LIVE: Nisennenmondai @ Birthdays, London
Alejandro De Luna
Review originally published for Gigslutz. Read the original text here
If there’s one venue in London that can claim the not so honorable prize of having one of the worst layouts for live shows, that place could be the basement at the Birthdays bar, sited in the land of the slim t-shirts, awkward sunglasses and colorful clothes where the genuine confront the pretentious; or as we better call it: Dalston. At Birthdays basement, the dark, narrow and claustrophobic strip in the room along the low elevation of the stage deprives the crowd from having a full experience in a venue where the wordvisibility doesn’t exist. Although, Nisennenmondai’s systemically and precise performance of danceable psychosis proved no wrong in the packed room.
There is always a sense of curiosity and wonder when waiting for a Japanese act. It´s interesting to see how a band from the land of comics and the bizarre process the unconventional drone sounds of nu wave, noise rock, lo-fi and, especially, dance music into their own ambiguous imaginary of futuristic paranoia and hypnosis. With Nisennenmondai you can’t go wrong if you’re looking for an experience of sonorous repetition and primitive rhythms with an overdose of looper effects and guitar improvisation.
With a show centered on N, their latest EP, Tokyo’s all-female current show is an oasis for all those dance-like pill-fuelled freaks, and electronic devotees that enjoy the impenetrable walls of catatonic sounds and danceable live music. The big difference with these shy and skinny Asian figures and all those DJ heroes out there is that Nisennenmondai offers a raw and real performance based on the classic format of drums, guitar and bass rather than with a programmed-based collection of sounds. Their sound feels like Tokyo’s clichéd futuristic stereotype with all those neon lights, crazy freaks on the streets, weirdoes, and scary billboards waiting to throw a bunch of weird artists to the world.
Like if they were in some kind of trance and never interacting with the crowd, not even looking at them, Nisennenmondai´s instrumental sound is a stimulating assemblage that borrows the legacy of uncompromised sounds into a mess of mathematical precision – from the addictive head banging-driven and never ending tempos to the hypnotic sounds adorned with hi-hats and guitar-driven dissonance. Long layers of loops and haunting effects, including glasses falling down and textures that evoke industrial filthiness, build their techno-like paranoia with songs that exceed the 15-minute barrier. Minimalistic like their titles (‘A’, ‘B-1’, ‘B-2’) but full of hidden hues, rigor and atmospheric waves, Nisennenmondai puts you into some sort of daze if you allow them to disrupt your thoughts. But if there’s a leader in Tokyo’s-based trio, this certainly needs to be Sayaka Himeno, a drummer with a systematic beat and an arithmetical groove that, along with Masako Takada’s drone and Yuri Zaikawa’s post-punk-esque bass lines, sends Nisennenmondai´s message to a higher proportion of Krautrock-esque redundancy.
What is outstanding about Nisennenmondai is that they could easily bring a show suitable for all those ecstasy-fuelled addicts, but also a disturbing experience that could easily jeopardize Sonic Youth´s walls of noise and drone. If you doubt it, just listen to ‘Kyaaaaaaa’.
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