YUKO ARAKI
Experimental Noise Artist
based in Tokyo, Japan
Yuko Araki is one of a number of female artists emerging from Japan that are redefining the
outer boundaries of noise, post-industrial techno and experimental electronics.
Raised as a pianist, Araki’s teenage obsession with metal opened a gateway towards
various types of intense sonics. Exploring a range of diverse music projects over the past
decade (KUUNATIC, Concierto de la Familia), her solo work resolved in 2019 after she
developed an approach to freeform analog noise, releasing her first EP “I” via Indonesian
label Gerpfast Kolektif and her debut album “II” via Italian label Commando Vanessa.
Working with a reductive set of tools, her methodology was to create work that created a
sense of timbral density and complexity through a weaving together of competing elements.
In 2021 Australian Label Room40 released “End of Trilogy”, a record of unpredictable
momentum and tempered ferocity. Even at its most intense, Yuko Araki’s work maintains a
sense of playfulness, and a determination not to succumb to mere sonic nihilism.In 2023 Araki surveils an expanded terrain with IV, released via Australian Label
Room40.Moving outward from the orbit of her End Of Trilogy edition, Araki creates a wholly
more bludgeoning sound world. Working at the nexus of ritual, noise, sub sonics and
crushing rhythms, her latest recording is resolutely embodied, smothering the listener in
undulating pressure waves. She also summons an altogether otherworldly approach to
voice, which operates as fugitive spirits within their caustic, post-industrial sound spaces she
composes.
This interest in voice is accentuated with special contributions from guests including Endon’s
Taichi Nagura.
On August 30th 2024 Room40 released a new album, ”Zenjitsutan -前日譚” (prequel in
Japanese); this is the 0 (Zero) of the artist's numbered album series. And it's a declaration of
love toward long-form noise drone sets.
Yuko Araki’s performances have taken her across Europe, the UK, Asia, and Canada. She
has appeared at respected festivals and venues including MUTEK JP and MODE
(Japan),Skaņu Mežs (Latvia), Unsafe+Sounds (Austria), Freespace Noise Fest (Hong
Kong), Cafe OTO and IKLECTIK (UK), Cave12 (Switzerland), and Soup (Tokyo).
She has collaborated with visual artists including Jackson Kaki and Daisy Dickinson on A/V
performances.
UPCOMING
2026.07.17 SPREAD Tokyo.JP - Duo with Government Alpha
PAST/ARCHIVE
2026.04.12 Ochiai Soup Tokyo.JP
2026.04.04 UFO club Tokyo.JP Live A/V + JACKSON Kaki
2026.03.08 Ochiai Soup Tokyo.JP
2026.02.25 Circus Tokyo.JP
2026.01.24 Spotify O-EAST Tokyo.JP2025.12.11 Forestlimit Tokyo.JP
2025.09.19 Space Tokyo Tokyo.JP
2025.09.13 Ochiai Soup Tokyo.JP
2025.08.23 Forestlimit Tokyo.JP
2025.08.01 Traffic Tokyo.JP
2025.07.18 Forestlimit Tokyo.JP
2025.07.02 Saloon Tokyo.JP
2025.03.29 HVEN Tokyo.JP
2025.03.29 Ochiai Soup Tokyo.JP
2025.02.25 Spotify O-nest Tokyo.JP2024.11.23 MUTEK Tokyo.JP Live A/V + JACKSON Kaki
2024.10.26 Shipwreck Toronto.CA
2024.09.21 Irreversible Live Events Caserta.IT
2024.09.20 Rccb INIT Rome.IT
2024.09.19 Cafe Wolf Graz.AT
2024.09.13 Unsafe and Sounds Vienna.AT
2024.09.08 Dachstock Bern.CH
2024.09.07 Stadwerkstatt Linz.AT
2024.09.06 New Salt Festival Bad Ischl.AT
2024.08.17 Ochiai Soup Tokyo.JP
2024.07.28 FREESPACE NOISE FEST Hong Kong.HK Live A/V + JACKSON Kaki
2024.07.26 System Shanghai.CN Live A/V + JACKSON Kaki
2024.06.01 Wall&Wall Tokyo.JP
2024.04.15 Enter Tokyo.JP
2024.03.31 Ochiai Soup Tokyo.JP
2024.02.12 Ochiai Soup Tokyo.JP
2024.02.09 Zubar Tokyo.JP2023.12.23 Ochiai Soup Tokyo.JP
