches of sheet metal heave the only discernible additions to a series of roughly hewn and overlapped sheets of feedback and slowly tortured analogue effect roar. The set sweats from its own volume as tectonic fissures are coaxed and carefully dragged into position, the weight of Rohco’s textures supporting my vision of their being summonsed from some deeper geologic source.
Hiroshi Hasegawa’s track may not tremble with volume and fear like Rohco’s, but he has adeptly conjured immersive tracks from synths, effects, and sheet metal for sometime, and his contribution here likewise manages to work heavyweight textures with skill, a heavier synth presence and faster pace giving the set greater longevity than Rohco’s tremorous work, and showing Hiroshi’s now innate strength in crafting engaging, fluid, and unforgiving noise. Hiroshi is so productive that it can be easy to forget just how skilled he is, and how lucky we all are to have him still crafting such unrelenting and engaging pieces.
After those successes the final collaborative all-in is somewhat underwhelming; while I’m sure the event itself delivered more, the recording flattens the morass of voices to what is often a saturated flatline, coarse but undeviating blocks of distortion failing to express the depth of the previous solo tracks, let alone deliver the integration of those as would be expected. There are undeniable moments of deeper grandeur but moreso the result is singular and unflinching, only as small collection of moments delivering the depth I would have expected from this three in shared flight. Those scenes of flight do make the trip worthwhile, but after three standout solo tracks it’s hard for this final effort to deliver at quite the same level.
The rewarded OTOOTO audience is sonically absent from the CD recordings, but assume prominence for Reynols’ short-player. Not just present to applaud and vocalise, those reactions are fed into this inevitably brief record. ‘Part One’ seems to process audience reaction into submission, applause becoming a slow wave of rollercoasted breath, with a murmuring tonality and some armament-like punctuation permeating its otherwise billowy structure. ‘Part Two’ seems to be something of a selective backwards rendition of ‘Part One’, only glimpsing its waves of minimal ambience – but adding spoken word and audience reaction first in isolation but then as deepening layers, surrounding the initially simple and somewhat calmative electronics with textural confusion.
I’ve listened to ‘Plays The Audience’ a lot and I’m sure I still don’t grasp its full effect: the rough seemingly audience-made recording adds another titular veneer to the work but also further distances its purport, the simple and effective radiance of ‘Part One’, gunned by its brief staccato interference, becomes a disorienting experience of unmerited applause, jeer and multi-layered voices – but both too sort to make sense of, betraying different sensibilities on repeat listens. There’s an inevitable curio watermark to most 5” records but ‘Plays The Audience’ digs that hole much deeper, ensuring a quizzical experience over one or multiple listens.
Both releases are still available notwithstanding the limited run of the Reynols 5” and the live disc being a few years old at this point. Deterra releases may not be so frequent but each is done with care and love for the material, something which is clear from both.
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