Courtesy of Womb

Womb, Feb 4.

Courtesy of Melissa—the Maouris Company

With an opulent sonic vocabulary spanning classic to minimal and tech-house on their new album EFUNK, Elyte and Cnyce’s upcoming set at Eleven promises to get the Year of the Dragon off to a flaming start.

What was your first impression of each other?

We were 16 when we met and were psyched because at that time there weren’t many DJs our age and the only way to learn was from other DJs.

How did you decide to become a team?

We didn’t really decide. We got thrown together opening for Joey Beltram in Washington DC and it just clicked. After that Soul Clap was born and soon we combined our record collection.

Who does what in Soul Clap?

Charlie writes the songs, Eli plays the drums. Charlie is the lead singer, Eli runs the internet. Bam.

Boston is not a big dance music town. Tell us what it’s like to base your careers there.

Believe it or not, Boston was a hotbed for disco in the ’70s and ’80s. Even in the ’90s when we were growing up, Boston had a thriving rave scene. After that the city cracked down and made it impossible to party all night, which basically killed dance music. We had a tight crew of DJs and friends and we’d just party at each others’ houses and spin and make music together so we really developed our own sound. We definitely wouldn’t be who we are without Boston so we have a lot of love and pride for our city!

Give us a taste of the upcoming album—how is it an evolution from past work?

We really haven’t released that much original music up till now so the album is our first real statement about what Soul Clap really is. It’s an exploration of our many influences and runs through different genres and tempos. In the end we really wanted to make a timeless album, not a compilation of dance songs for DJs.

In your college course on dance music, what was the most important wisdom you imparted to students?

The most important wisdom we’ve learned is that house wears many hats.

What’s right and wrong with dance music today?

Beyond dance music there is so much creative genre-bending music out there, it’s a really exciting time for music in general. The problem is that in dance music most DJs limit themselves to one genre and just play the new popular tracks. To quote Bob Marley “if you don’t know your history then you don’t know where you’re coming from.”

Tell us about your relationship with Japan thus far.

We spent a week in Tokyo last summer and fell in love. The food and music and shopping are so unique. Plus you have the best record stores and of course we love the Japanese aesthetic.

What can we look forward to at Eleven?

A journey through time and space. Guided by bass that will move your ass.

What’s the perfect night out for Soul Clap?

Sushi + ramen + sake. Arigato!

Dommune, Jan 26 and Eleven, Jan 27 (listing). Soul Clap’s debut album EFUNK is out on Wolf + Lamb at the end of March.

Courtesy of Unit

Unit, Jan 27 (listing).

Courtesy of Womb

Womb, Jan 14 (listing).

Courtesy of iFlyer

Legato, Dec 31 (listing).

Yes, he’s become a grandfather, but onetime yakuza member Hideaki Ishi continues to record and tour tirelessly—he’s even got 7,500 “likes” for his Facebook page (a fan page has 40,000), and millions of YouTube views with comments in a Babel of languages.

“iTunes didn’t exist, and music technology was mostly analog,” Krush recalls as he marks 20 years since his major label debut. “We learned how to play turntables like you would a guitar—now we use turntable-based systems like Serato to retain an analog touch. For scratch artists it’s key.”

Beginning with his self-titled debut and running from his 1994 landmark Strictly Turntablized through to his recent digital singles, Krush’s career has been one continuous quest—perhaps partly an attempt to distance himself from an ugly past. Parting ways with Sony, he’s now on his own, navigating the waters of a music business turned upside down by the internet.

“The net makes music convenient, but it’s turned it into a disposable commodity,” he observes over coffee in Shibuya. “For artists who make our living selling songs, we’re forced to reconsider the way we package and sell our creations.

“Even if we put a lot of thought into creating an album that’s a coherent artwork, people will just listen to songs separately, which is a bit sad,” the soft-spoken scratch artist continues. “At the same time, I’ve started releasing individual songs, and when I think of fans sitting in front of their computers waiting for a new track, I want to meet their expectations.”

Krush launches his third decade in music with a series of digital releases and a world tour that takes him from Australia to China. “I’m planning an album for next year, so we’re experimenting with these downloads to see what form it should take,” he explains. “With Sony I had to use their download site instead of iTunes, so we didn’t really have any data on my releases. There’s a lot we have to do ourselves now, but on the other hand there’s also more freedom.”

