Intuitive Music

A collection of musical and visual short stories, written, performed, and drawn by Aki Tsuyuko from a series of books that Thrill Jockey will be releasing, with upcoming artists in the series including Daniel Higgs and Thomas Campbell. The books were produced with the help of JNL Graphic Design, producers of the catalogs for Chicago’s Renaissance Society.

Tsuyuko was born in Gifu, Japan, in 1974 and began taking electronic organ lessons when she was a child. In her late teens, Tsuyuko discovered and was influenced by Eric Satie’s piano pieces. She began to play these pieces on electronic organ, interpreting them in her own way. It was through this process that Tsuyuko got into her own music and composition. In the mid 90’s, she sent her music to Nobukazu Takemura, which lead to release of her music and years of collaboration between the two musicians. Tsuyuko has performed around the world singing and playing keyboards, and also creating video art and clay animation for their performances. Aki Tsuyuko has performed with Tortoise, Sonic Youth, Jim O’Rourke, Brokeback, Yo La Tengo, and Arto Lindsay.