Synopsis:

The Observatory’s acclaimed experimental music festival Playfreely is back with a vengeance, this time as Closer to the Edge in collaboration with Japan’s Asian Meeting Festival (AMF). Boasting a stellar cast of 15 musicians, this fourth edition ignites fresh conversations from all quarters of music-making, particularly from Japan and Southeast Asia. This 2-night programme presents constellations of solo, duo and ensemble performances as enticing as they are precarious, expanding possibilities in new music, pushing things closer to the edge.

Playfreely is a music initiative by The Observatory focusing on cross-genre, cross-cultural and unfettered music creation plus collective improvisation that emboldens spontaneous, inventive musical collaboration between musicians from diverse musical backgrounds. Asian Meeting Festival (part of Asian Music Network – AMN) is an experimental music festival in Japan helmed by Otomo Yoshihide, with co-curators dj sniff and Yuen Chee Wai.

Closer to the Edge is the fourth incarnation of Playfreely done in collaboration with Japan’s AMF and with event partner The Projector. It is also the first edition of AMF presented outside of Japan.

Lineup:
Atsusi Arakawa (Koriyama)
Junji Hirose (Tokyo)
Jojo Hiroshige (Tokyo)
Sudarshan Chandra Kumar (Kuala Lumpur)
Takashi Makino (Yokohama)
An Murazato (Omuta)
Otomo Yoshihide (Tokyo)
Senyawa (Jogjarkata)
Dharma (Singapore)
dj sniff (Hong Kong)
Tara Transitory (Chiang Mai)
Vivian Wang (Singapore)
C. Spencer Yeh (New York)
Yuen Chee Wai (Singapore)

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Programme:

Night 1, 8 December (Thursday), 8pm

Solo performances by:

- Master improviser Otomo Yoshihide (Tokyo) on electric guitar

- Experimental film artist Takashi Makino (Tokyo) presenting a live audio-visual work – space noise 3D using a 16mm film projector

- Junji Hirose (Tokyo) who improvises with the saxophone

Improvisation sets of duos, trios, quartets & ensemble work by other musicians

Night 2, 9 December (Friday), 8pm

Solo performance by:
- Jojo Hiroshige (Tokyo) from seminal noise band, Hijokaidan, on electric guitar

Performance segment by:
- Senyawa (Jogjakarta) comprising of Rully Shabara on vocals and Wukir Suryadi on DIY bamboo instruments

Improvisation sets of duos, trios, quartets & ensemble work by other musicians