Akio Suzuki
Akio Suzuki, born in 1941 in Pyongyang and raised in Japan, is known as a pioneer of sound art, though the breadth of his work far exceeds that label; he prefers to be seen as a quester after sound and space. In 1963 he threw a bucket of junk down a staircase as a first "self-study of the relationship between man and objects", and later built the echo instrument Analapos and played stones, walls and the wind. From the late 1970s he developed a practice he calls Conceptual Soundwork, using simple, austere rules and objects close at hand in a mode of intellectual play.
Soundsphere
Akio Suzuki has always been an artist in search of unexpected sound, and curiosity has been his guiding principle. Whether that be curiosity for objects, spaces or places, his work has been guided by a porousness and pliability which has allowed him to explore an enormous sonic terrain. This freedom has also allowed him to develop a language in sound that remains utterly his own. Nowhere is this more evident than in his approach to instrument creation. During the 1970s Akio Suzuki devised a seri…
いっかいこっきりの「日向ぼっこの空間」/ Only Just Once, Space in the sun
2026 stock Space in the Sun was one of Akio Suzuki’s major sound projects, a unique construction completed in 1988 and located on the merdian line, which took around 18 months to build. Its purpose was to allow Suzuki to spend one day, on the autumnal equinox, purifying his sense of hearing in nature. This release comprises a 44 page book containing plans and materials from the time alongside texts, and two CDs of environmental recordings created on site at Space in the Sun. To date only tiny fr…
Music on Paper by Chance (Score)
A rare printed score on parchment paper, approximately A3 size. Originally folded and sent as an invitation card to an exhibition, this work embodies Suzuki's philosophy of listening, chance, and the spatial dimensions of sound. Akio Suzuki (*1941 Pyongyang) is known as a pioneer of sound art, but the breadth of his activities and the form of his works far exceeds the normal boundaries of sound art. It is perhaps more as a "quester after sound and space" that he has received the most attention f…
Epiphany (2LP)
Original 1982 double-LP set with gatefold sleeve on Incus featuring improvisations by various combinations of a large group of who's who of the international free improvisation scene, including Derek Bailey, Fred Frith, Akio Suzuki, Keith Tippett, George Lewis, etc..
Ka I Ki
Huge Tip! Limited LP (w/ download card), 300 copies. A site-specific sound piece created by Akio Suzuki, a master of sound art, with a transcendent echo space. Since the 1960s, Akio Suzuki, a pioneer of sound art, has focused on "listening" and has visited numerous echo spaces such as caves, tunnels, palaces, and oil tanks in search of places of resonance, calling himself an "echo man." This work is a record of the master's being led to a 40-second otherworldly world of reverberation inside the…
Stone
"With concentration, or elevated tension as he has called it, Akio Suzuki enters completely into the substance of sound, its emergence and its passing. What he does with sound may propose a rarefied world to many people, and yet it possesses a persuasive quality of rightness. One of the most difficult aspects of music and soundwork to explain is the concept of ‘right action’. How is that music can be evaluated almost immediately, just as quickly as a fire alarm or a baby’s cry? When Akio perform…
The Middle Matter – Sound as interstice (Book)
*2024 Stock* This reader brings together artistic and theoretical contributions on the instertitial nature of sound. This issue is addressed through a variety of prisms, such as format, language, politics, or new technologies. The Middle Matter is a reader which brings together thoughts on the nature of sound; its substance, specific qualities, and potential—with a specific curiosity to its propensity to occupy the spaces in-between, the instertitial gaps between different spaces, times, cultur…
Only Just Once, Space in the Sun
Space in the Sun was one of Akio Suzuki’s major sound projects, a unique construction completed in 1988 and located on the meridian line, which took around 18 months to build. Its purpose was to allow Suzuki to spend one day, on the autumnal equinox, purifying his sense of hearing in nature. This release comprises a 44 page book containing plans and materials from the time alongside texts, and two CDs of environmental recordings created on site at Space in the Sun. To date only tiny fragments of…
Ta Yu Ta I
"I listened to the demo recordings for the “Ta Yu Ta I” CD. The track begins with the sound of a stone, and, for a moment I doubted my ears, thinking that it was the iwafue stone flute that I had lost overseas in 2005. The flute actually used on this recording was a replica on an ancient flute, one of three that have been handed down within my family. But until that moment when I heard the sound of it echoing inside my skull, I had completely forgotten about it. It was my living flesh that breat…
Going Out – Walking, Listening, Soundmaking (Book)
Tip! 580 Pages. An anthology that traces the long legacy of interdisciplinary experimentations at the intersection of walking, listening, and soundmaking.Since the 1960s, the act of walking has provided a way for artists and musicians to escape the formality of the concert hall or institutional venue, engaging with shifting public spaces, natural environments, and the social and political sphere. Walking redefines notions of composer, performer, public, and music itself, while opening new modes …
New Sense of Hearing
Takehisa Kosugi and Akio Suzuki improvising at Tokyo's Aeolian Hall on 2 April 1979, Kosugi on voice, violin and radio transmitter, Suzuki on the Analapos and other instruments of his own invention. First released in 1980.
