bot box boxes cover

bot box boxes

Released

Taku Unami has been working with boxes for the past 15 years at least. Not because he works in a shipping warehouse, but because he finds them alluring objects for performance art. In a 2011 performance with Radu Malfatti that’s been immortalized on ErstLive 012, his instrument of choice was a load of cardboard boxes that he silently stacked and rearranged like a worker ant while Malfatti softly puffed on his trombone. Without knowledge of what occurred at that concert, Unami almost seems a non-factor—but once you’re aware of his presence you can’t help concentrating attentively to piece together a mental picture of those gentle jostling sounds. On bot box boxes, he’s once again the conductor of a quiet cardboard orchestra. It leaves more to the imagination that it does to listen for, which makes it an engaging piece in fascinating extra-musical ways.

Shy Clara Thompson

Suggestions
Twins! cover

Twins!

Bob Ostertag, Otomo Yoshihide
Mkwaju cover

Mkwaju

Mkwaju Ensemble
August 1974 cover

August 1974

Taj Mahal Travellers
Alone in Tokuyama cover

Alone in Tokuyama

Shoji Aketagawa
Pieces of Air cover

Pieces of Air

Toshiya Tsunoda
Cartooom! cover

Cartooom!

Plus-Tech Squeeze Box