Biography
The Makunouchi Bento, or traditional japanese lunchbox, is a highly lacquered wooden box divided into quadrants, each of which contains different delicacies. It is also one of the most familiar images of Japan's domestic environment. Reading the box as both an object and a metaphor, Felix Petrescu (Waka X) and Valentin Toma (Qewza) founded this experimental / electronica project back in 2001.
At the time, Felix was a member of Urban Experience - one of the pioneers of the underground electronica scene in Timisoara (Romania) focused mainly on dance music, and Valentin had his solo project. The first Makunouchi Bento album, Himette, was finished in no time, being a collection of new tracks, but also old unreleased works of Urban Experience and Qewza.
With their album available for free download, further singles and EPs released on well-known netlabels like Eerik Inpuj Sound, Miasmah, Metempsychosis, Ogredung, and also a live act and a DJ set at two important musical events in Timisoara (TM01Base Festival and TMBase Fused Series), they started to get their music heard both in Romania and abroad.
By 2004, their discography included many compilations (both commercial and free) like the TMBase Festival Compilations, Collection 2: Moving (Databloem), Apegenine Volume 1 (Apegenine), VGM Mixtape #8 (No Sides Records), Fishing for Complements (Retinascan), Snowsky & No Ink and Cucina Vagabonda (Ogredung), Retork (Enough Records), 101 (One) and many othes. Also, they had two split EPs with Kaneel, called Miopedi (Kikapu) and Miopedi: Errata (One), plus various singles released on Ogredung and Camomille. On top of that, the track Rokurokubi (Part 2) has won the first battle of netlabels hosted by Numia, and thus it was printed on a limited edition vinyl (Makunouchi Bento's first 12") along with the three other songs and a "hidden" Makunouchi bonus track.
Finally, it was time for Romania to develop an interest in experimental music, and Makunouchi Bento have found themselves invited to all the important events across the country. Latest releases include Balada unui creier mic EP released on the first romanian netlabel: Arhiva7, Lament of the fishing robot EP (Camomille), Flika EP (TMBase) and Trcutu LP (One) - a special project made for AVMotional 2 Festival, consisting of electronic interpretations of various classical compositions (Satie, Ravel, Arensky, etc).
Keep an eye on http://www.myspace.com/makunouchibento and Makunouchi Bento's official website http://makunouchibento.inpuj.net/ for future gigs and releases.
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