Death Ambient – Death Ambient (1995)

Country: Japan / England

Tracklist

1. Prophecy 07:23
2. Imperial Thorn 07:49
3. Hedgetrimmer 02:31
4. Alchemy 02:41
5. Heart Set 00:49
6. Rain 01:57
7. Broken Blue 02:17
8. Loquat Tree 02:51
9. White Eye 02:37
10. Coyote Got Away 04:43
11. A Dead Staphylococcus Looks Like A Skull 01:46
12. Heart Set 00:31
13. Loading And Running 01:14
14. Flash 05:33
15. Ways Out 03:54

 

Experimental/ambient music trio consisting of Kato Hideki (bass guitar), Ikue Mori (drum machines), and Fred Frith (guitar).

Death Ambient was formed by Hideki and Mori in 1995 and released three albums,

"Death Ambient" (1995), "Synaesthesia" (1999) and "Drunken Forest" (2007).
Kato Hideki, a Japanese bass guitarist and founding member of Ground Zero, moved to New York City in 1992.

He started working with Christian Marclay, Marc Ribot, John Zorn and also collaborated with Dying Ground.

In 1995, he began collaborating with Ikue Mori, who had been the drummer for DNA.

After DNA disbanded, Mori experimented with modified drum machines to play samples of music, 

before shifting entirely to laptop computer-based music creation.
Guitarist Fred Frith (of Henry Cow), who had lived in New York City for fourteen years

and collaborated with many experimental music musicians, was invited by Mori and Hideki to the join the group.
According to Mori, the aim of Death Ambient was "to create sounds and texture extravaganza.".
Death Ambient recorded their first self titled album at Green Point Studio in Brooklyn in 1995, 

featuring a collection of improvised pieces that included Mori's drum machine generated sound samples.

The album was released the same year in the New Japan series on John Zorn's Tzadik record label.
In 1997 guitarist James Plotkin temporarily replaced Frith for a UK tour that included concerts in London and Stirling.

The London concert was broadcast on BBC Radio 3's show, Mixing It.
Frith rejoined Death Ambient in 1998 and the trio gave a concert in Halle, Germany.
It was the first time the original trio had performed together as a group outside the recording studio.
In June 1999 they returned to New York City to record their second album "Synaesthesia",

using material from the concert in Germany.
In May 2007, after six years in the making, "Drunken Forest" was released,

also in Tzadik's New Japan series, with Jim Pugliese as a guest percussionist.
The trio (without Pugliese) performed the album live

at John Zorn's not-for-profit experimental music performance space, The Stone, on May 4 and 5, 2007.

Memory