Nisennenmondai are a Tokyo-based instrumental trio who make music that's both raw and danceable in equal measure. They formed in 1999 and took their name from the Japanese translation of the then-current phrase "Y2K bug."

Formation

Guitarist Masako Takada, bassist Yuri Zaikawa, and drummer Sayaka Himeno met at a club near their university and formed the band soon after.
The band have mostly released music on their own Bijin label. The compilation album "Neji/Tori" was released by Norway's Smalltown Supersound

Smalltown Supersound

Smalltown Supersound is an independent record label based in Oslo, Norway, and dedicated to new forms of jazz, rock and electronic music.Their catalog features albums by Annie, Jaga Jazzist, 120 Days, Mental Overdrive, Bjørn Torske, Mats Gustafsson and Sonic Youth, amongst others.In 2004, the...

 in 2008. The band are known for their dynamic live show, and despite little mainstream media attention, have built a substantial international following. They have played dates in Australia, Austria, Croatia, Denmark (including Roskilde Festival

Roskilde Festival

Roskilde Festival is a festival held south of Roskilde in Denmark and is one of the six biggest annual music festivals in Europe . It was created in 1971 by two high school students, Mogens Sandfær and Jesper Switzer Møller, and promoter Carl Fischer...

), France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Norway. Switzerland, Sweden, UK and USA. The band toured the USA in 2004 and 2005. In April 2011 they performed on the main stage at Sonar Sound Tokyo. In May 2011 Nisennenmondai launched an extensive European tour.

Style

Described by allmusic's Heather Phares as "taking as much inspiration from the cool kids at school as they did from experimentalists like This Heat

This Heat

This Heat were a British experimental music group formed in early 1976 in Camberwell, London by multi-instrumentalists Charles Bullen , Charles Hayward and Gareth Williams .This Heat were active in the ascendancy of British progressive rock and punk rock, but stood apart...

, Pop Group

Pop group

Pop group may refer to:* a band that plays some genre of popular music* a band that plays pop music * The Pop Group, a British post-punk band* Pop! , a 2000s UK pop group...

, Sonic Youth

Sonic Youth

Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...

, DNA

DNA (band)

DNA was a No Wave band formed in 1978 by guitarist Arto Lindsay and keyboardist Robin Crutchfield. Rather than playing their instruments in a traditional manner, they instead focused on making unique and unusual sounds...

 and Neu!

Neu!

Neu! was a German band formed by Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother after their split from Kraftwerk in the early 1970s...

" Nisennenmondai compose raw and repetitive (post) punk instrumentals which can be groove-oriented whilst also having a no wave

No Wave

No Wave was a short-lived but influential underground music, film, performance art, video, and contemporary art scene that had its beginnings during the mid-1970s in New York City. The term No Wave is in part satirical word play rejecting the commercial elements of the then-popular New Wave genre...

/disco vibe. Himeno tirelessly pounds at her snare and bass drum while slashing her cymbals, while Takada adds layers of delay and clangy sounding distortion.

"With walls of distortion and a pummeling rhythmic backbone that fluctuates between krautrock

Krautrock

Krautrock is a generic name for the experimental music scenes that appeared in Germany in the late 1960s and gained popularity throughout the 1970s, especially in Britain. The term is a result of the English-speaking world's reception of the music at the time and not a reference to any one...

`s repetition and free-rock calamity, bassist Zai, guitarist Ma-Chan and drummer Hime have formed an unassuming juggernaut”
(Dazed & Confused)

Prefuse 73

Scott Herren

Guillermo Scott Herren is a music producer, who has been based in Atlanta, Barcelona and New York. Herren releases music under the aliases Prefuse 73, Delarosa & Asora and Piano Overlord, and is also part of the groups Savath y Savalas, Risil, and Diamond Watch Wrists.- Biography :Guillermo Scott...

 said in an interview with Dazed & Confused "John Stanier from Battles had told me that they were sick. They start to play. Next thing you know, these three tiny diminutive women were making us look like idiots because they were so incredible". The band have been chosen by Battles

Battles (band)

Battles is an American experimental rock group, founded in 2002 in New York City, comprising guitarists Ian Williams and Dave Konopka , and drummer John Stanier .-Biography:...

 to perform at the ATP Nightmare Before Christmas

All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival)

All Tomorrow's Parties is a music festival which takes place at Camber Sands holiday camp in East Sussex and Butlin's holiday camp in Minehead, Somerset, England....

 festival that they co-curate in December 2011 in Minehead, England.

Discography

• 2004:Sorede Souzousuru Neji
  Sorede Souzousuru Neji
  Sorede Souzousuru Neji, generally referred to as simply Neji, is an EP by the band Nisennenmondai. The majority of the tracks on it are named after bands who influenced Nisennenmondai's music.-Track listing:#"Pop Group" - 6:20#"This Heat" - 8:04...
  
  
• 2005:Tori
• 2006:Rokuon
• 2008:Neji/Tori
• 2009:Destination Tokyo
• 2009:Fan
• 2011:Live