Otomo Yoshihide Explained

Otomo Yoshihide
Background:	non_vocal_instrumentalist
Native Name:	大友 良英
Native Name Lang:	ja
Birth Date:	1 August 1959
Birth Place:	Yokohama, Japan
Genre:	Jazz, noise, avant-garde jazz
Occupation:	Multi-instrumentalist, composer
Instrument:	Guitar, turntable
Years Active:	1987-present
Label:	Recommended Records, P-Vine Records, Tzadik Records, Erstwhile Records
Associated Acts:	Ground Zero, Tatsuya Oe, Christian Marclay, Sachiko M, Jon Rose, Jim O'Rourke, Nobukazu Takemura

is a Japanese composer and multi-instrumentalist. He mainly plays guitar, turntables, and electronics.^[1]

He first came to international prominence in the 1990s as the leader of the experimental rock group Ground Zero, and has since worked in a variety of contexts, ranging from free improvisation to noise, jazz, avant-garde and contemporary classical. He is also a pioneering figure in the EAI-scene, and is featured on important records on labels like Erstwhile Records. He has composed music for many films, television dramas, and commercials. In 2017, Otomo became the 2nd Guest Artistic Director of The Sapporo International Art Festival 2017.

Biography

Early years

Otomo was born in Yokohama in 1959, but due to his father's job, moved to Fukushima when he was nine years old.^[2] In high school, he frequented jazz cafés and started his own band. After entering university, he began studying under the improvisational jazz guitarist, Masayuki Takayanagi. He began performing around the world and released his first album in 1991 in Hong Kong. It was when the music he composed for a 1994 Hong Kong film was well received at the Cannes Film Festival that he also began to work as a composer.

Film and television

Otomo has composed music for a number of films and television programs,^[3] including Naoki Kato's Abraxas,^[4] Tsuyoshi Inoue's The Town's Children,^[5] and Ryuichi Hiroki's Yellow Elephant.^[6] He composed the music for the 2013 NHK morning television drama Amachan and it became his most commercially successful work up to that point. The soundtrack for Amachan reached number 5 on the Oricon Albums Chart,^[7] and Kyōko Koizumi's version of the song Shiosai no Memorī from the drama, composed by Otomo, reached number 2 on the Oricon Singles Chart.^[8] He performed live on New Year's Eve at the 2013 Kōhaku Uta Gassen.^[9]

