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Ground Zero (band)

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Ground Zero
Otomo Yoshihide with a guitar
Former band member Otomo Yoshihide
Background information
OriginTokyo, Japan
Genres
Years active1990–1998
Labels
Past members

Ground Zero was a Japanese noise/improvisation band[1] during the 1990s led by the guitarist and "turntablist" Otomo Yoshihide that had a large and rotating group of performers with two other regular performers.[1]

History

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Ground Zero was formed to play the John Zorn game piece Cobra.[2] They first played in August 1990 and last played in March 1998.[2] The band's last live project was in 1998 when they re-worked material from a 1992 Cassiber concert in Tokyo; it was released on the second CD of Cassiber's double CD, Live in Tokyo (1998). Their final album Last Concert was recorded live on March 8, 1998 and released in May the following year.[3]

Musical style

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The band performed on such instruments as turntables, sampler, shamisen, saxophone, koto, omnichord, electric guitar and two drum kits. They were one of the first free improvising musicians using turntables.[4]

Their music mixed free jazz, improvisation, rock and experimental noise.[2] Their albums include Revolutionary Pekinese Opera ver. 1.28, a sound collage piece combining noise music and samples of peking opera by the Duo Goebbels/Harth, and Consume Red, on which the performers improvise around a short sample of hojok music played by the Korean holy musician Kim Seok Chul.

Discography

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Otomo Yoshihide performing live at Weikersheim, Germany in 2007

Studio albums

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  • Ground Zero (1992)
  • Null & Void (1995)
  • Revolutionary Pekinese Opera (1995)
  • Revolutionary Pekinese Opera Ver. 1.28 (1996)
  • Consume Red (1997)[2]
  • Plays Standards (1997)

Compilation albums

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  • Conflagration (1997)
  • Consummation (1998)

Live albums

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  • Last Concert (1999)[1]
  • Live 1992+ (2007)

Singles

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  • "Live Mao '99" (1995) (split with Bästard)
  • "Revolutionary Pekinese Opera Ver. 1.50" (1996)

References

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  1. ^ a b c Jenkins, Todd S. (2004). Free jazz and free improvisation: An encyclopedia. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood. p. 165. ISBN 978-0-313-29881-3.
  2. ^ a b c d Kelly, Caleb (2009). Cracked Media: The Sound of Malfunction. MIT Press. p. 188. ISBN 978-0-262-01314-7.
  3. ^ "History of Ground Zero". www.japanimprov.com. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  4. ^ Christoph Cox; Daniel Warner (2004). Audio culture: readings in modern music. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 405. ISBN 978-0-8264-1615-5.
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