Ikue Mori

by Matthew Carlin
Ikue Mori has been a key member of the downtown music scene since moving to New York from Tokyo in 1977. She began her career playing drums for the seminal "no wave" group DNA, which she formed with guitarist Arto Lindsay and keyboardist Tim Wright. After the short-lived but highly influential group broke up in 1982, Mori began improvising live and recording with experimental musicians like Fred Frith, Tom Cora and, most notably, John Zorn. By 1985, Mori had completely abandoned the standard drum set in favor of her own unique drum machine/sampler set-up. Her signature instrument evolved into a highly customized arrangement of three self-programmed drum machines which she could trigger simultaneously to perform live, as well as for use recording.
In 1990, Mori received an NEA grant to work with filmmaker Abigail Child, which marked the beginning of several soundtrack projects for the musician. Throughout the 90s, Mori played and recorded with countless musicians, including projects/albums Death Praxis with vocalist Tenko, Painted Desert with guitarists Marc Ribot and Robert Quine and Death Ambient with guitarist Frith and bassist Kato Hideki. Mori's career-defining compositions on Hex Kitchen (1995) incorporate impressive performances by several of Mori's most frequent collaborators, including electric harp player Zeena Parkins, vocalist Catherine Jauniaux and trombonist Jim Staley. In 1996, Mori released her first solo drum machines album, Garden, followed by B/Side (1998), a collection of tracks originally recorded for Child's films. Mori continued to work with a myriad of performers in the avant-garde and electronic scenes in the late 1990s, including collaborations with gifted trumpeter Dave Douglas, Mr. Bungle vocalist Mike Patton, Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon, free jazz bassist William Parker and extensive work with composer/saxophonist John Zorn. Mori had several performance highlights in 1999, including an appearance on stage with Sonic Youth, a debut performance of new compositions with DJ Olive in New York City and an improvised duo with Chicago electronic music Jim O'Rourke. Ikue Mori is one of the most respected musicians in the downtown scene, renowned for her abilities as an accomplished composer and improviser and as one of the foremost electronic music innovators.