Has the debasement of recorded music by the internet led to a rise in value of the performance itself? “Playing for people is even more important in the digital era,” Krush affirms. “There are things you just can’t get across except for in the live venue.”
Krush’s early, moody releases in some ways set the template for the past decade’s glitch—and other associated hyphenated hip-hop movements. It’s hard not to think that, without him, there wouldn’t have been a DJ Shadow or Flying Lotus.
“I hear things that sound familiar, but at the same time I don’t compete with them,” Krush muses. “It’s a complicated relationship with people who come after you but pursue a similar musical style.”

Twenty-eight years since he came across the pioneering hip-hop film Wild Style and gave up delinquent ways for a career in music, Krush is still searching. “The more I do it, the more I get drawn into it,” he says. “I feel like my career has been about always reaching for something. It may never be in my grasp, but what’s important is to continue to reach. Music is so deep and broad that I never lose interest. If you do find what you’re looking for, then maybe it’s your time to die. If I go to heaven, there will be many artists there, and I can have a session with them.”

A decade since Metropolis first spoke to Krush, his determination remains undimmed. “A lot has happened in Japan this year, but as always, I’ll internalize my experiences and then express them through my music,” he says. “Making music is really important to me, and my music never lies. So I’ll continue to paint honest paintings, as it were. The kids—my grandchildren even—are watching me.”

Club Asia, Dec 22; Unit, Dec 31 (listing). “Shuya no Chiheisen” (Sleepless Horizon) is available on iTunes. Info: www.sus81.jp/djkrush

Courtesy of Beatink

What does Scintilli mean to you and why did you choose it as the album title?

It is the sparkling feeling that music can sometimes give. We chose it because we enjoy that feeling.

Tell us how Scintilli is an evolution from previous albums.

Virtual synthesis has become really usable and opens up many possibilities. We’ve taken some of that on board. All the vocals featured are synthesized. We think it’s our most digital album to date but also the most natural sounding.

Tell us about the creation of a favorite track from the album.

“35 Summers” was one of the earliest pieces written originally with Moog patches. We made the tempo ebb and flow using tempo curves throughout so there would be no static pulse. It was too grand in this form though so we built some lighter metallic sounds, which we hope displays a kind of hesitant wonder.

How have your working methods changed with the progress of music technology?

We have become almost entirely computer based. Newer machines are pretty dependable and that really affects the way you can use them to write and preform. There’s a lot less cable around too.

How has the relationship between the two of you developed over the years?

We get on pretty well but occasionally bicker like an old couple, which in a sense we are. People relate by shared experience and since we’ve spent a lot of time together over the last 25 years we’ve had a few now.

Tell us about your involvement with Japan.

We’ve been visiting for many years now to perform and in 2006 we were lucky enough to be picked to write the score for one of the best animated movies to be made in the country over the last few years, Tekkonkinkreet. The director Michael Arias went on to make the romantic, Heaven’s Door. The experience of working on both these movies had a big influence on our writing style and was an introduction to Japanese culture.

Can music be both intelligent and booty shaking? Tell us about the tension between art and entertainment in your work.

Absolutely, the effect of the music shakes the booty, but a lot of thought can go into creating this effect. Some music can definitely announce its intelligence too loudly though. This can be alienating and rarely moves the butt at all. It just tightens it.

What do you miss most from the early days of dance music when Plaid started 20 years ago?

It was all new to us then and now only bits of it are. Electronic dance music was pretty new to everyone. On the downside this has led to an obsession for advancement and newness within electronic music. There’s less focus on the writing and more on the presentation. There’s room for both really.

What can we look forward to in your set at WWW?

Booty shaking electronica!

WWW, Dec 3 (listing).

Courtesy of Drum & Bass Sessions

Unit, Nov 26 (listing).

Courtesy of Womb

The Vagabundos party takes place throughout Ibiza’s summer season at a club more commonly associated with cheesier acts such as the Swedish House Mafia and David Guetta. When launched in 2009, many eyebrows were raised and accusations leveled that Cadenza had sold out.

Luciano, however, defends his decision to stage the party at a place more associated with handbags and dodgy dance-pop. “I’m very conscious of my critics, but the way we decide things… I’ve always tried to please the people I work with and myself,” Luciano says. “I’ve played the best clubs in the world and it was not an easy decision (to go to Pacha). I have 20 people behind me and they believe in me strongly, and if I have a chance to make things happen, I have to take it.”

