Collaboration of legends of Western and Japanese noise avant-garde
The RuinsZu project is include bassist Massimo Pupillo and saxophonist
Luca T. Mai from the band Zu, along with drummer Tatsuya Yoshida, who performs
under the name Ruins Alone. RuinZu's repertoire consists of both Zu and
Ruins songs in new arrangements and new songs. Formed in Ostia, west of Rome, in
1997, Zu is known for its broad synthesis of avant-garde genres. While their
line-up is typical of a jazz band, their hard-edged sound owes much to punk
rock, and their work defies easy categorization. Noise, math rock, industrial,
avant-garde, drone and ambient have all been mentioned in this context. Thanks
to their focus, they found dozens of kindred musicians in bands such as
Einsturzende Neubauten, Sonic Youth, Can, The Stooges, The Ex, and solo artists
such as Mike Patton, Ken Vandermark and Mats Gustavsson, with whom they
collaborated over the past two decades. The latest, and therefore current,
continuation of this mosaic is the Italian-Japanese line-up RuinsZu, which can
also be seen as the culmination of a long exchange of impulses between Japan and
the West. When drummer Tatsuya Yoshida founded the duo Ruins, the Japanese
avant-garde scene, inspired not only by European experimenters like This Heat
and Magma, was in full force. Ruins, where the bass guitar was the second
instrument alongside the drums, was one of the most radical groups in Japan. The
duo performed with dozens of luminaries including Fred Frith, John Zorn, Derek
Bailey, Bill Laswell. After replacing 4 bassists, Yoshida's music
became so thick that instead of a human bandmate, only electronics could become
a competent partner. Thus the Ruins Alone project was born. Critics write,
"It is an experimental laboratory, a direct interface between the
drummer's brain and his drumsticks. The result is music so concentrated
that you could dilute fifteen rock records from one Ruins album." In
addition to avant-garde directions, punk rock is also a hearty inspiration for
Tatsuya Yoshida, especially in its intensity. As this is a brand new project, no
official recordings are available yet. Therefore, as a promotion we present
individual videos of Ruins and Zu.
This concert is supported by Liveurope. The first EU-wide initiative to
support concert clubs in their efforts to host concerts by emerging European
artists. Liveurope is co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European
Union.