KAIRAI-BUNCH, Noise Music by Robots of Mass Destruction

At the flicker of LEDs, the machinery of ‘DUCTRON TWIN’—a looming structure of motors, coils and metallic vessels—reveals itself in the darkness. The installation by performance group KAIRAI-BUNCH are one of their many which sporadically appear in concert venues, night clubs and art spaces across Tokyo’s underground, unfolding a dystopian spectacle of pure machinery.

Beyond their impressive visual appearances, its sounds composed of buzzing LED lights, fizzing TV monitors, whirring vents and thunderous engines orchestrate a danceable cacophony.

Industrial Techno at its Final Form

Led by Ikuo Shimizu, KAIRAI-BUNCH thematises the threat of mechanisation as inspired by battle robots and other Japanese science-fictional motifs. With Ikuo Shimizu at its core, it was founded by the former members of noise-rock band Space Streakings, a band which were known for their extensive experiment with industrial objects as incorporated into live music—embedding engines into guitars, or wearing gas cylinders on their backs fitted with truck horns. The performative large-scale installations of KAIRAI-BUNCH came about by engineering and embedding MIDI controls into some sculptures that they initially made out of scraps, allowing an entire live music performance to be controlled from its components.

As KAIRAI-BUNCH’s installations became more complex, they developed further with collaborations of minded artists. With the contributions of experimental musician Atsuhiro Ito, known for playing a unique instrumental made from an LED light called the ‘Optron’, DUCTRON TWIN’s rotating luminescent antennae wield static noises like an electric guitar. Meanwhile, the hissing analog TV monitors stacked in the centre are the mark of Akira Matsuoka, an artist and noise musician (also known as VELTZ) whose extensive practice has delved intersections of video culture, sound and technology, through the re-appropriation of disused objects.

Though KAIRAI-BUNCH performances are occasional, works like DUCTRON TWIN have been spotted more frequently in high-end art institutions, and even on the runway of the 2022 Rakuten Tokyo Fashion Week in collaboration with fashion brand pays des fées. Yet, even as the band begins to peak into the limelight, its forces come straight from the dark noise of Japanese modernity with hard line purity.

More of KAIRAI-BUNCH’s inventions could be explored on their official Youtube channel.