Selected discography

Studio albums

• Otomo Yoshihide (1987)
• Problem (1988)
• Duo (1989) with Junji Hirose
• Silanganan Ingay (1989) with Junji Hirose
• No Problem (1990) with No Problem
• Who Is Otomo Yoshihide? (1991)
• Visions of Japan (1991) with Yuji Katsui and Hiroshi Higo
• Ground-0, No. 0 (1991)
• Terminal-Zero (1991)
• We Insist? (1992)
• Turntables Solo (1992)
• Memory Disorder (1993)
• Peril (1993) with Peril
• The Night Before the Death of the Sampling Virus (1993)
• Ground Zero (1993) with Ground Zero
• Early Works 1: 81-85 (1994)
• Monogatari: Amino Argot (1994) with Carl Stone
• Balance of Power: Variety (1994) with Hiedaki Sasaki
• All at Once at Any Time (1994) with David Moss and John King
• Multiverse (1994) with Peril
• Null & Void (1995) with Ground Zero
• Tatakiuri (1995) with Jon Rose
• Revolutionary Pekinese Opera (1995) with Ground Zero
• Revolutionary Pekinese Opera, Version 1.28 (1996) with Ground Zero
• Duo Improvisation (1996) with Yasuhiro Otani
• p53 (1996) with p53
• Twins!! (1996) with Bob Ostertag
• Ututu: Doppo Jukyo-at no Ho e Atelier El Sur (1996) with Kiwao Nomura and Keiki Midorikawa
• My Dear Mummy (1997) with Masahiko Shimada
• Memory & Money (1997) with Les Sculpteurs de Vinyl
• Conflagration (1997) with Ground Zero
• Consume Red (1997) with Ground Zero
• Plays Standards (1997) with Ground Zero
• Sound Factory (1997)
• Melted Memory (1997)
• Vinyl Tranquilizer (1997)
• Filament 1 (1998) with Filament
• Consummation (1998) with Ground Zero
• Gravity Clock (1998) with I.S.O.
• Memory Defacement (1998)
• Television Power Electric (1999) with Jim Baker, Aeron Bergman, Todd Carter, Brent Gutzeit, Michael Hartman, Ernst Long, and R. Wilkus
• Filament 2: Secret Recordings (1999) with Filament
• I.S.O. (1999) with I.S.O.
• Bits, Bots and Signs (1999) with Voice Crack
• Metal Tastes like Orange (1999) with Masahiko Okura, Günter Müller, and Taku Sugimoto
• Cathode (1999)
• Plays the Music of Takeo Yamashita (1999)
• Four Focuses (1999) with Martin Tétreault, Yasuhiro Otani, and Sachiko M
• 21 Situations (1999) with Martin Tétreault
• Panty Christ (1999) with Justin Bond and Bob Ostertag
• Pilgrimage (1999) with Microcosmos
• Without Kuryokhin (1999) with Kenny Millions
• Moving Parts (2000) with Christian Marclay
• Music for Dance Art Hong Kong's "Memory Disorder" (2000)
• Anode (2001)
• Flutter (2001) with Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Quintet
• 29092000 (2001) with Filament
• Thumb (2002) with Keith Rowe, Oren Ambarchi, Sachiko M, and Robbie Avenaim
• Ensemble Cathode (2002)
• Les Hautes Solitudes: A Philippe Garrel Film: Imaginarry Soundtrack (2002) with Taku Sugimoto and Sachiko M
• Miira ni Naru made: German Version (2002) with Masahiko Shimada
• Pulser (2002) with Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Quintet
• Invisible Architecture No. 1 (2002) with Philip Jeck and Martin Tétreault
• Ajar (2002) with Almá Fury, Yasuhiro Otani, and Xavier Charles
• Dreams (2002) with Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Ensemble
• Tails Out (2003) with Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Quintet
• ONJQ + OE (2003) with Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Quintet and Tatsuya Oe
• ONJQ + OE: Short Density (2003) with Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Quintet and Tatsuya Oe
• Turntables and Computers (2003) with Nobukazu Takemura
• Studio—Analogique—Numérique (2003) with Martin Tétreault
• Time Travel (2003) with Günter Müller
• Warholes or All Andy Would Enjoy (And Fear) / Warhol Memory Disorder (2003) with Lengow, Heyermears, and Sachiko M
• Soup (2003) with Bill Laswell and Yasuhiro Yoshigaki
• Loose Community (2003) with Park Je Chun and Mi Yeon
• The Crushed Pellet (2003) with Eiichi Hayashi and Yoshisaburo Toyozumi
• Turntable Solo (2004)
• Compositions for Guitars Vol. 2 (2004) with Tetuzi Akiyama, Toshimaru Nakamura, and Taku Unami
• Brackwater (2004) with Korber, Tomas, eRikm, and Toshimaru Nakamura
• Good Morning Good Night (2004) with Sachiko M and Toshimaru Nakamura
• Intonarumori Orchestra (2004) with Intonarumori Orchestra
• Filament Box (2004) with Filament
• 1. Grrr (2004) with Martin Tétreault
• 2. Tok (2005) with Martin Tétreault
• 3. Ahhh (2005) with Martin Tétreault
• 4. Hmmm (2005) with Martin Tétreault
• Out to Lunch (2005) with Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Orchestra
• See You in a Dream (2005) with Yuki Saga
• Trace Cuts (2005) with eRikm, Martin Tétreault
• Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Orchestra (2005) with Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Orchestra
• Time Magic City (2006) with BusRatch
• Episome (2006) with Bill Laswell and Tatsuya Yoshida
• Sora (2007)
• Prisoner: A Film by Adachi Masao: Original Soundtrack (2007)
• Multiple Otomo (2007)
• Encounter (2007) with Itaru Oki
• Modulation with 2 Electric Guitars and 2 Amplifiers (2007)
• Modulation with 2 Electric Guitars and 2 Amplifiers: Alternative Version (2008)
• Core Anode (2008)
• Country Kill (2008) with Joy Heights
• Les Archives Sauvées des Eaux (2008) with Luc Ferrari
• Guitar Duo (2008) with Seiichi Yamamoto
• Sweet Cuts, Distant Curves (2008) with Choi, Joonyong, Hong Chulki, and Sachiko M
• Monte Alto Estate (2009) with Sim
• Guitar Duo x Solo (2009) with Shinichi Isohata
• Shinjuku Crawl (2009) with The Thing
• Good Cop Bad Cop (2009) with Derek Bailey, Tony Bevan, and Paul Hession
• Ultra Miracle Love Story (2009)
• Book from Hell (2010) with Zai Kuning and Dickson Dee
• 3-Part In(ter)ventions (2012) with Jim O'Rourke
• Piano Solo (2013)
• Existence (2013) with Shinichi Isohata
• Quintet/Sextet (2013) with Sachiko M, Evan Parker, John Butcher, John Edwards and Tony Marsh,

