DJ Sniff

EP (Evan Parker)

Label: psi Country: UK

"EP is a fascinating disc on several levels. Its title is not short for "extended play"---how many people today remember those?-but for Psi proprietor Evan Parker. The disc is an elaborate homage to Parker. Its front cover photograph shows DJ Sniff holding up an LP; close inspection of its label reveals that it is Parker's Monoceros (Incus, 1978). Inside, a second photograph (both by Caroline Forbes) shows Sniff against a pale background, with the [arm from a turntable] arranged behind him so that it appears to protrude from his head like a horn - owing an obvious debt to Roberto Masotti's well-known photograph of Parker that appeared on the back cover of Monoceros.

Given that Parker recorded Monoceros using the direct-cut process (bypassing tape, noise reduction and editing), so that "the sound of the saxophone in that room was reproduced most convincingly," it is an intriguing choice. The music on EP is its complete antithesis, having been completely created in STEIM studio in Amsterdam, and so not the faithful reproduction of any performance.

[...] Sniff combines short excerpts, from Parker's records, with electronics into elaborate sound collages. Often the sound of the saxophone is interspersed with the telltale scratching sound that, from Grandmaster Flash onwards, has been the trademark of a DJ at work. The pieces largely retain the sound of Parker's horn playing, yet have structures and dynamics that are very different to any Parker piece. It is tempting to go back to Parker's original recordings to try and track down the origins of the sounds that Sniff employs, but a moment's reflection suggests that would be a time-consuming folly. Better to savor the end results in the spirit in which they were created. [...]"-John Eyles, All About Jazz

DJ SNIFF

"dj sniff (Takuro Mizuta Lippit) is a turntable musician working in the field of improvised and experimental music. His music focuses on the live reconstruction and narrativization of the phonographically amplified - the music, the sound, the technology and the past. To achieve this, he uses a unique setup of custom hardware and software along with one turntable and DJ mixer. He hopes he can reflect his influences from Hip-Hop and Free Jazz not stylistically but through an exploration of a distinct instrumental voice and practice. He is also a concert/event curator for electronic music and a researcher of music technology.

While studying Art History and Philosophy in Tokyo, he was active as a DJ in the underground electronic music scene and formed a collective called smashTV productions which organized genre-mixing events such as anti-Gravity and bistro-Smash!. In 2002, he moved to New York to pursue graduate studies in computer music and physical computing at NYU'sITP (Interactive Telecommunications Program). During this period he released a handful of DJ mixes.

Since 2005 he has been involved with STEIM's (Studio for Electro-Instrumental Music, Amsterdam) R&D lab. From 2007 on, he is STEIM's Artistic Director, guiding the institution's creative output and representing it's activities through performing and lecturing around the world.

In 2010, he released his first solo album "the play-back" through lebanese label Annihaya. During the first half of 2011 his 2nd album based on Evan Parker recordings will be released from Parker's label Psi. He regularly performs in projects with eRikM, Tatsuhisa Yamamoto, Astro Twin (Ami Yoshida & Utah Kawasaki), Adachi Tomomi, Keir Neuringer, Raed Yassin, Yutaka Makino. In the past he has played with Evan Parker, Otomo Yoshihide, Akira Sakata, David Toop, Martin Tetreault, Michel Waisvisz, DJ L?K?O, Ryu Hankil, John Edwards, Mark Sanders, John Richards, and many others."