GHOST’S MASAKI BATOH TO RELEASE BRAIN PULSE MUSIC ON FEBRUARY 28TH VIA DRAG CITY

ALL PROCEEDS TO BENEFIT RED CROSS JAPAN AND VICTIMS OF EARTHQUAKE

The latest effort from legendary Ghost frontman Masaki Batoh is Brain Pulse Music, a collection of seven prayers and requiems to the victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake. The album is being released Feb. 28th via Drag City. Originally conceived as an attempt to create music extracted from brain waves (via a brain pulse reader attached to an oscillator, dubbed the BPM Machine), the project, and more importantly, Japan, changed forever on March 11th, 2011. The Great East Japan earthquake struck, thousands of lives were lost, and the stricken northern regions of Japan were devastated.Scheduled blackouts and radioactive contamination from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant forced Batoh to temporarily evacuate Tokyo, postponing the record and bringing any semblance of normalcy to a halt.

Batoh eventually returned and commenced his work at his acupuncture clinic, and he began noticing that many of his patients complained of mental instability and anxiety following the disaster. With his family still in evacuation as he concentrated on treating his patients, the concept of this album slowly began to come into focus. What was initially to be an austere demonstration of experimental bio-electric procedures was fully realized as part of Batoh’s ongoing effort to use electonic and musical processes to reconcile the spirit and the body. Several BPM pieces are featured alongside music featuring entirely acoustic and traditional Japanese folk instruments, focusing on ritual calming and healing. These acoustic recordings are the purest expressions of Batoh’s traditional folk influence that he has released in over twenty years of music-making, a deep and soulful expression intended to aid the anxieties of those all around him. And so from the rubble of Japan’s damaged bodies and minds, the power of Brain Pulse Music has emerged.

All proceeds from the sale of Brain Pulse Music will benefit Red Cross Japan and the victims of the earthquake.

Watch the promotional video about Brain Pulse Music here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI4Mge8nLMw

BRAIN PULSE MUSIC TRACKLISTING
1. Kumano Codex 1: Shou (wind pipes) and Nambu Furin (bells)
2. Eye tracking test: BPM machines (2 machines at same time)
3. Kumano Codex 2: 9 people play Konchiki (small gong hit by dear horn stick) walking in a circle
4. Kumano Codex 3: Kodaiko (small drum), Shakubyoshi, Hansho (Buddhist gong), Kagura suzu (bells) and Shakuhachi (flute)
5. Kumano Codex 4: Odaiko (big drum) , Konchiki, Mokugyo (Buddhist wood block), Hyoushi-gi (wood block) and Shakuhachi
6. Kumano Codex 5: Kin (Buddhist bells)
7. Aiki no Okami: BPM machines (2 machines), Plasma Thermin, Springer FX and Norito (Shinto chant)

About the BPM Machine:
BPM is an acronym for Brain Pulse Music. The BPM machine created for this project was been developed and built by MKC Inc., upon Batoh’s request, and consists of headgear and a motherboard. In order to see the immediate effects on the level of brain waves, a special set of goggles that project indicator lamps (synchronized with the motherboard) are worn during the performance of the recording session. The headgear is worn by the performer, which picks up brain waves from the parietal and frontal lobes and sends them, via radio waves, to the motherboard. The motherboard then converts the radio waves via a generator into wave pulses, which are then output as sound. Due to the concurrency of the action, the
second-by-second reflection of our mental state renders itself as sound and we hear it instantaneously. By controlling one’s mental condition, one can manipulate sound without having to hold a musical instrument, though this requires training to a certain extent. Not everyone will be able to control the sound to their satisfaction on their first attempt. Through a state of total relaxation, or by reaching a state of “anatta” (not-self), the machine captures the microscopic fluctuation of brain waves. The “awakening” that emerges from a relaxed mental state becomes an important key to this program.