nüvifone™. The navigation phone.Sony Walkman promos are awesome, confusing
Over the past few months, Sony Japan has been marketing its Walkman brand of MP3 players with short, online videos showcasing experimental Japanese musicians. Personally, as someone who loves weird music, I think these video shorts are amazing. I'm not sure if they do anything to make me want to buy a Walkman, but I'm certainly convinced that the Japanese experimental music scene is alive and well.
The video above shows off Atsuhiro Ito, a musician who plays a mic'd up fluorescent tube called the Optron, which he runs through a series of guitar effects. The video is enough to induce epilepsy, but the percussive, screeching sounds he's able to create are unreal.
In the video below, Taeji Sawai creates a dreamy down-tempo song using a lightpen and a complex rig of cameras, projectors and software that transform his gestures into beats and melodies.
You can find four other mind-blowing performances over at Pink Tentacle, including Fuyuki Yamakawa playing his skull with a bone conduction mic and a cacophonous tin man banging his way though an unsuspecting neighborhood.
Also, if you particularly liked the two artists above, there's a nice video of the two playing together. It's not quite Clapton and McCartney, but visually it's pretty cool.
Donald Bell is CNET Reviews' senior editor for MP3 players and portable audio, and one half of the MP3 Insider blog and weekly podcast. He also likes getting his hands dirty with digital audio tools for musicians and DJs.
Donald Bell is an electronic musician, a veteran record store employee, and a fearless hardware hacker. He's also CNET's Senior Editor for MP3 and digital audio.
Jasmine France is CNET's resident digital audio doyenne, writing and editing product reviews, crave blogs, and feature stories on all things MP3. And if you need advice on headphones, she's your girl.
