music
Heirs to the jazz of Miles Davis and the avant-garde of Autechre or Ryoji Ikeda, goat (jp) are one of those bands you can’t get to know without seeing them live. With a discreet name, somewhere between their Icelandic and Greek namesakes and the slang of the Greatest Of All Time, the Japanese Goat (jp) are challenging the concept of what it means to be a rock band. The band led by Koshiro Hino explores the minimal characteristics of percussive sound, emphasising rhythm and beats. The melodic instruments, such as the guitar and saxophone, are silenced, leaving only the bark and the rhythmic base. Less interested in an academic exploration of what all this might mean, the Japanese band simplifies things. They make music for the body, for dancing and for those who listen to them to get completely lost in.
After eight years, the band returns to the stage with a new disc, Joy in Fear. As usual, Hino leads from the guitar, supported by bassist Atsumi Tagami, who is joined by Akihiko Ando on saxophone, while Takafumi Okada and Rai Tateishi occupy the percussion. On stage, these five human musicians enter into a rhythmic ritual that combines the urban with the tribal and progressively transforms them into machines. A unique approach that materialises in a sound that could well be described as instrumental techno.
support portuguese republic – culture / directorate-general for the arts. rtcp – network of portuguese theatres and cinemas
