The Radical Glitch Music of Yasunao Tone and Its Fluxus Context

In his album Solo for Wounded(1997), Yasunao Tone present a 48-minute long sequence of fragmented and unintelligible sounds. High pitches scratching, stubborn pauses, unexpected burst - the sounds are so extreme, chaotic or even appalling, to the point that one may wonder what kind of eccentric instruments or synthesizing created such glitched sound. 

Respective to the work's eccentric texture, production techniques of Solo or Wounded are equally radical ones. Presented by Yasunao Tone, the glitch doesn't only mean "error", not just simple interference but in fact the down-to-bottom distortion. Solo for Wounded is recorded from the mess of audio signal created through scratching and pinched originally audible CDs. Yasunao Tone also overrode to error-correcting system of CD player to made such derailing even more unpredictable, adding more noises that randomizes as the damaged CD deteriorates each time it was played.

As a result, Solo for Wounded is fundamentally different from traditional, consciously composed music works. It is mind-provoking both in terms of the resulting sensation and the spirit of sabotaging existing medium. Yasunao Tone's work is inherently a example for post-modernism, where artists directly challenge the scientific concept, constructs and visions. We may not know how critical Yasunao Tone is toward to power and promises of modern engineering such as those of CD players, but his works obviously pioneered music experience into a realm outside precise calculation and intentional design.

Long participating in the Fluxus movement, with the lack of anticipation on the end result of his disc experiments in Solo for Wounded, Yasunao Tone once again demonstrated the long-established Fluxus concept of "perception before comprehensive". Without the burden of moral preaching and grand vision, radical artworks such as Solo for Wounded invited to audience to experience their intuitive response to the raw perception. Despite the music being distorted, unintelligible and even unpleasant, our resulting guts feeling still worth experiencing.

References: 

 Dafoe, T. (2023, March 16). Yasunao Tone, the pioneering composer who changed music forever. AnOther. https://www.anothermag.com/design-living/14750/yasunao-tone-region-of-paramedia-japanese-music-composer 

Roulette Intermedium. (2019, October 18). Yasunao Tone / History of Unheard Music - Roulette. Roulette. https://roulette.org/event/yasunao-tone-history-of-unheard-music/

TONE Yasunao - JAPAN MEDIA ARTS FESTIVAL. (2022, September 3). JAPAN MEDIA ARTS FESTIVAL. https://j-mediaarts.jp/en/award/single/tone-yasunao/index-2.html