Music review: Delaying the apocalypse with Mouse on the Keys

It was the night of the apocalypse, or at least that was what the Mayans supposedly believed. While everyone else knew there was really nothing to this, a group of Japanese musicians performed as if it was their last day on Earth. Instrumental jazz/math/post-rockers of Mouse on the Keys played last Friday night, probably with a sense of compulsion. The kind of compulsion that would make some people in the audience think: maybe the world was really combustible that night, and banging on the drums and pounding on the keys that way would actually set everything on fire.  

B-side at The Collective in Makati was the Philippine stopover of the Japanese band’s Asian tour “Machinic Phylum.” That night, they performed the way they would usually perform in larger venues: as if there really was no tomorrow. 

 

Hours before the show, we saw them walking around that small art district in Makati. For someone who had only been recently introduced to the band, this was good enough opportunity to talk to them and to know more about the band, language barrier notwithstanding.

 

Post-rock and post-war  

Composing the trio that is Mouse on the Keys are keyboardists Atsushi Kiyota and Daisuke Niitome, and drummer/composer Akira Kawasaki.   

The band started out in 2006. Akira and Atsushi, both came from what was said to be an influential indie band in Japan called Nine Days Wonder. A year later, Daisuke joined the two, forming the core group of Mouse on the Keys. 

 

“We listen to a lot of contemporary classical music, particularly Debussy and Ravel,” Akira began telling us about some of the music influencing their sound. He added that they also listen to American math/post-rock group Don Caballero, and look up to Japanese musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, who is known in their country not only for his classical and electronic music, but also for being an activist protesting against nuclear power and too much industrialization.

 

The product of their varied influences is the music of Mouse on the Keys, combining their brand of math- and post-rock with jazz-funk and electronica. They eventually came out with three albums, including one (An Anxious Object) which was said to be a musical commentary on how post-World War 2 Tokyo has turned its back from old norms and embraced a more modernized and Westernized culture. Perhaps this part had a bit of Ryuichi Sakamoto tribute in it.

 

Regardless of political or social leanings, what they really wanted for the band, according to Akira in an interview back in 2010, was to create a sound that was driven by his drumming style.

 

“The idea is to mix aggressive drumming style which I have built through doing hardcore band for many years and serious piano sound,” Akira had said. Later, during the show, we would find out what Akira meant with “aggressive.”

 

The feral Mouse on the Keys  

As we went deeper into the night, as the Mayan prediction was about to reach the deadline for it to be proven wrong, the young men from instrumental post-rock band tide/edit began the show. Following this group were Diego Mapa (of Pedicab and Dayuhan) and Jay Gapasin (Radioactive Sago Project) performing as the electronic duo Tarsius. “These are the masters of badassery,” commented some people about the second front act, while we see Akira hovering around, watching, taking pictures, and appreciating the said badassery unfolding before him. 

 

An unexpected performance came right after: Chi Brotonel of Intastella Burst (the gig’s organizer) played drums in a free jam with Mouse on the Keys session saxophonist Jun Nemoto. A few minutes after this free jam finished, we see Akira, Atsushi, and Daisuke take their places at the center of B-side. People in the audience were hushed in awe as they gathered around the circular stage setup. The lights went off, and we hear Akira requesting the photographers to never use flash. And, if we were to push for that end-of-the-world bit, there was a moment of ominous silence and darkness at the beginning of their set.

 

Breaking this theatrical blackout was the sound of the keyboards, in sync with the flashing of images on the walls of B-Side’s interiors: this was video installation art (courtesy of Cou, who came with the band) and music Mouse on the Keys has been known for. The gloomy Completed Nihilism was an apt first song, tempering the mood that was earlier set by the free jam of roaring drums and saxophone.

 

The faster, stirring rhythms of Spectres de Mouse came next, keeping the crowd on edge as they watched both keyboardists Atsushi and Daisuke, who seemed to be racing against each other. Then there was Akira, whose ferocious drum-playing reminded us of Takashi Kashikura of Toe, another instrumental, math-rock band which we saw a few months back. Apparently, Takashi also previously did drum programming for Mouse on the Keys.

 

The band also played other songs from the album An Anxious Object that night, including crowd favorites like the sax-heavy jazz track Seiren and the emotive Ouroboros, named after the ancient dragon symbol depicting re-creation and eternal return.

 

The Japanese band shifted gears easily, that night, from the playful and effervescent (Memory) to mad and agitating music (Plateau). As more songs were played, the energy from the trio became more frenzied, provoking the audience to be in an equally fervid state. At the center of the room’s organized chaos was Akira who, in his mad drum-playing, seemed to be taking command as how a conductor would, with his orchestra of rapid-fingered keyboardists, a cheering video installation artist, and the screaming fans.   

Following the eleven-song set were two more tracks: Soil and Toccatina. Making sure that the encore performance was unforgettable, the trio delivered something that is nothing less than extraordinary. Atsushi and Daisuke pounded furiously on their keyboards while Akira stood on top of a ledge then dove into the people who gladly carried him around till he was brought back to the center of the stage. The audience may be smaller than what the members of Mouse on the Keys were used to, but they delivered what was usually expected from their live performances: it was altogether mad and explosive. — GMA News All photos by Ordonie Egon Layson