Aube is the name used by Japanese musician Akifumi Nakajima (born) for his experimental noise records. He has released many CDs, LPs and cassettes since 1991, and is regarded as one of the most important noise musicians working today. He himself does 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." (source) The essential element of his Aube project is that each record is composed with only a single material source. Examples of sources he has manipulated include: water, fluorescent lamps, voltage-controlled oscillators, voices, pulmonary sounds, and others. A musician is a person who plays or composes music. ... Noise music is music that uses sounds regarded as unpleasant or painful under normal circumstances. ...

Biography

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, Canada), Set On (2001, Manifold, USA) and many more.

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).

Sound sample

External Links

• Interview with Akifumi Nakajima
• A near-complete discography
• A discography in French
• A fairly up-to-date site in Japan