Do you want it soft or natural?

Aoyama is a breeding ground for night culture. It's as if someone dropped an extremely virulent strain of lounge-bar.alt in the area and it went berserk. Almost every time you round a corner, there's yet another stylish light-box sign marking the entrance of another chic new hideaway (some don't even have signs). But Aoyama is also a graveyard for experiments gone wrong. They often disappear as quickly as they come.

When I first visited Soft, one of a half-dozen mini-clubs-cum-lounge bars in Aoyama at the time, I didn't give it long to live. But I was wrong. Here we are five years later and Soft is still there. And, if anything, it's going stronger than ever before -- despite the fact that, even now, I rarely pick up fliers promoting events here or find them listed on the Web. I do, however, get e-mails from friends who have parties here from time to time.

Basically, Soft has survived by providing an inner circle of local and foreign DJs, performers and artists a space in which to host their events. Some of them will charge a cover at door and some don't. People like Justin "Britches" Spohn -- better known for his series of Blotto parties at Ebisu's Milk and other venues -- will pull together a line-up of live artists and DJs and invite you all to come on down for free.

There is not one profile that fits all the partygoers who walk through the door at Soft. Overall, the clientele is a mixed bag of both foreigners and Japanese, and of all styles and ages. Possibly the only common thread running between them is a love of music and art.

It is a great space for a party -- not too big and not too small, with a well-thought-out interior. From the moment you arrive at Soft, you will be made aware that you are entering a user-friendly zone. The stairs are rigged so that lights come on once you begin your descent. And though inside the lighting is kept way down low, all the walls are painted a super-reflective white. This keeps the mood deep and visibility to a maximum (and there's the added benefit of allowing each and every surface to be used for projecting images).

Sometimes free to enter, sometimes a cover charge -- best to check the Web site for details.

The great groovy outdoors

Ah, for a whiff of the great outdoors and a taste of Mother Nature.

Most people would think this unimaginable in Tokyo, a city better known as a densely compacted maze of concrete. And, admittedly, a lot of the city's parks are not much bigger than a sandbox. But there are others, and quite a few of them, which are both lush and expansive -- places like Yoyogi Park or the banks of the Tama River. It is locations like these that have inspired English-born DJ Dave Twomey and fellow music-lover Hideki Fujiwara to host a series of outdoor gatherings throughout the summer.

Happy campers dance around the DJ tent at a recent Parklife event held at Yoyogi Park.

"It's just good to get out of the clubs," says Twomey. "But we also want to bring the same quality of music with us and create something different -- something more interesting than a rave. We don't play trance."

Twomey himself was born in the trance/hard-house rave generation. But like many of his contemporaries, he quickly outgrew the music -- though he has obviously held onto a taste for nature being added to the mix.

For Dave, hard house gave way to progressive house, which then gave way to break beats and, now, he spins mostly house and techno. I've heard him several times and, no matter what the genre, he always manages to keep it warm and accessible, almost seductive.

The first party was held earlier this month in Yoyogi Park and, appropriately, was called Parklife. Even though it started raining quite heavily at one point, only a handful of the 50-odd people gathered gave it a second thought -- and they only thought about it long enough to hang their umbrellas on the branches of a tree then and keep on dancing. The setting was ideal, the vibe contagious and the rain refreshing.

"The next Parklife might be called Riverlife," says Twomey. "We're thinking of either the Tama or Sagami Rivers for our next one."

The decision will be made next month. But whichever river they finally decide on, it will feature another quality line-up of DJs (last time, that included Shotaro Maeda, Dr. Shingo, Mieko and, of course, co-host Dave Twomey), starting early with mellow grooves before moving into something more hard-core.

And it will attract an equally dedicated following of clubbers who are more than willing, it seems, to follow their piper out of the concrete confines of a club come rain or shine.

For information on the next party check www.davetwomey.co.uk or to receive party information e-mail [email protected]