Search - Ground Zero :: Null & Void

"Oddball sampling and creative jumpcuts"

philip kaffen | seattle, wa USA | 08/18/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Opening with a one minute gale of swirling, piercing noise, avant-guitar-turntablist Otomo Yoshihide's group Ground Zero's 1995 Tzadik release Null and Void, traverses sonic range that most artists wouldn't dream of. One of the things I like most about this release, not being familiar with some of his other work, is the extensive use of sampled voices to create "music." The voices are in Japanese, Chinese, and English (probably explaining the International titled songs) and weave together on songs such as TV-Q missile to create a provacative collage. Elsewhere, as on the Movie tracks, the piercing noise and voices recede into the background. Meanwhile, sampled violin and chinese flute emerge with electronics, creating howling, desolate soundscapes used by Tian Zhuang Zhuang for his film, The Blue Kite. All this electronic and turntable wizardry is fleshed out by a 6-piece band, including Altered States' Guitarist Uchihashi Kazuhisa on guitar, among others. Demanding but not ridiculously inaccessible, innovative and constantly intriguing, a good one to check out for adventurous listeners."