Spin-17

Ed Chang : Electronics, Guitar, Sax, The Noise Machine
Motoko Shimizu : Vocals, Turntable, Toys, Cymbals

Motoko Shimizu elecside


PerFormIng	AdulT	MuSic	On	ChilDren'S	ToyS
PerFormIng	ChilDren'S	MuSic	On	AdulT	ToyS

Spin-17 is a duo experimental project which explores contrasts and connections between harmony and noise, electronics and acoustics, toddlers and tea-totallers, obscenity and poetry. No genre is safe and the boundaries between art and doleful indulgence are blurred.

Spin-17 mixes improvisation with experimental composition (with a good amount of caffeine blended in). The effect of diverse influences from Mauricio Kagel to Warner Brothers cartoon soundtracks to early Siouxie and the Banshees can be heard like a diamond in the eye.

Spin-17 performs in NYC at the 226 Series/The Foundry, Tonic, ABC noRio, The Knitting Factory, CBGB's, The Brecht Forum, The Gathering of Tribes Gallery, Theater for the New City, Roulette Intermedium, The New Museum for Contemporary Art, and City College of New York. They have performed at the Trenton Avant Garde Festival in NJ as well as the 1st & 2nd Annual "Fringe" Festivals in Philadelphia and the Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival. Past tours include a 9-city tour in Spring '98 of the Eastern US, an 8-city tour of the Northeastern US in Fall '98 and a 9-city tour of the West coast in 1999.

In October of 2000 the "Spin-17 Small Ensemble" (with Rich Gross, Matthew Heyner, Michael Evans, and Samara Lubelski) performed the "Dracula Lugosi Suite", an imaginary soundtrack to Todd Browning's "Dracula" (and tribute to Bela Lugosi) at Roulette Intermedium in downtown NYC. (A sound sample can be found on the Extras page.)

Spin-17 has been working on a film version of their multimedia puppet show "The Chronicles of Momo" and is hoping to premiere that someday in NYC if it is ever completed.

In 2005, Spin-17 started producing a monthly concert series at 226 East 2nd St #5D, the "226 Series/The Foundry". Each month in an intimate setting sound artists presents new works designed for small spaces and concentrated listening.

SPIN-17's debut CD release (available from Quodlibet Recordings) features their take on John Cage's "Aria" (with a newly-generated "Plunderphonic" mix), fake "Drum & Bass" needle scratching, minimalist toys manipulation, a "guitar explosion" with an homage to Stockhausen's "Hymnen" embedded within, and an original J-Pop single, "Flying".

Ed Chang also performs with Blindfold, DUAL and Ringsteppers.

Motoko Shimizu’s classically trained voice and broad knowledge of traditional and contemporary classical, jazz, and rock composition carry unique stories. Be aware, her voice is everywhere from a clear siren to a wicked old shaman, from a giggling baby to a dirty pussycat with whimsical musical toys as accompaniment.

Motoko graduated from City College in NYC with a degree in music and voice in 1999 and has been studying with Sheila Schonbrun since 1997. In 1998 she sang at NY's Lincoln Center for Bang on a Can's New York premiere of Brian Eno's "Music for Airports". In 2001, she was invited to the Music/OMI International Music Colony and composed & performed “Little Blue and Little Yellow”, a musical text piece for reader, toys and chamber orchestra, based on the children’s book of the same title. This piece received its New York premiere at The Brecht Forum. Since 2003, she has been performing solo improvised shows featuring voice, toys, percussion, and turntables, as well as eclectic song collections. Her most recent projects include collaborations with guitarist Ben Miller and filmmaker Matt Kohn, playing the Siren of Phobos, and a eclectic cabaret style trio with guitarist Clifton Hyde and Viola player Robyn Siwula as well as Spin-17’s new side rock project “Bird Men of China”.

Motoko has performed concerts in both her native Japan and the U.S., including 3 U.S. tours with Spin-17 (Experimental duo with Ed Chang) and performances with various downtown New York improvisors, including Sabir Mateen, Daniel Carter, Donald Miller, Matthew Heyner, Samara Lubelski, Blaise Siwula, the Gold Sparkle Band, Matthew Sullivan, Maria Chavez, Toshi Makihara and Michael Evans as well as Marshall Allen (Sun Ra Arkestra) and the late European bassist Peter Kowald.

Spin-17 (CD)

Described by Borbetomagus’ Donald Miller as “vaudeville experimental”, Spin-17 condenses 50 years of noise music into 50 minutes. Surrounded by horns, turntables, guitars, toys and electronics of every conceivable kind and driven by the scaresexy vocal acrobatics of Motoko Shimizu, Spin-17 does John Cage, plunders plunderphonics, mind-reads Stockhausen and imagines an Invisbl Skratch-pusher. Poetry and obscenity in 15 bento boxes of twisted recipes.

“some of the most inventive, and some of the funnest and funniest sounds you will have heard in quite some time.” – Experimental Musical Instruments

“a sonic amusement park” – Jazz Weekly

Spin-17 is #127 of the 500 Greatest Extreme/Noise Albums of All Time

Spin-17 CD Spin-17

Checkout our CD Samples and The Backroom sections for sample tracks!
Or buy this CD at the Catalog page below.

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