From Allmusic.com : "Fans of abstract techno will love the latest from Atau, a Japanese electronica artist whose primary claim to fame is his virtuosic command of the BioMuse, a musical instrument that creates sonic representations of the body's various tides, pulses, and beats. Biorhythms opens simply, with a recording of a heartbeat, then segues, naturally enough, into a track entitled Arteries of Tokyo, which apparently combines the superamplified sound of blood rushing through corporal arteries with that of traffic rushing through urban ones; it's an elegant conceit, if not an ultimately musically compelling one. On "Delull" things start to get funky and polyrhythmic, but "28 23 33" consists entirely of blips programmed in superimposed rhythmic patterns. "F M R" is a sop to the raver crowd: a thudding house beat with artfully tweaked samples and drum loops. "Surge" gets seriously abstract, only to be followed by the lush and orchestral "Adagio," on which sweeping chord washes ebb and flow soothingly, lulling you into complacency until the crushing industrial beat of "Otaku" brings you up short. "Alias to the Next Time" winds up the program with a quiet but somehow shrill, eerie, and strangely attractive collage of synthetic sounds. Whew. Is it relaxing? No. Exhilarating? Yes."
"Biorhythms" was released by Caipirinha Productions in 2000.
From www.sensorband.com : "Sensorband is the premier trio of virtual instruments. Each musician uses interactive electronics in a different way - making music from ultrasound, infrared, and bioelectric signals. They have created a band that takes a rock power trio as metaphor. Edwin van der Heide is the "vocals", working with ultrasound based 3D handheld controllers to perform infinite time stretching on digitally sampled vocal sources. Atau Tanaka is "guitar-bass" using muscle signals (EMG) and gesture to play air guitar, and low bass parts. Zbigniew Karkowski is "drums", playing virtual percussion in a cage armed with infrared beams. As a trio they reconcile new technology with the immediacy and energy of a rock group. With these new instruments the Sensorband musicians takes the group dynamic beyond the limitations of guitar, bass, and drums. The result is a powerful musical force of intense percussive rhythms, deep pulsing drones, and wailing melodic fragments.
Sensorband has also created a monumental 121 sq meter musical instrument called Soundnet.
The members of the Sensorband came together performing in the experimental music scene in Europe. Edwin and Zbigniew went together to the summer courses in Darmstadt. Atau met Zbigniew in San Francisco during a USA tour. They performed as soloists in the festival Sonimage at Tacheles in Berlin in 1993. A few months later, they premiered the Sensorband at Voyages Virtuels in Paris, then in 1994 at The Paradiso in Amsterdam. While geographical distance has prevented these musicians from performing together more often, this has been partially overcome by network technology. In 1995 the Sensorband appeared at the Sonar Festival in Barcelona, with Atau in Barcelona, and with Edwin and Zbigniew performing from Amsterdam via ISDN providing video and audio connections."
