MUTEK.JP finalizes the physical performance program which will take place from December 10th to 12th at Shibuya’s Stream Hall. 3-days of groundbreaking performances of electronic music and audiovisual art.

傀儡神楽 ALTER the android KAGURA ^JP/ Corey Fuller + Break Ensemble x Synichi Yamamoto ^US+JP/ Daito Manabe ^JP/ Eiko Ishibashi & Jim O’Rourke ^JP+US/ Eiichi Sawado & Akiko Nakayama ^JP/ Kafuka & Kezzardrix ^JP/ Kyoka & Shohei Fujimoto ^JP/ machìna ^KR/JP/ Maika Loubté ^JP/ Neutral (Fumitake Tamura & AOKI Takamasa) ^JP / Open Reel Ensemble ^JP / Yuri Urano & Manami Sakamoto ^JP

^{Get Your Tickets!}

On Friday, December 11, the already confirmed acts Daito Manabe, Kyoka & Shohei Fujimoto and Kafuka & Kezzardrix will be joined by rising vocalist and producer Maika Loubté, who will perform an experimental live set inspired by her roots in pop melodies. Topping of the Nocturne 1 program will be a rare performance of Ei Wada’s reel-to-reel tape manipulators that are known as the Open Reel Ensemble.

Full Nocturne 1 Program

The Saturday, December 12, will see three impactful additions to conclude the closing night of the 2020 festival. Experimental and improv legend Jim O’Rourke will yet again join forces with long-time collaborator Eiko Ishibashi to present one of their rare live collaborations. Following, up-and-coming Techno producer Yuri Urano is joined by Manami Sakamoto for the premiere of a new transcendental audiovisual collaboration. Finally following her impressive Buchla performance past October Korean artist machìna will return to the MUTEK.JP stages with a very special electric surprise at hand. The three acts will join already confirmed performances by Eiichi Sawado & Akiko Nakayama and Neutral (Fumitake Tamura & AOKI takamasa) to finalize the Nocturne 2 program.

Full Nocturne 2 Program

The A/Visions program, which showcases the most forward looking audiovisual endeavors, will open the 5th Edition of MUTEK.JP on December 10th with the previously confirmed double bill of Alter 3, a humanoid robot in a unique collaboration with a Noh Actor and Corey Fuller and his Break Ensemble together with visual artist Synichi Yamamoto delivering feast of synesthetic explorations.

Full A/Visions Program

In order to ensure the well-being of visitors, artists and the MUTEK team alike the physical performances will take place under strict hygiene measures. The venue capacity will be reduced to 150 people in a socially distanced seated environment with regular disinfection measures. Mask wearing, as well as temperature checks at entry will be mandatory for all visitors looking to join the upcoming Tokyo edition.

Get Your Tickets!

Digi Lab conference program returns in a virtual format

MUTEK.JP’s annual conference program Digi Lab will this year take place in a fully virtual environment. On Wednesday, December 9, we will live-stream a series of talks on questions of diversity, AI, and musical evolution from the MUTEK.JP studio at Kagurane. Thursday, December 10, will be more practically focused with a series of master classes and workshops. The conferences will be available on virtual.mutek.org.

The Digi Lab 1 conference program will kick-off on Wednesday, December 9, with a performative presentation on an archeological approach towards the evolution of music. The presentation is initiated by Patrick Savage, head of the CompMusic Lab at Keio University SFC, who will be joined by a group of musicians live on-stage.

Following Berlin-based music journalist Yuko Asanuma invites writer, promoter and DJ Hiromi Matsubara, DJ and activist Mari Sakurai, and producer Mars89, who are all active and forward-thinking contributors of the current Tokyo club scene to discuss questions of diversity and inclusion in European and Japanese music industries.

In keeping with this spirit Rhizomatiks co-founder Seiichi Saito will explore questions on art as a vehicle for imagining our digital futures in conversation with curator and writer Arina Tsukada.

Concluding the series of talks on Wednesday, December 9, will be a collaborative session with the ALIFE conference initiated by professor Takashi Ikegami of Tokyo University. The session invites media artists and researchers, Chris Salter, who recently performed at the 21st Edition of MUTEK, and Norwegian artist, Victoria Vesna, professor at the Department of Design Media Arts at UCLA, French visual artist Justine Emard and musician Lars TCF Holdhus to explore ALIFE= ART + SCI as a new and vital device for artistic expression, which is now becoming a larger movement.

On Wednesday, December 10, Digi Lab 2 will focus on practical approaches towards artistic creation. Kicking off the day Hiroaki Umeda will hold a master class on his creative process transcending the fields of experimental dance, visual arts and electronic music. The master class is part of a collaboration with BAU Design College of Barcelona initiated by MUTEK.ES and supported by the Japan Foundation, Madrid.

The final workshop will be held by media artist, professor and creative-coding enthusiasts Atsushi Tadokoro. His session will give a practical introduction to the world of live-coding mostly focused at beginners.

The Digi Lab sessions will take place in either Japanese or English. The archives will later be available on-demand with respective subtitles.