–
* Title : The Progenitor of Japan’s Original Punk Music
; Tomokawa Kazuki
[Urban Party Series ‘Rocking Nights’]
* Presented by : LIG Art Hall | Red Chair
* Genre : Punk
* Date & Time : 2009.Sep.23(Wed)~Sep.24(Thu) / 8pm
* Tickets : KRW 30,000
* Reservation : Interpark at T.1544-1555
* Place : LIG Art Hall http://www.ligarthall.com/
* Inquiries : LIG Art Hall T. 02-6900-3906
Overview
The Progenitor of Japan’s Original Punk Music; Tomokawa Kazuki
Inimitable Punk Music by Poete Maudit
With the song “Ikiteru tte itte miro (Say I am alive)” off of his third album “Senbazuru o kuchi ni kuwaeta hibi (Days holding thousand cranes in the mouth)” in 1977, he had begun to be dubbed ‘the progenitor of Japan’s original punk. Spine-chilling screaming rather than singing, ragged & sharp-edged cutting of the guitar, and high literary level in the lyrics… All these elements made his music inimitable.
Identified in the imagery of the poete maudit, screaming folk singers, inveterate gamblers, sensitive painters, and prodigious drinkers, Tomokawa miraculously embodies the romance of the outlaw poet, in an age when we have forgotten the true meaning of an independent life.
Immediacy that hurdles linguistic barriers, speaking directly to the listener’s emotions
Tomokawa’s work enjoys great popularity amongst artists and intellectuals, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that his music is off-putting to ordinary audiences. That is because, according to the professor, Alan Cummings (Music critic / London Univ.), ‘There is a raw immediacy to Tomokawa’s performances that effortlessly hurdles many linguistic barriers, speaking to direct to the listener’s nerves and emotions’. Ironically, the fastidiousness of his life as an artist has led to an increasing beauty and clarity in his music, giving confidence to live their own lives to his listeners.
Tomokawa Kazuki; The border-blind artist in expressing the artistry
Aside from the career as musician, he is a poet as well as painter. Tomokawa has also published many books. Representative examples are the poetry collection “Chi no dokuso (Recital of the earth)”, the art book “Aozora (Blue sky)” with text by Wahei Tatsumatu, and the essay collection “Tenketsu no kaze (Wind of thousand bloods)”. As a poet, singer, artist, essayist, poet, TV commentator, DJ, legendary drinker, in recent years he also achieved fame as a commentator on bicycle racing. Tomokawa currently lives in Kawasaki.
© KAZUKI TOMOKAWA All rights reserved.