Alan Dearling introduces Degurutieni during his musical perambulation through Europe
Dark Mondo, frightening music for scared people. Death Toy Pop from Osaka, Japan.
Think Fear and Loathing, Gonzo words, Hunter S Thompson, Bill Burroughs, Beat poets and bucketloads of later, Tom Waits. ‘Tis actually a one man band, Al Degurutieni. I met him and witnessed his show ‘live’ at the Golden Lion, Todmorden, Yorkshire… some ghoulish music noise in the meanwhiles…live from the gig. You can view it on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/alan.dearling/videos/1489362948617699
And another recent video from Cathimini: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQzywUvgK-U
Lighting at the gig was as requested by the artist. One red light. But I also had a brief chat with him before the show and took two pics outside the Golden Lion. He is a Japanese performance artist – it’s dark, weird UFO shit. Sloman Music were promoting. It brought out a lot of local musos into the audience.
Music? Yes-ish. Noise? Lots of. Very strange sounds. Definitely demented. Loops. Lots. Think: Sounds/theatrics/circus/Waits/ the Beats/Zappa and Wild Man Fischer.
My friend, Paul Thorpe said afterwards: “Loved it. Sometimes sounded like Beefheart!”
Here was what was said on the promo for the performance:
“All at slomanmusic are proud to present from Japan , Degurutieni. He will be alone playing all his instruments (appliances, toys, junk, cassette tapes, MD loops, and DIY foot percussions) & singing on the stage. From Nishinari Osaka Japan Weird Wild Obscure Spooky exotica burlesque toy junk Muzak Trash One Man Band music made with broken cassette desks and fucked-up record players.
For Degurutieni, each performance is like a kaleidoscope – ever changing… at times exotic, at others industrial, a sprinkle of cabaret, a side show act perhaps… but always with lyrics, that have been collected, spliced, recounted and retold like that of a poet.
Degurutieni has been amazing audiences with his Tom Waits’ style, using numerous toys, junk, guitar, voice etc for his renowned Death Toy Pop … A short tour with limited performances, a show not be missed … still not sure, check out his amazing album on Spotify and Bandcamp.”
Seeing Degurutieni contort his bendy-man body and face is a mind-blowing experience. It’s definitely very ‘out there’, obscure outsider-art, not in any way designed for a concert-hall, more akin to a ‘happening’, like those created by Yoko Ono and other members of the Fluxus movement. There were one or two Japanese in the audience and they were the only people who could understand the lyrics, but it was an extreme vocal, sound-box, made by this solo performer augmented by his loops and toy musical instruments. The sounds he produces with guitar are heavily manipulated through his electronics and watching him play is a fascinating experience even without his extraordinary vocal gymnastics. Mesmeric!
In an interlude after another “Thank-you” between tracks, he played a recording by a female friend in English. A lovely idiosyncratic audio vignette. It told us a little about Degurutieni’s trip to Europe. Apparently, he was prevented from boarding his plane because his ticket had his names in reverse order compared with his passport. He then had to buy a second ticket. Expensive. Then, we were told how he wanted to transfer his CDs for his ‘shop’ on the European tour – so he strapped his CDs to his body and became a ‘fat’ Japanese man for the plane journey. Great story from this creative oddball character, an ‘outlier’. Very much the ‘Dark Other’ indeed.
Tom Waits with added strangeness. More clangs, bleeps and Japanese lyrics. A one-man band that is perhaps in a cult of his own!
Razorjack says: “I’ve been lucky to experience the enigmatic and distinctive Degurutieni live a couple of times and this LP captures him perfectly. Dark, off-kilter and fabulous!”
https://alcodegurutieni.bandcamp.com/track/acme-in-the-afternoon
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