The Rainstick Orchestra

You can hear the sounds of minimalist composers Philip Glass and Steve Reich in the music of Rainstick Orchestra but the band prefers to explain it as "wide-eyed hyperlink music for waking-dreamtime." Members Baku Tsunoda and Naomichi Tanaka met in 2000 when they were both DJing at the same club in Tokyo. Tsunoda had played in a Yellow Magic Orchestra tribute band and a JB's-styled backing band while Tanaka was spending his time playing in punk bands and collecting every Madchester record he could find in Japan. When they joined together, it was the influence of composer John Cage that took over, not only his sound, but also his methods of composition. Soon the duo was looking to the arts other than music for their influence. Using paintings, sculptures, and other media as their muse, Rainstick Orchestra recorded their debut, The Floating Glass Key in the Sky. The album of "delicate systems music" was released by Ninja Tune in 2005.