Sound Art at Het Apollohuis
*2022 stock* This amazing double CD Box presents excerpts from previously unpublished concert and performance recordings of important artists who appeared during the lifespan of Het Apollohuis - between 1980 and 1997, artists presented a panoply of exhibitions, installations, performances, and concerts, and engaged in lively debate on art theory, at Het Apollohuis in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Under the direction of founders Paul and Hélène Panhuysen, the building became an important center for…
Breathing Spirit Forms (Book + CD)
* Matt laminate and embossed sleeve, insert card, CD and24-page book with text by David Toop, drawings by Akio Suzuki and photography by Lawrence English * In August 2013, David Toop and Akio Suzuki visited Australia. During a residency on Tamborine Mountain (an anglicized version of the Yugambeh word Jambreen), the pair were joined by Lawrence English for a series of site specific, environment-led improvisations created around the fringes of the Tamborine plateau. Embedded in place, these reco…
Odds and Ends
* long out of print, few copies back in stock * Akio Suzuki has been making earthy yet ethereal sounds for over four decades now, all quietly emanating from the Japanese countryside. Born in 1941, he's made outdoor sound the focus of his career, constructing installations that transcend space and time, turning the outside world into a lucid daydream. In 1997, Suzuki analyzed the French town Enghien-Les-Bains, precisely mapping out (with footsteps) areas where echoes were most resonant. He built …
Ki-date
Few copies back in stock, longtime sold-out at the source. This is Akio Suzuki's brand new fantastic item consisted of an exhibition catalog and DVD boxed! He carried out an exhibition at a small museum in Aichi pref. in last summer. This DVD includes his installations, talking with poet Syuntaro Tanikawa, live performances and some past events in 3 hours and a half !! Also small catalog is included many photographs of this exhibition and very rare performances in earlier period. 189 pp, text is…
Gi n ga
**Edition of 300. Limited Edition CD. Hand-numbered edition of 300. 6-page digipak with silver foil stamp, packed in hand-assembled glassine paper with hand-stamped seal. Printed in Indonesia** Akio Suzuki and Aki Onda have been collaborating extensively in recent years. Though differ in generation and performance practice, these Japanese sound artists share an astonishingly inventive, open-ended, and in situ approach to the infinite and variegated possibilities of sound. Suzuki and Onda often u…
Zeitstudie
Tip! During one of the most collectively challenging years in living memory, Lawrence English’s Room40 has managed to beat the odds and consistently deliver rays of light through the darkness, reminding us of what great art is all about and its importance in times like this. 2020 has already seen the label drop incredible albums by Werner Dafeldecker, Rafael Toral, David Toop, Phill Niblock, Ellen Fullman & Theresa Wong, Merzbow, Beatriz Ferreyra, and handful of others. Now they’re at it again w…
Analapos
Matte laminate CD, embossed artwork, insert card and 28 page book. In 1979, Akio Suzuki recorded a performance, ’New Sense Of Hearing’, at the Nagoya American Centre. During the performance, Suzuki used voice, turntables, glass harmonica and his self-designed instrument the Analapos to create a series of improvised pieces that effectively charted out his sonic investigations for the proceeding decades. In 1980 these recordings were issued by ALM records as Analapos, the first work made publicly…
Resonant Spaces
Edition of 300. Comes with 16pp booklet. The work presented here for the very first time is the full documentation of Japanese sound artist and instruments builder Akio Suzuki’s solo works performed as part of ‘Resonant Spaces’, a tour with UK saxophonist John Butcher arranged in 2006 by the Arika organisation. ‘Resonant Spaces’ allowed people to experience sound in some of the remotest regions of Scotland for a series of site-specific performances in natural, prehistoric, manmade and industria…
Jumping and Standing 1984
Limited edition pressing of 300 copies * Includes text insert by Akio Suzuki. Originally recorded in 1984, “Jumping and Standing” consists of a live performance at Musashino Art University by pioneering Japanese sound artist Akio Suzuki, accompanied by five toy rabbits. This long-awaited release epitomizes Suzuki’s approach to performance, imbued with a characteristic sense of humor and an organic interplay with his audiences, as evinced by uproarious laughter heard on the opening track. Now som…
Ke I Te Ki
Room40 release Akio Suzuki and Aki Onda's Ke I Te Ki. "Akio Suzuki and I have been performing together frequently for the last five years; we have a tendency to perceive sound as space, or to always consider sound in relation to space. We don't usually hear sound sources as they actually are, since they are always modified by a space's acoustics and its reflections, absorptions, and attenuation. Sound is affected by the conditions and characteristics of a particular setting. We respond to the ex…
Immediate Landscapes
Sound artist Akio Suzuki crisscrosses the world with his self-made instruments. British tenor/soprano sax player John Butcher is a leading figure in improvised music. These two musicians have been carrying out duo performances since 2002. The six tracks on this CD are recordings of their duos in Scotland in 2006 and Tokyo in 2015. In June 2006, an event was held in which Suzuki and Butcher visited and performed in places around Scotland that have highly distinctive acoustic characteristics. Butc…
A i sha
Needless to say, Akio Suzuki is one of the representative sound artists in Japan. Many of his previous releases are sometimes interpreted as the work of a hermit or wizard creating beautiful sounds with his self-made musical instrument called "Analapos," glass harmonica (De Koolmees), and stone flute, but the title of Suzuki's first sound piece, aidan ni Mono wo Nageru (Throwing Things at the Stairs) at Nagoya Station in 1963, reflects his perspective on the noises in his work. This LP consists …
Gelbe Musik Editions 1999 - 2000
An amazing re-issue of three extremely rare and highly sought-after CDRs only made available during exhibitions curated by Ursula Block's Gelbe MUSIK shop & gallery in Berlin, Germany: Akio Suzuki: '75.6.30. Akio Suzuki: Suzuki-Type Glass Harmonica "De Koolmees". Akio Suzuki: Tanabata. Because it has since been discovered that one of the discs was given a title based on a mistaken performance date ('75.6.30) and another was copied from an incorrect audio master (Tanabata) in addition to th…
ma ta ta bi
2025 Restock. Two masters of Japanese experimental music unite on this extraordinary document, captured during a three-hour performance in an abandoned Brussels space in June 2013. Akio Suzuki and Aki Onda represent different generations and approaches to sound art, yet their collaboration reveals profound aesthetic kinship.
