Aube (musician)

Akifumi Nakajima (中嶋昭文, Nakajima Akifumi) (January 13, 1959 – September 25, 2013), better known by his stage name Aube, was a Japanese noise musician. He had released many CDs, LPs and cassettes since 1991, and was regarded as one of the most important noise musicians working of his time. He did not like to term his work "music," preferring the term "design": "I don't think of myself as a musician or an artist. I'm a designer. I therefore consider my sound works to be designs as well".[2] The essential element of his Aube project was that each record was composed with only a single material source, manipulated and processed using various types of electronic equipment. Examples of sources he manipulated include water, fluorescent lamps, voltage-controlled oscillators, voices, pulmonary sounds, the Holy Bible's pages and sounds made with steel wire.

Aube
Birth nameAkifumi Nakajima
Born(1959-01-13)January 13, 1959
Kyoto, Japan
DiedSeptember 25, 2013(2013-09-25) (aged 54)[1]
Kyoto
GenresJapanoise, noise, experimental
Occupation(s)Musician
InstrumentsFound objects (water, fire, fluorescent and glow lamps, metal, steel wire, glass, stone, heartbeat, lungs, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, brain waves electroencephalogram, Bible pages), voltage-controlled oscillator, field recordings, synthesizer
Years active1991–2013
LabelsAlien8 Recordings

Biography

Akifumi Nakajima was born in January 1959 in Japan. He was interested in sound work since the 80s, but had not released anything until he was asked to create music for an art installation in the early 90s. After that, he created an enormous amount of work - most of which was based on one sound source. Anything was used - from glass to oscillators and even pages from the Bible. His early work was noisier, while his later work leaned toward ambient.

Music

As stated previously, each recording in Aube's catalogue is synthesized from one source sound. Many of his earliest recordings use water as a source, in either a still form or a gush, as from a faucet or a stream. Among the most well-known are Hydrophobia (1991, Vanilla, Japan), Luminous (1993, G.R.O.S.S., Japan), Métal De Métal (1996, Manifold, USA), Cardiac Strain (1997, Alien8 Recordings, Canada), Set On (2001, Manifold, USA) and many more.

Death

On 9 December 2013, it was discovered by Eric Lanzillotta, a friend of his, that Akifumi had died on 25 September 2013. In memory of him, Eric shared a live recording of a collaboration between him and Akifumi on Soundcloud, which was recorded in 2004.

Collaborations

Several compilation CDs are of note in Aube's History. Most notable, perhaps, is the Come Again compilation, released in 1991 on Vanilla Records, which contains one of the first tracks recorded under the Aube moniker. Later compilations of note include Come Again II (1993, Vanilla/Furnace, Japan/USA), The Japanese/American Noise Treaty (1995, Relapse, USA), and Ant-Hology (1998, Ant-Zen, Germany).

Akifumi Nakajima also formed many collaboration projects with other Japanoise artists. They are as follows; Club Skull with Hiroshi Hasegawa of C.C.C.C. & Fumio Kosakai of Incapacitants. SIAN with Shohei Iwasaki of Monde Bruits. Kinkakuji with Maso Yamazaki of Masonna. Ginkakuji with Hiroshi Hasegawa of C.C.C.C.. Gokurakuji' with Maso Yamazaki of Masonna & Hiroshi Hasegawa of C.C.C.C.. Loop Circuit with Dub Murashita of Dubwise. Hyper Ventilation with Dub Murashita of Dubwise. Meiji Jingu with Kohei Gomi of Pain Jerk. Ise Jingu with Masahiko Ohno of Solmania. Heian Jingu with Toshiji Mikawa of Incapacitants, and Atsuta Jingu with Kohei Gomi of Pain Jerk, Masahiko Ohno of Solmania & Toshiji Mikawa of Incapacitants. In 2005 he cooperated with the Italian experimental artist Maurizio Bianchi for two projects titled "Junkyo" (Noctovision) and "Mectpyo Saisei" (Para Disc).

Discography (selection)
  • Ukiyo (Aube and Die Form)
  • Magnetostriction
  • Infinitely Orbit
  • Metal de Metal
  • Dazzle Reflexion
  • Stared Gleam
  • Evocation
  • Splinder Clear Cut (Aube and The Haters)
  • Substructural Penetration
  • Millennium
  • Cardiac Strain
  • Wired Trap

References
  1. Louche, Liz. "RIP: Akifumi Nakajima a.k.a. Aube, experimental musician | Music News". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
  2. "Aube (profile at Esophagus)". Archived from the original on 8 March 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-25.
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