Live albums

• Live at Aketa-no-mise in Tokyo, July 28, 1989 (1989)
• Solo Live in Kyoto 93 (1995)
• Revolutionary Pekinese Opera, Tokyo 1995 (1995) with Ground Zero
• Live! (1995) with Eye Yamatsuka
• Live!! (1996) with Eye Yamatsuka
• Session 18 Oct. 1997 (1998) with Seed Mouth
• Live at Otis! (1998) with Sachiko M and Yoshimitsu Ichiraku
• Live (1998) with I.S.O.
• Last Concert (1999) with Ground Zero
• Guitar Solo Live 1 (1999)
• Live (2002) with Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Quintet
• Turntables Solo Live, 28 Feb 2002 in Tokyo (2002)
• Soup Live (2004) with Bill Laswell and Yasuhiro Yoshigaki
• Erst Live 004 (2005) with Christian Fennesz, Sachiko M, and Peter Rehberg
• Erst Live 005 (2005) with Keith Rowe, Sachiko M, and Toshimaru Nakamura
• Concert in St. Louis (2005) with Grnr Coleman, Franz Hautzinger, and Sachiko M
• Guitar Solo: 12 October 2004 @ Shinjuku Pit Inn, Tokyo + 1 (2005)
• ONJQ Live in Lisbon (2006) with Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Quintet
• Live 1992 (2007) with Ground Zero
• Live Vol. 1: Series Circuit (2007) with Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Orchestra
• Live Vol. 2: Parallel Circuit (2007) with Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Orchestra

Singles

• Otomo + Mao (1995)
• Revolutionary Pekinese Opera, Version 1.50 (1996) with Ground Zero
• Live Mao '99 (1996) with Ground Zero
• Untitled (1996) with Eye Yamatsuka
• Museum of Towing & Recovery (1998) with Steve Beresford
• Lupin the Third: Ending Theme (1999)
• Split 7" (1999) with Christian Marclay
• Re/cycling Rectangle (2000)
• Digital Tranquilizer Ver. 1.0 (2004)
• Digital Tranquilizer Ver. 1.01 (2004)
• 4 Speakers (2009)

DVDs

• Dark Room Filled with Light (2006) with Filament
• Music(s) (2006)
• Ensembles 09: Pre-opening Live at Shinjuku Pit Inn (2009)

As sideman

With Rova::Orchestrova

• Electric Ascension (Atavistic, 2005)

Film scores

Film

• The Blue Kite (1993)
• Summer Snow (1995)
• Postman (1995)
• Kitchen (1997)
• Wait and See (1998)
• Kaza-hana (2000)
• Blue (2001)
• Les Hautes Solitudes: Philippe Garrel Film (2002)
• Iden & Tity (2003)
• Canary (2005)
• Boku wa Imōto ni Koi o Suru (2007)
• Ultra Miracle Love Story (2009)
• Tokyo Island (2010)
• Abraxas (2010)
• The Town's Children (2011)
• Olo the Boy from Tibet (2012)
• Botchan (2012)
• Yellow Elephant (2013)
• Junan (2013)
• Piece of Cake (2015)^[10]
• Beneath the Shadow (2020)
• You've Got a Friend (2022)^[11]
• Noise (2022)^[12]
• Inu-Oh (2022)^[13]

Television

• Amachan (2013)
• Idaten (2019)

External links

• • Sapporo international art festival 2017

Notes and References

1. "...Yoshide is largely known for his innovative works in the avant-garde electronic music world as well as his collaborations on drone pieces, creative methods on the turntables [...His guitar playing] sounds like a cross between Hendrix and Zappa, and at other times Tony Iommi." Rob Theakston, review of Episome (2006) for Allmusic.com, retrieved 30 Jan, 2018
2. Web site: ja:大友良英さんプロフィル. http://www.asahi.com/be/articles/TKY201307310136.html. Asahi Digital. Asahi Shimbun. 26 January 2014. ja.
3. Web site: Otomo Yoshihide o kaibai suru: Yasuo Ozawa x Yoshihide Otomo. 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa. 22 April 2013.
4. Web site: Sundance Review: Punk Rock Meets Buddhism in Naoki Kato's Exquisitely Crafted Debut Feature 'Abraxas'. The Hollywood Reporter. 26 January 2011.
5. Web site: The Town's Children. Special Broadcasting Service.
6. Web site: 'Kiiroi Zo'. The Japan Times. 8 February 2013.
7. Web site: ja:連続テレビ小説「あまちゃん」オリジナル・サウンドトラック. http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/artist/233235/products/music/1023832/1/. Oricon. 26 August 2013. ja.
8. Web site: ja:潮騒のメモリー. http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/artist/218202/products/music/1037215/1/. Oricon. 26 August 2013. ja.
9. Web site: Yoshihide Ōtomo – Amachan Theme: New music from Japan. The Guardian. 13 January 2014.
10. Web site: Miliyah Kato, Kazunobu Mineta Perform Live-Action Piece of Cake Film's Theme. April 23, 2015. April 24, 2015. Anime News Network.
11. Web site: 夕方のおともだち. November 19, 2021. eiga.com.
12. Web site: ノイズ. December 20, 2021. eiga.com.
13. Web site: 犬王. March 22, 2022. eiga.com.