Brain Pulse Music

When Masaki Batoh isn’t fronting the Japanese experimental band Ghost, he’s creating music with his mind—literally. A longtime practitioner of acupuncture with his own Tokyo clinic, Batoh obsessed over the idea of creating sounds with “extracted brain waves.” He hired an electronic engineering company to fabricate an extra-sensory EEG-enabled headset that connects to a grid; it transforms brainwaves (from the parietal and frontal lobes) into audible radio waves. What’s crazier is that he sells this instrument for $700 on the Drag City website. “Kumano Codex 1” opens Brain Pulse Music with sounds that resemble glass windchimes playing randomly to something that sounds similar to a melodica/accordion hybrid. “Eye Tracking Test” emits a more haunting ambience, layering shrill electronic tones over fluctuating bass drones to create something that sounds like early Brian Eno taking on contemporary witch house textures. “Kumano Codex 3” is a standout, where Japanese woodwinds, chimes, and hand drums accompany reedy trills formed from meditative thoughts. “Aiki No Okami” closes with more than 10 minutes of innovative psychedelia.