Tip! Aube is a noise project by Akifumi Nakajima, born in Kyoto in 1959. Since the 1980s, he has been using synthesizers and other devices to create small-scale sounds as a hobby. In 1990, he was in charge of the music for the installation "Water 1990" by the artists Soichi Arichi and Takashi Sasaoka, and in 1991, he began his external musical activities as Aube. The same year, he released his debut cassette "Hydrophobia" on Vanilla Records. In 1992, he established G.R.O.S.S., an independent label and design project, and released works by domestic and international noise artists, including himself, in cassette packages with bindings that made use of his skills as an industrial designer. He also continued to release works in response to offers from labels around the world, but due to health reasons, he slowed down his activities around 2005 and passed away on September 25, 2013. In his sound production, he used only sounds extracted from a single material for each work, and then manipulated them with a variety of effects to create a strong and elegant noise sound. This "Tapes 1992-1994 (GR 7CD Box)" is a box set of all seven of his early G.R.O.S.S. cassette works, on CD by shrine.jp, planned to shed light on his footsteps after his death.
1) "Spindrift" - A work based on the sound of water.
2) "Drip" - A work created by processing a recording of a live performance given at the solo exhibition of artist Takashi Sasaoka.
3) Luninous - A work created from the installation "Luminous" by artist Soichi Arichi and Takashi Sasaoka, who were close friends in
the early stages of AUBE's activities. The subject matter of this work is the blinking sound of fluorescent lamps and light tubes that
have been transformed and intentionally left in a state of almost being cut off.
4) Flash-Point" is a live performance at the Osaka Zoukei Center as a development of the sound production participation in
"Luminous," an installation featuring flickering fluorescent lights by artists Soichi Arichi and Takashi Sasaoka, who were close friends
in the early days of AUBE.
5) "Submerged Tension Remix" - A remix version of "Submerged Tension" released on Toyohiro Okazaki's (Dislocation) Steeple &
Globe label in 1993.
6) "Frequency for Collapse" - A work related to the installation "Frequency for Collapse" by artist Yuri Shibata, which was installed in
the art space "Jiyu Factory" in an abandoned building in Okayama from 1993 until the building was demolished at the end of 1994.
7) E-Power - A work using a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO); AUBE insisted on using a single VCO for performance and
production, taking the stance of "using a single material" when using an oscillator (or synth) in his own work.
