- Concrete Pop -

Naing Naing : concrete sounds as lead musical instruments

(((( NAING NAING ))))

Did you know it ? Your toothbrush can become a musical instrument !? This is more or less a new style of music: with Naing Naing, not only instruments are over, but also synthetic sounds. His music consists almost exclusively of real sounds hunted and captured here and there, and then put together the form of thematic compositions through software sequencers. This Frenchman living in Asia, managed not only to get toothbrushes dancing, ice cubes swinging and toads singing (in tune !) and so on… but also to produce whole songs (therefore melodies, bass & drums) from a unique source of sound. A few examples: In the hands of Naing Naing, a wasp buzz can be transformed into a melody (even a wasp singing a round -canon-), kick, snare and hi-hat and even a genuine tabla composition ("Dervish Bee / Wasp Tabla")… The "boum boum boum" produced by an antiquated diesel generator is turned into a pseudo-guitar, faux bass and artificial drums for a result that defies both Electronica and Industrial Music ("Mi ma la bu")… Edited bird chirping reproduces guitar solos note-for-note ("Wazo")… Crickets cover Haendel's "Sarabande"… Natural sounds of South-East Asian toads and frogs are mixed with bullfrog cries that were digitally processed to produce bellowing infra-bass ("Webbed")… A similar method was used for ice cubes sounding like icebergs ("Ice Cube Music #2"). But Naing Naing reinvents each track… Organic electronica ? Concrete pop ? Music without instrument ? Lastly, through a painstaking work of audio editing and programming, Naing Naing infuses expressivity into computerized music: sounds are alive ! Naing Naing (to be pronounced [9,9]) is the Burmese name of François L'Homer, guitarist of Heimatlos, French cult punk hardcore from the 80's and of Tear of a Doll (experimental hardcore, 90's, Paris). (2004 press release)

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experimental, soundscape, concrete, abstract, surreal, psychedelic computer music... laptop, electronic...

Last update: 04 Jan. 2007 (version 4.5)