2023.11.24 Eigelstein Torburg Köln.DE
2023.11.22 Råhuset Copenhagen.DK
2023.11.19 Bishop's House Sheffield.UK
2023.11.18 IKLECTIK London.UK
2023.11.17 Centrala Birmingham.UK
2023.11.16 Python Gallery Middlesbrough.UK
2023.11.15 Lubber Fiend Newcastle.UK
2023.11.14 The Exchange Bristol.UK
2023.11.12 Botanique Brussels.BE
2023.11.11 Zur Schiassn Linz.AT
2023.11.08 Cave12 Geneva.CH
2023.11.07 Atomic Café Biel/Bienne.CH
2023.11.05 DEV Bologna.IT
2023.11.04 Casaforte Napoli.IT
2023.11.03 Klang Rome.IT
2023.10.28 Ochiai Soup Tokyo.JP
2023.08.27 Bar Chitei Tokyo.JP
2023.03.19 Ochiai Soup Tokyo.JP
2023.03.12 Ochiai Soup Tokyo.JP
2023.01.22 Ochiai Soup Tokyo.JP
2023.01.08 Spazio Rita Nagoya.JP2022.09.23 Skaņu Mežs festival Latvia.LV
2022.09.03 Kagurane Tokyo.JP
2022.03.05 Kagurane Tokyo.JP
2022.02.20 Ochiai Soup Tokyo.JP
2022.01.31 Zubar Tokyo.JP
2022.01.20 Traffic Tokyo.JP2021.12.15 Cave 12 Geneva.CH Live A/V + Daisy Dickinson
2021.12.14 Bad Bonn Dudingen.CH Live A/V + Daisy Dickinson
2021.12.13 Teatro Linguaggicreativi Milan.IT Live A/V + Daisy Dickinson
2021.12.12 DEV Bologna.IT Live A/V + Daisy Dickinson
2021.12.11 Circolo Dong Macerata.IT Live A/V + Daisy Dickinson
2021.12.07 Arkaoda Berlin.DE Live A/V + Daisy Dickinson
2021.12.05 MS Stubnitz Hamburg.DE Live A/V + Daisy Dickinson
2021.12.04 1000Fryd Aalborg.DK Live A/V + Daisy Dickinson
2021.12.03 Inkonst Malmo.SE Live A/V + Daisy Dickinson
2021.12.02 Koloni Gothenburg.SE Live A/V + Daisy Dickinson
2021.11.30 Alice Copenhagen.DK Live A/V + Daisy Dickinson
2021.11.28 The Cluny 2 Newcastle.UK Live A/V + Daisy Dickinson
2021.11.26 Kazimier Garden Liverpool.UK Live A/V + Daisy Dickinson
2021.11.25 Centrala Birmingham.UK Live A/V + Daisy Dickinson
2021.11.24 Cafe OTO London.UK Live A/V + Daisy Dickinson
2021.10.09 Zubar Tokyo.JP
2021.07.04 Kagurane Tokyo.JP
2021.04.16 Nullphase Online.TW/JP
2021.03.18 Currents.fm Online
2021.03.06 Forestlimit Tokyo.JP2020.12.19 Twitch Online
2020.10.30 Virtual Tour Online.US
2020.10.17 War Machine Noise Fest Yogyakarta.ID
2020.10.11 Forestlimit Tokyo.JP
2020.03.24 Kagurane Tokyo.JP
2020.01.30 Kagurane Tokyo.JP2019.10.30 Kiezsalon Berlin.DE
2019.10.29 De Player Rotterdam.NL
2019.10.27-28 Cafe OTO London.UK
2019.10.26 Aslomga Plymouth.UK
2019.10.25 Living Room Sessions Kortrijk.BE
2019.10.24 La Chaouée Metz.FR
2019.10.23 Humus Lausanne.CH
2019.10.21 Boschbar Zurich.CH
2019.10.20 Vecchio Mulino Valdengo.IT
2019.10.19 Living Room Torino.IT
2019.10.18 Bunker Bolzano.IT
2019.10.17 ARTist's Graz.AT
2019.10.15 Fluc Wien.AT
2019.10.12 Klang Rome.IT
2019.09.20 B Side Sounds Ibaraki.JP
2019.09.14 Hill Valley Studio Tokyo.JP
2019.08.30 El Puente Yokohama.JP
2019.05.06 Kafé Hærverk Oslo.NO
2019.05.04 IKLECTIK London.UK
2019.04.30 Loophole Berlin.DE
2019.04.29 MS Stubnitz Hamburg.DE
2019.04.27 Mayhem Copenhagen.DK
2019.04.26 Musikbibliotek Odense.DK
2019.04.20 Kagurane Tokyo.JP
2019.03.23 DAO XUAN Festival Hanoi.VN
2019.01.26-27 Jogja Noise Bombing Festival Yogyakarta.ID
2019.01.06 Kagurane Tokyo.JP2018.12.09 Zubar Tokyo.JP
2018.07.06 Faith Tokyo.JP
2018.06.15 Forestlimit Tokyo.JP
2018.04.28 LiteraturHaus Copenhagen.DK
2018.04.27 Platform 4 Aalborg.DK
2018.04.26 Musikbibliotek Odense.DK
2018.04.20 Hikarino Uma Tokyo.JP2017.12.27 Zubar Tokyo.JP
2017.09.21 Moon Step Tokyo.JP
2017.07.28 Bullet's Tokyo.JP
2017.04.18 Hikarino Uma Tokyo.JP
2025.07.30 YOKOGAO // "Exploring the Sonic Underground"
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"I'm not a fan of J-pop... Because sound memories tend to get stuck in my head, there are times when I play instruments to overwrite them."
