K.K. Null, Chris Watson, Z'ev

American performance/noise/percussion artist Z'ev, Japanese composer/performer K.K. Null, and field-recording artist Chris Watson (formerly of Cabaret Voltaire and the Hafler Trio) conjoin in a first collaboration for Touch. The idea for this recording, generated by Z'ev, has three elements: 1) to use the structure of the Noh Theatre cycle as the basis for the composition; 2) to consider the initial sound development in terms of developing "characters" which would then interact with one another through the specific "scene;" and 3) to place the "character interactions" as the "figure" inside of particular soundscapes as the "ground." In the production process, Z'ev framed his and K.K. Null's electro-acoustic musics inside Chris Watson's field recordings from East Africa. A dynamic dialogue and inside-outside mirroring of natural and synthetic sound is the result: where the click and rhythm of an insect merges with K.K. Null's drumming; where the calls of the elephants combine with the electronic bass frequencies; where bird and frog song and Z'ev's harmonic structures produce surprising counterpoints. This is carefully-constructed, pure avant-garde.