Far East Network

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The core concept of the FEN (Far East Network) project is collaboration within the Asian scene. It was initiated by the legendary Japanese artist Otomo Yoshihide, who invited Ryu Hankila (Korea), Yan Jun (China) and Yuen Chee Wai (Singapore). All of them are also organizers who hosted other members of the group in their countries, and it was this mutual help that was the impetus for the founding of FEN. Their collaborative work stands somewhere between abstract noise rock and sophisticated noise, with guitars and digital as well as analogue electronics as sound sources. FEN is primarily based on Yoshihide's particular gift for bending guitar sound, stretching chords into soundscapes, and working with reverb and feedback, but the electronic counterpoint is also important - the grainy sound of static electricity, aggressive bursts of noise, melodic ornamentation. Comparisons to Keiji Haino's band Fushitsusha come to mind; both in their lack of a regard for conventions and in the willingness to explore both searing noise and sonic ruminations. Out of torrents of noise, echoes of jazz, blues and Eastern drone emerge. Intensity goes hand in hand with complexity and variety.