Although talking about influences is a staple of the music press, copying (a charge leveled at so much Japanese music), even respectfully, is often the subject of scorn in serious rock journalism. Novelty, no matter how abstract or silly, generally trumps the enjoyment of the familiar, no matter how lovingly reconstructed.

What would pop music be, however, without a thousand reworkings of Merseybeat or Bob Marley, or more recently, "Saturday Night Fever"? These are formulas so perfect and pleasurable they have become cultural icons, repeated in different guises again and again. Such is the case with Dry and Heavy, a group whose devotion to '70s-era reggae has made the band a consummate tribute to the style.

"The sound of '70s reggae," explained the duo Shigemoto "Dry" Nanao and bassist Takeshi "Heavy" Akimoto in a recent interview, "is a particularly remarkable thing. We love reggae, of course, but aside from that, we feel that the sound of genuine reggae surpasses all other genres and is a special musical form."

The duo's name, taken from a Burning Spear song, is something of a misnomer. As befits a group that take their cues from Sly and Robbie, "the world's greatest rhythm section," Dry and Heavy pumps their music full of phat bass lines and definitive beats. However, "Full Contact," their second album, is awash in a soulful, breezy spiciness. It's as if Curtis Mayfield somehow found himself with a little ganja and better weather.

"Private Plan," a sly revolutionary ode to Jamaican agricultural products sung by guest vocalist Ao Inoue, slinks across the dance floor, while "Love Explosion" is all honeyed sweetness.

The vocalist on this cut goes by the island-inspired sobriquet of Likkle Mai. Even though she too is technically a guest artist, she has become the band's most recognizable face. Her creamy, smooth voice has a big presence that belies her small physique.

"I liked the way blues artists would call themselves after some physical attribute," she explained. "Because of the way that Jamaicans pronounce 'little' in their dialect of English, it comes out as 'likkle.' So my name means 'small Mai.'

"The name also carries the spirit of resistance against the system," she continues, "from Bob Marley and the Wailers' 'Small Axe' which says that 'If I am a small axe and you are a big tree, I will cut you down.' "

Given their current momentum (a recent single was chosen as NME's single of the week), Dry and Heavy should be cutting a large swathe through Japan's pop world and beyond.

While Dry and Heavy attempts a perfect simulation of '70s reggae, Audio Active, the parallel project of drummer Nanao, started with dub and quickly transformed it into a techno, metallic meltdown. On the band's latest EP, "Happers," to be released next week, they add a touch of hip hop with a guest turn by Boss, the MC from Sapporo hip-hop faves Tha Blue Herb.

Compared to other Audio Active songs, "Elements of Rhyme" seems less in your face, though no less intense. The added spaciousness allows the group's interesting instrumentation, always there but overshadowed by rhythmic pow, to come to the fore.

Dry and Heavy with Audio Active, Aug. 8 at Tower Records in Shibuya. Ele-King presents Dry and Heavy with Adrian Sherwood, Andy Weatherall and others, Oct. 27 at Shinjuku Liquid Room and Oct. 28 at Osaka Bayside Jenny. For more information, contact Beatink at (03) 5766-6571.

There must be something in the water at Trattoria Records. Yet another Trattoria artist is in a family way. Takako Minekawa's recent fecundity seems to have influenced her musical work, if her new EP "Maxi On" is any indication. Minekawa has always had a knack for marrying way-out electronics with a pop sensibility, and here she does it again brilliantly. Produced in collaboration with Stereolab proteges Dymaxion, "Maxi On" surges with organic, analog-sounding beeps and beats, folded carefully into quirky pop songs.

Tokyo's music maestros have provided plenty of reasons to step out this summer with enough juicy live events to set anyone salivating.

Techno has become the inspiration for many of Tokyo's more interesting hybrids. Among the most intriguing is Rovo, a project of violinist Katsumi and Seiichi Yamamoto of the Boredoms. The next edition of the Black List (fast becoming one of Tokyo's best ongoing concert series) will couple their improvised, experimental take on techno with that of techno provocateur Ken Ishii, a super dance-floor-sensitive DJ, and the more mainstream dance offerings of Boom Boom Satellites.

Hip hop is also thriving in Japan and Buddha Brand (with a recent best of compilation just out) is considered to be at the top of the heap. Catch them with fellow wordsmiths Rhymester and You the Rock, plus didgeridoo player and hip-hop DJ 1945 at a massive hip-hop event at the Liquid Room.

Supercar is Japan's current answer to Britpop: pop that is smart, quick and sleek. The band will be headlining the eclectic High Booster 2000 event. With DMBQ and Seagull Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her, these shows will have a distinctly dirty, bluesy feel, all the better to work up a sweat.