Mike Sunda - The Japan Times

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Mike Sunda

Mike Sunda is a music writer focusing primarily on electronic music and the Tokyo club scene. He graduated from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, England with a degree in Japanese and has been contributing to The Japan Times since 2010.

For Mike Sunda's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Aug 4, 2011

Lesser lights shine amid Fuji Rock rains

When U.S. act Washed Out hit the Red Marquee stage on Friday night, that's when the Fuji Rock Festival 2011 really began to get going.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Jul 7, 2011

TCY Radio aims to revive club scene

Aside from being one half of successful J-pop duo m-flo, Taku Takahashi is also one of the most established DJs in Japan's club scene. So when Takahashi talks dance music — people listen. Just as well, as that's exactly what he's doing with his latest project, the online station TCY Radio.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

May 19, 2011

MeccaGodZilla "Perfect 天"

Brooklyn-based hip-hop artist MeccaGodZilla is no stranger to Japanese audiences. Indeed it is his travels and love for the country that have inspired his latest release, "Perfect 天" (ten, heaven), for which he has also taken on the new moniker "Ryu Black." To be even more precise, the album pays homage to one Japanese export in particular — one that anybody who has ever owned an SNES should have picked up on about four lines ago.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music / IN THE RECORD

May 19, 2011

Coming off the release of his "Flavor of Vice" EP on Slye Records last month, Eccy gives The Japan Times a peek into his record bag.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Apr 29, 2011

Logic System sets the mood for Moog

"I think people come to my shows to hear a 'nostalgic' sound, something that they might have otherwise forgotten," says Hideki Matsutake, who has been at the forefront of Japan's electronic music scene since its beginnings.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Apr 15, 2011

Dance artists come together for Japan

Last Friday, at exactly 2:46 in the afternoon, the "Nihon Kizuna" bonus album, containing a further 34 electronic tracks from a range of producers worldwide to supplement the 50 tracks on the original album, was released for free online. As well as marking one calendar month since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that devastated much of northeastern Japan, the bonus album was also intended as an expression of gratitude for the music fans who bought the original release, which raised over $20,000 for the Japanese Red Cross Society.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Mar 11, 2011

New dance-music label Diskotopia aims to bring Tokyo in step

Glance at the lineups of Tokyo's larger nightclubs on any given weekend and you'd be forgiven for feeling some deja vu. Mainstays such as Takkyu Ishino, Shinichi Osawa or Dexpistols are likely to be headlining, much as they have been doing for the past several years.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Jan 21, 2011

Sporting chest-length, jet-black hair that obscures each of the four members' facial features, Bo Ningen look like what might have happened if Sadako from "The Ring" had crawled out of the well and found herself on stage fronting a psych-rock band. Add in song titles such as "Koroshitai Kimochi," which features both on their 2008 debut EP release and on last November's self-titled album (the translation declares murderous intent for a feeling deep inside), as well a reputation for visceral live shows that frequently end in the near-destruction of instruments and band-members alike, and you'd be forgiven for being somewhat scared off the prospect of going to see Bo Ningen for the first time.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Jan 7, 2011

Buzz overseas spells success at home

For Japanese music acts, success abroad has traditionally been the reserve of noise-rock bands such as Boredoms and Melt-Banana, for whom potential barriers like language or cultural disparities do little to hinder their pursuit of abstraction. More conventional Japanese indie bands have traditionally fared less well in the West, which is why it's so refreshing to see several acts on the verge of genuine breakthroughs abroad in 2011, spearheaded by all-girl four-piece The Suzan.

CULTURE / Music

Dec 17, 2010

Japanese beatboxer Afra causes a scene

The United States can point to Rahzel, Scratch (both formerly of The Roots) and reggae-fusion artist Matisyahu as examples of human beatboxers who have experienced mainstream success. Britain has Killa Kella and Shlomo, the latter of whom, as well as having contributed to Bjork's 2004 album "Medulla," now performs in front of a variety of unlikely audiences via his residency at London's respected Southbank Centre alongside the likes of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

CULTURE / Music

Nov 26, 2010

AZZXSSS "Deepsketch"

Few people are more aware of the potential of high-quality dubstep collaborations than the guys behind Hydra Records. The Japanese label, still in its infancy, scored a massive coup in September when they secured Japanese distribution of the latest album by dubstep pioneer Skream (who also experienced huge success this year as part of dubstep super-group Magnetic Man, a three-piece collaborative effort with long-standing fellow producers Benga and Artwork). Hydra Records' follow up release, "Deepsketch" by AZZXSSS, is unlikely to achieve similar mainstream crossover success anytime soon, but could yet prove to be an important addition to the flourishing Japanese dubstep scene.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Nov 19, 2010

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs

When it comes to recognizing the latest trends and artists causing a stir abroad, the Japanese club scene sometimes seems to suffer from perennial jet lag.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Nov 12, 2010

Kojoe and Raye 6

In a city filled to the brim with music festivals of various shapes and sizes all year round, there's nevertheless something uniquely intriguing about Yume Fest, which takes place this Saturday in Tokyo's Harajuku district. The festival is keen to stress its grassroots origins, reflected in its refreshingly ambitious aim to cover everything from music to fashion and art in a terse four-hour time slot, with live painters and visual artists performing simultaneously alongside musicians and DJs.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Oct 29, 2010

Real Estate and Woods

Real Estate and Woods are two of the most exciting prospects to come out of the United States recently, and if tapes were sold on indie-cred alone they would no doubt be permanent fixtures on the top-sellers lists. Both bands have been awarded the "Best New Music" seal of approval by indie tastemakers Pitchfork Media: Real Estate for their self-titled debut released at the end of last year; Woods for 2009's "Songs of Shame" LP.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Oct 22, 2010

80Kidz "Weekend Warrior"

Ali and Jun, aka 80Kidz, might be Japan's very own blogosphere darlings, but time hasn't been kind on their peers in the West. Indie-dance favorites such as The Shoes and Autokratz, both of whom featured as guests on the band's debut full-length, "This Is My Shit," have fallen into irrelevance — victims of the rapidly changing tastes that music-blog aggregator HypeMachine's Top 10 chart reflects on a weekly basis. It goes some way to explain why 80Kidz's most recent single "Spoiled Boy," a collaborative effort with CSS vocalist Lovefoxxx — which would have been every blogger's wet dream this time last year — doesn't even feature on their newest offering, "Weekend Warrior."

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Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Leading Japan’s sustainability from Tokyo

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