Suzuki, a pioneer whose work has transcended conventional sound art boundaries since the 1970s, brings his signature arsenal: analapos (his invented echo instrument utilizin…
Mu Ro Bi Ko
Full concert recording from Suzuki’s first performance in Milano. Three different sections played on Analapos (one of these is the spiral echo instrument consisting of a coil spring and two iron cylinders that function as resonating chambers, and is played with the voice or by hand), a selection of small stones, and the De Koolmess Glass Harmonica. Recorded in April 2003 at A+MBookstore (a small storefront gallery and art bookstore in central Milano) by Pierre-Olivier Boulant. With three ne…
Boombana echoes
'I had the pleasure to meet and record with Akio Suzuki late in 2005. Having discovered his work a good few years before that, I had always been impressed with his clear passion for the expressive nature of sound - not merely as a vibrational art form, but also for its mystic, perhaps even spiritual qualities. His many experiments with sound, space and environment were a great inspiration for me and still to this day fill me with a great sense of wonder (no doubt a result of Suzuki's magician li…
Oto - Date In Wakayama 2005
Sound Artist Akio Suzuki carried out an exhibition around Wakayama city (south of Osaka) in 2005. This catalog contains some photographs of installation, interview, drawing and text. Attended CD includes field recording on his action "Oto-date walk" (hearing the environmental sounds at points of walking area) and performance. Recording and mix by Hans Peter Kuhn. 86pp, text in Japanese, English and French.
K7 Box
This CD is consisting of 9 tracks mainly his self-made sound object 'Analapos' and 'De Koolmees', and 2 tracks of them are recorded for announce sound of opening and closing of Yokosuka Museum of Art. They are so clear and spacy. Booklet is written by himself, David Toop and others. Text in Japanese and English.ALM Records is well known label that has released many avant-garde LP titles in 70-80's. Especially about Akio Suzuki, two LPs has been released - obscure solo LP (limited 100 copies) and…
Resonances: Akio Suzuki - Ossip Zadkine
A catalog around the exhibition 'résonances: akio suzuki - Ossip Zadkine' in Paris at Musée Zadkine in 2004. Texts in French and English + CD with recordings of performances of akio suzuki and a sound walk recorded by Eric La Casa.
Tubridge 99 -00
RESTOCKED, reduced price “I think of Akio Suzuki as a kind of magician, perhaps the most charming, engaging artist I’ve seen, Japanese musician and inventor, instrument builder and shaman Akio Suzuki is probably unknown to most of you. But we think his work is utterly captivating and crucial; it deserves a much bigger audience. Akio has been performing, teaching and building instruments for nearly 40 years. His music is simple and pure, and beautifully unworried by the rules of modern music. He …
Na-Gi 1997
A CD of minimalist environmental sounds by this Japanese sound-artist Akio Suzuki. This music was recorded in Takano, Tango-cho, the northern-most coast of Kyoto, where I live. The bay surrounded by volcanic rock caves is the place where the mighty sounds of waves of the open sea have their muffled echo. Seawater flows into the hollows in the rock again and again like breathing in and breathing out. Spring water constantly drips in the cave, and now and then the wind from the meadow above the ch…
Breath - taking
Since an appearance at Derek Bailey’s Company Week in the late 1970s, Suzuki’s visits to the UK have been few. The day after his British Museum show he played an improvised duo with David Toop at the Sound 323 record shop in Highgate. This was a delicate, probing set, in which Suzuki got much mileage from a polished brass plate, spun, scraped and hit. Toop meanwhile moved from crackling dried flower stalks to dog whistles, and embarked on adventures in feedback oozing from a microphone beneath a…