LCDD: Crazy Toy Performers From Madrid

5 Jun 2008 Category: Events & Exhibitions, Features, Music, Technology

LCDD: Crazy Toy Performers From Madrid

The LCDD collective right in the middle of one of their concerts that are energetic – to say the least! From last week at Super Deluxe, Tokyo.

Last Thursday, Madrid-based collective LCDD made their Japan debut with a wild experimental music performance at Nishi Azabu’s Super Deluxe: They make music with old Walkmen and all kinds of old and broken toys that have been developed into weird sounding instruments, simply by remodeling them and plugging them in! Ever wanted to play on a toy gun? PingMag introduces this funky bunch to you!

Written by Ryoko
Translated by Kevin Mcgue

Just to make sure for you, the rest of night wasn’t bad either: Evening openers were Apple Head, the techno-pop band by our most favourite monster suit artist Picopico; the light drawing Pika Pika Project; and the popular Tochka…


Opener Apple Head performs in monster suits, of course!

Tochka were drawing pictures in thin air, which were instantly projected on screen.

LCCD is an open band with no fixed line-up, but currently consists of Olaf Ladousse, who also works as an illustrator, Carmen, Deva, and Murky. Their name is an acronym that name stands for “Los Caballos De Düsseldorf” (The Horses of Düsseldorf.) Interesting, indeed!


Murky is on the left, and LCCD’s founder Olaf is on the right…

…and Carmen on the left, Deva on the right.

A cute illustration by Olaf. See more of his works from here.

LCCD’s performance began, and Super Deluxe was filled with blips and bleeps and crashing sounds. Unexpectedly, this performance does not rely on electric guitars to make noise, and had a mysterious analogue feel. Moving up for a closer look, we found that Olaf was holding something we don’t see so often these days: an old school Walkman. He was making the mysterious sounds by rewinding and fast forwarding the tape!

Olaf begins his performance…

…using an old school Walkman among other.

A Pikachu toy that was given to LCCD during this tour. As you can see, it has already been remodeled as instrument.

A sweet apple shaped toy that can modify the length of notes.

In its former life a toy – now a sampler. Wow!

A bull! Okay, a plush one that was remodeled from a “Buddha Machine” used by French monks to practice chanting.

Olaf explained approach to making musical instruments to us: “Computers and other equipment are expensive, but it is easy to get things that can no longer be used, or that are broken. Musical equipment and gear are expensive and can distance you from the enjoyment of music. But with our kind of hand-made instruments, they are easy to carry around, and anyone can experience making music. In my workshop, I sometimes try to make instruments out of toys that have been thrown out, or are broken. Sometimes I don’t succeed in getting them to make any sound, but sometimes they produce really strange sounds. And that is fun!

Another futuristic instrument made from several old toys. Awesome!

An old bike siren has an unexpected second life…

Oh! …and what kind of toy did this use to be?

Olaf calls the instruments he makes from broken cameras, old thermometers and other junk “Doo Rags.” He took the name from Doo Rag), a lo-fi blues band which was known for making their own instruments, which had a big effect on Olaf.


Olaf numbers his Doo Rags, and this is number 129. See more of them here.

A Doo Rag made from a used thermometer!

These instruments are made on the same basic principles of a microphone. For example, you can get a cheap toy pistol, and alter the length of the sound it makes to create some original tunes. Then you open up a hole for a plug, connect it to the main mixing board, add a little electricity, and then you can get something really interesting!

Doo Rag 133, remodeled from a stylish toy pistol. Must look good on stage!

During their performance we realised LCDD’s true potential as toy instrument musicians! Olaf and Deva played with intensity, and Carmen and Murky wore strange masks and bras on their heads in addition. It was really hard to take our eyes off that show!

Carmen performs a bullfight. See more their great performances from here!

Olaf and Deva playing….

… but who is behind that hoodie?

LCDD’s performance is not only quite memorable, there is also a reason behind it. “I think everyone wants to express something,” Olaf says. “But the wide majority doesn’t know how they should express themselves. So what LCDD is trying to do is show people that we are not doing anything difficult, that anyone can do it simply like we do.”


This is LCDD!

Lots of cool things LCCD brought from Madrid.

These toys! Thanks to LCDD for their great performance! And don’t you miss their next concerts, since they are touring in Madrid, and in July in Finland and Norway from late June. Get more info at their Myspace site.

17 Comments

  1. [...] Read the rest of this great post here [...]

