BusRatch

BusRatch was a Japanese experimental turntablist group, formed in 1998 around Parallax Records (2) store in Kyoto. Originally it was a quartet performing on eight turntables (similar to a German collective Institut Für Feinmotorik). Using prepared records, cymbals, metal sheets, stones, mousepads and other non-musical objects and materials, as well as customized tone arms and cartridges, BusRatch had been creating improvised music ranging from abstract soundscapes to extreme noise. Live sessions and improvisations were often further processed and edited for releases. In 2000, BusRatch released their self-titled debut CD-R album via a newly established PARA disc label. The ensemble soon downsized to a trio of Mo:ri-Yamamoto-Kawai – this line-up can be heard on live CD-R recorded with Olivia Block and Seth Nehil, and limited edition Giraffe on Brent Gutzeit's BOXmedia. They regularly played live at their 'home base' Cafe Independants (where Parallax store was initially located), as well as Club Metro, Bears and other venues in Kyoto, and participated in concert series and festivals across Japan. In 2001, BusRatch also performed overseas in Chicago – one of the highlights of their American tour include a concert with avant-turntablism legend Christian Marclay and Toshio Kajiwara at Museum Of Contemporary Art Chicago. Since 2002, BusRatch had been operating as a duo of Katsura Mori and Takahiro Yamamoto. Throughout their career, BusRatch had performed with Keiji Haino, Mitsuru Nasuno, Tatsuya Yoshida, Tetuzi Akiyama, Utah Kawasaki, Computer Soup, Ami Yoshida & Sachiko M duo Cosmos (2), Culpis, Uchihashi Kazuhisa, Takumi Toki, Tetsuro Yasunaga from Minamo, Akira Toyonaga, Curtain Of Cards, Martin Tétreault & Diane Labrosse, DJ Olive, Thomas Ankersmit, Bruno Meillier and many others. They often performed as a support act with European and American experimental musicians touring in Japan, such as Town And Country and TV Pow, Jim O'Rourke with Mirror, Norbert Möslang, Günter Müller, Tim Barnes, Janek Schaefer, Paul Hood, Robert Hampson, O.blaat, Lightning Bolt, and Black Dice. BusRatch worked several times with Otomo Yoshihide, performing as BusTomo together, and released Time Magic City collaborative CD album in 2006. In 2009, Mori and Yamamoto disbanded BusRatch and continued recording and performing solo. Their first and only album on vinyl, 時計日記 [Tokei Nikki], was released on RRRecords in Jan 2010, consisting of two long compositions and 99 locked grooves on the B-side.