Flash-Point

The late Akifumi Nakajima, who recorded and performed for twenty-two years as Aube, always seemed like one of Japanese noise’s headiest conceptualists. His albums were often based on thorough examination of one sound source, which allowed for Nakajima’s methodical exploration of the source material’s rich potential. On Flash-Point, one of Aube’s earliest releases, the source material is glow lamps and a voltage controller. The result is a gracefully paced, gorgeously rich forty-five minutes of sinuous drones, with great swarms of buzz and hum ringing out like electricity itself singing in a massed chorus, while the heat of light singes earlobes.