Music Jul 1, 2021
Foodman escapes the city for ‘Yasuragi Land’
by Russell Thomas
Music producer Foodman’s new album is an ode to the places and objects that make up the landscape of everyday life beyond the dense cities of Osaka and Tokyo.
Music Oct 31, 2018
Machina and Shohei Fujimoto pair up for a multimedia performance at Mutek
by Mike Sunda
As Mutek gears up for its third edition in Japan, the festival, which originated in Montreal and now runs in regular installments around the world, looks set to deliver its most robust offering in Tokyo to date. Seeking to celebrate both digital creativity and electronic ...
Music Oct 10, 2018
Haru Nemuri's rapping and roaring speaks to the zeitgeist of 2018
by Patrick St. Michel
Haruna Kimishima knew her music had found an audience overseas when her Twitter DMs began to fill up with English. "Japanese fans tend to not react to me directly, especially when compared to foreign listeners," says the 23-year-old artist, who records as Haru Nemuri. "They ...
Music Oct 2, 2018
'Music progresses when people make mistakes': Foodman favors taking risks on new album
by James Hadfield
Last month, the return of Ultra Japan to Tokyo provoked the usual eye-rolls with its parade of EDM superstars gallivanting onstage to obviously pre-recorded sets. But trust Takahide Higuchi — the Nagoya-based producer better known as Shokuhin Matsuri aka Foodman — to see the ...
Music Sep 25, 2018
Electronic artist Tim Hecker delves into ancient Japanese court music and negative space on 'Konoyo'
by James Hadfield
For the first decade of his career, the Canadian composer and sound artist Tim Hecker specialized in transmuting digital audio into thick miasmas of sound that combined orchestral richness with the sensory assault of noise music. But after reaching an apotheosis — and his ...
Music May 1, 2018
Elleh story: 'Sad boy disco' that isn't all that lonely
by Aidan Jones
Club music usually gets you pumped up for a night out. Music about clubs? Those songs are just as likely to focus on the come down from the good vibes: There's Robyn being ignored in the corner on "Dancing on My Own" or Morrissey ...
Music Feb 14, 2018
by Patrick St. Michel
The central pair behind electronic project AmPm didn't have high expectations when they flew to Jakarta last August for Spotify On Stage, a live event organized by the market-leading music streaming service. "We were the first act up, and I think most of the audience ...
Music | Sound Off May 18, 2017
Taicoclub's role in Japan's electronic music scene will be missed, so catch it while you can
by James Hadfield
When I interviewed Taro Yasuzawa this time last year, he didn't let on that he was about to pull the plug on the event he'd been organizing for the past decade. A few weeks later, it was official: Taicoclub, the plucky all-night music festival ...
Music May 12, 2017
Deep dive into the 1980s with the music of Satellite Young
by Patrick St. Michel
Synthesizers, drum machines and Vocoder-filtered vocals in the style of pop star Chisato Moritaka — this was 1980s Japan, and it's the sound of Satellite Young. However, singer Emi Kusano points out that most of the Tokyo band's songs are about life in the internet ...
Music May 9, 2017
Renick Bell discovers the art inside the algorithms
by Mike Sunda
In 2017, algorithms are everywhere. They determine the news we see, the music we stream, the advertisements we're served and the very means through which we communicate and access information on a daily basis. And it's not just our online experience that's underpinned by algorithms. E-commerce ...
Music Apr 25, 2017
Pop music catches up to De De Mouse
by Patrick St. Michel
Daisuke Endo made peace with EDM thanks to Mister Donut. The electronic artist, better known by his stage name De De Mouse, eats at the snack chain frequently. Recently, he says he has been enjoying the American pop music they pipe into the store. "They ...
Music | Sound Off Jan 8, 2017
Where Japan's club culture needs to go in 2017
by Mike Sunda
Last month, I was invited to speak at the inaugural Tokyo Dance Music Event — a conference consisting of workshops and talks, loosely modeled on long-running international equivalents like the Amsterdam Dance Event. On the first morning of the two-day program, I was asked to ...