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2024.10.09 Chain D.L.K. // REVIEW: Yuko Araki - "Zenjitsutan"
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"Meticulous yet chaotic... Noise and harmony wrestle in a dystopian ballet. A visceral energy that teeters between catharsis and discomfort - like being trapped inside a malfunctioning machine."
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2023.11.24 // LIVE REVIEW: @ The Lubber Fiend, Newcastle
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"Equipped with her terrifying Eurorack entombed in thick wires... Samples of distorted chanting and electronica transport me to the engine of a dystopian church."
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2023.11.21 PopMatters // REVIEW: Yuko Araki - "IV"
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"A work defined by sonic extremity. Constructing imposing walls of noise and violent sonic bursts... to create an excruciating and visceral experience."
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2023.11.14 Fifteen Questions // INTERVIEW: Yuko Araki talks Sound
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"I feel comfortable when I hear inorganic sounds like construction noises or MRI scans."
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2023.11.1 CVLT Nation // PREMIERE: Yuko Araki - "†Sloshing"
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"The catharsis of noise that dissolves my brain in a vat of sonic acid... Post-industrial exactly needed to be reminded that beyond the veil of propaganda lies the truth, and it’s a bloody, cold thing to behold."
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2023.10.23 sun-13 // INTERVIEW: The Japanese producer talks us through her latest album, ‘IV’
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"I love death metal and dark fantasy manga!"
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2023.10.16 ANXIOUS Magazine // INTERVIEW
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" I want to work with an android or artificial life"
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2023.10.20 FOXY DIGITALS // REVIEW: Yuko Araki - "‡Otiron"
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"A hypnotic invitation into a grayscale, ritualistic hellscape, her voice synthetic spells split atoms. Along the track’s hollowed-out edge, the blood-curdling heart of a dying universe is exposed."
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2021.05 The Wire // REVIEW: "End Of Trilogy"
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"fierce as fuck"
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2021.05.17 Scene Point Blank // REVIEW: Yuko Araki - "End of Trilogy"
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"The pressure and the asphyxiating quality that defined her work is still present. Dissonance is not just evoked, it is rather worshipped... showing the many facades that Araki can place on her art."
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2021.05 Fifteen Questions // INTERVIEW: Yuko Araki about Technology and Gear
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"I'm very curious to see if I could make music with another me."
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2021.04.12 Sun 13 // REVIEW: Yuko Araki - "End of Trilogy"
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"A prolonged frozen snarl... a soundtrack as a portal to an alternative universe, not before being dragged across the cold blood-stained floors of an abattoir."
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2021.04.13 a closer listen // REVIEW: Yuko Araki - "End of Trilogy"
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"The only Nature that awaits us at the end of the tunnel is an electric shriek irradiating from the technological heart of every city. It is not a familial figure – it is a bomb, a weapon made of digital fallout..."
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2021.04.02 IMPATTO SONORO // REVIEW: "End of Trilogy"
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"Respiri corti e affannosi che espirano techno minimale tagliente come vetro infranto... delirio in cui lo spazio, invece, viene divorato dalla claustrofobia."
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2021.04.01 New Noise Magazine // REVIEW: Yuko Araki - "End of Trilogy"
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"Creating a sound that glints with the unsteady radiation of a dissolving pulsar... a determination not to succumb to mere sonic nihilism."
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2021.03.24 White Light White Heat // INTERVIEW: Beyond the Outer Dimensions of Noise
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2021.03.31 Cezky rozhlas // REVIEW: Yuko Araki - "End of Trilogy"
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"Do estetiky analogového generování hluku vpašovala prvky, jaké si snadno spojíme s kosmische musik... Že jsme na poli temné hudby, prozradí už první tóny."
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2021.03.21 African Paper // REVIEW: Yuko Araki - "End of Trilogy"
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"Das tropfende Nass zwischen Betonsäulen aggressiver Elektronik... sich sowieso am liebsten ohne ordinäres Gestampfe quasi beatlos ereignen. Der Infernalik tut auch letzteres selbstredend keinen Abbruch."
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2021.03.18 SonOfMarketing // METHODOLOGY: Yuko Araki - "End of Trilogy"
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"Working with a reductive set of tools, her methodology was to create work that created a sense of timbral density and complexity through a weaving together of competing elements."
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2021.02.26 Fact Magazine // PREMIERE: Yuko Araki - "Moonstroke in the Mountain"
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"At the forefront of shedding new light on noise... Araki’s approach to her cacophonous compositions is expansive and fluid, oscillating between tension and release, euphoria and dysphoria."
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2021.02.03 CVLT Nation // PREMIERE: Yuko Araki - "Lost Race"
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"A genre that's easily one of the most challenging to listen to becomes a siren song that has my whole body moving."
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