    Posted by: Toys Toys and More Toys » Blog Archive » LCDD: Crazy Toy Performers From Madrid on June 5th, 2008 at 8:17 pm

  2. beautiful

    Posted by: s.kokubo on June 5th, 2008 at 9:35 pm

  3. Thank you for featuring these guys!

    It’s so weird that I didn’t know them… I’m from Spain too, and friends with Yes Robot, a chiptune and circuit bending group that was at Blip Festival last year.

    By the way, is that Pikachu a present from Kaseo? This is the Pikaremin I got from him.

    Posted by: ale/pepino on June 5th, 2008 at 10:41 pm

  4. [...] PingMag - LCDD: Crazy Toy Performers From Madrid [...]

    Posted by: – Anpanpon :P blog not bread – » Blog Archive » LCDD : Crazy Toy Performers on June 5th, 2008 at 10:45 pm

  5. These people are so boring HYPE!!

    Posted by: fff on June 5th, 2008 at 11:16 pm

  6. this seems awesome!
    I must say they are doing great work!

    Posted by: Paavani on June 6th, 2008 at 2:08 am

  7. This site is put together well!

    Posted by: Anonymous on June 6th, 2008 at 2:23 pm

  8. kool circuit bending group in Tokyo!

    http://moxuse.org/moxuse/index.html

    Posted by: shantell martin on June 8th, 2008 at 1:14 am

  9. They didn’t invent anything new….there are quite many artists who play toys and things like real instruments. At least, Cocorosie tried to give some melodies and words to it. LCDD sounds like many others.Nothing original, just Noize music

    Posted by: Mokka on June 9th, 2008 at 12:11 pm

  10. love cocorosie

    Posted by: njlsml223 on June 10th, 2008 at 6:56 am

  11. Nice for LCDD even if I think an interview would have been better (and possible) than this badly written article full of mistakes (”A sweet apple shaped toy that can modify the length of notes” WTF?!?).
    The line-up is false, the statement about the dates too, a lot of captions are just plain wrong or nonsense.

    By the way, is that Pikachu a present from Kaseo?
    Yes it is, something that the article gets totally wrong (”As you can see, it has already been remodeled as instrument.” Is that a kind of joke ?).

    At least, Cocorosie tried to give some melodies and words to it.
    Yeah, that’s inventive and new, I guess nobody thought to add some melodies and words before Cocorosie. I wonder what people made before them, noise (oups, Noize) music ?
    And I heard they have vocals ? There are quite many artists who use vocals. Some of them even use real instruments.

    Posted by: zeni on June 10th, 2008 at 5:25 pm

  12. [...] In plin turneu japonez, spaniolii nu contrasteaza deloc cu peisajul sau cu eclectica scena electronica locala. Data fiind pasiunea japonezilor pentru gadget-uri si pentru tot ce inseamna cultura geek, sunt sigur ca LCDD a dat cel putin o tura prin Akihabara ca sa-si improspateze colectia. [...]

    Posted by: LCDD - soundsystem cu jucarii reciclate « on June 18th, 2008 at 3:44 am

  13. Es mejor adaptarse a la tecnologia cuando uno quiere ser profecional, ademas el campo de estudio es mas amplio.
    creo que esa clase de sonidos pueden generar algun tipo de herida en cuanto a la sonoridad percibida por el cerebro

    Posted by: agustin on July 1st, 2008 at 8:21 pm

  14. [...] band LCDD is into innovation - just check out their instruments made from old toys and the show they put on in Japan. Got an old chatter phone hanging around? Let’s see what you [...]

    Posted by: » Old toys? Recycle them into instruments like LCDD! on September 5th, 2008 at 4:27 am

  15. [...] Last Thursday, Madrid-based collective LCDD made their Japan debut with a wild experimental music performance at Nishi Azabu’s Super Deluxe: They make music with old Walkmen and all kinds of old and broken toys that have been developed into weird sounding instruments, simply by remodeling them and plugging them in! Ever wanted to play on a toy gun? PingMag introduces this funky bunch to you! Read the full story>>> [...]

    Posted by: Kevin Mcgue - Tokyo-Based Journalist & Filmmaker » LCDD: Crazy Toy Performers From Madrid on March 2nd, 2009 at 10:25 pm

  16. [...] weird sounding instruments, simply by remodeling them and plugging them in. In an interview with PingMag, one of the collectives members, Olaf Ladousse, who also works as an illustrator, explains their [...]

    Posted by: » Madrid’s LCDD Collective: making music from toys on PSFK on September 26th, 2009 at 3:35 am

  17. [...] Read the English version at PingMag» [...]

    Posted by: Kevin Mcgue | “LCDD: Crazy Toy Performers From Madrid” Translation on April 16th, 2010 at 11:30 pm

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