Luciano feels the venue was the right choice for the event, giving his label a chance to experiment and develop a different kind of party on the island.

“We were searching for a night. We had offers from Space, Amnesia, from all the clubs really,” he says. “But our friends were performing in these other places, and we did not want to get into other people’s business. Eventually, we decided Pacha was right for us, first of all because it is completely different to my background. But also Pacha has a long history, it was one of the biggest clubs in Ibiza since the seventies. When we went there, we wanted to try and revive that feeling, which had perhaps gone a little in the last 10 years. The energy there felt like the right thing in the end.”

Cadenza’s party, which will be emulated at the Tokyo event, is perhaps a lesson in modern dance music promotion: The event grabbed attention due to the venue, and has since provided plenty of attractions other than music. “This year we really pushed the visual side of the club with old-style circus acts—freak shows—and mixed that with our event. Basically, that’s what it is, a kind of crazy lifestyle,” Luciano says. Adding to the novelty, Cadenza encourages people to attend the party in fancy dress.

Sound cheesy? It very likely could be a bit much for some. However, it gets the customers through the doors, and few doubt Luciano and Cadenza’s ability to deliver quality music. Evolving from the minimal sound of a decade ago, Cadenza is now associated with rhythmic techno that combines samples of live percussion and jazz with more synthetic beats and effects, taking in influences from Detroit, Chicago and Latin America. The sound was recently showcased in a live Essential Mix [http://soundcloud.com/r_co/luciano-essential-mix-01-10] from Pacha.

Speaking of the seeming disconnect between the more commercial aspects of the party and the underground sounds that can be heard there, Luciano says: “I always saw myself as a producer, but of course you cannot make a living out of that. You have to go and perform at concerts as a DJ.”

It is clear, however, that Luciano does get a reward from his live performances. “Techno music opens so many different doors. In the past with, say, reggae and pop, the language was important, but there are generally no words in techno. What is really interesting is seeing people from different places and different cultures responding to the same songs, getting goosebumps to the same things.”

So what’s different about playing in Japan? “You see people sleeping on the speakers. You never see this anywhere else.”

Makuhari Messe, Nov 26 (listing).

Courtesy of Unit

Shouty raps and sleazy synth lines will be the order of the day when underground electro acts from Finland and Poland go head to head with Japan’s finest at the Japan-Europe Electro Summit. A young duo that translates Scandinavia’s long girl-pop tradition into 21st century sonics, Finland’s LCMDF (pictured), is in town for Friday’s Nordic Music Night. Poland’s ParisTetris, an off-the-wall electronica trio from Warsaw, were featured on The Wire magazine’s Exploratory Music From Poland album. They’ll go up against Japan’s Trippple Nippples and DJ Mademoiselle Yulia.

Unit, Nov 12 (listing).

Courtesy of Parties 4 Peace

Tell us about your first contacts with electronic music and how they set you on your career.

My first experience in the world of DJs was when I was 12. My mother`s friend owned a nearby discotheque. There, I had my first encounter with the Denon 2500F turntable, which was common back then. One day when they were preparing, a friend of the resident DJ put on the track “Pull Over” by Speedy J, and I asked him what it was, and if there existed a place in Chile where they played only electronic music. That was when I first heard about the electronic music collective Euphoria. He told me about a “rave” they were organizing. They opened my mind, and for the first time I saw DJs like Zikuta, Umho, Magi-K (Luciano) and many others from the Chilean electronic music scene.

How do you describe your style?

My style is somewhere between deep and tech house with more texture and very strong bass lines. I like to leave the crowd with the feeling that my style is elegant.

Tell us about your relationship with Patagonica.

I was inspired by the idea of a contest where I could internationalize my work, and anyone who tells you different would be lying. But once I met with Parties 4 Peace producer Emilie McGlone, I realized that there is a very noble cause and they are taking serious action to protect Patagonia.

Tell us how you came to have your residency at Club la Feria.

Club la Feria is the place where I always wanted to play, like any other DJ in Chile, since it is the most important club for electronic music in Chile. I made many attempts to get them to listen to my music, but since I was young and unknown it took time. Then one night, my good friend and colleague Dorian Chavez and I had a joint birthday party where he asked me to play as the warm-up. When I finished playing someone approached me at the club to thank me, and it happened to be the owners of la Feria.

What makes for a perfect night on the dance floor for Francisco Ruiz-Tagle?

I love extended sets! I like to be able to express myself as much as possible, to obtain a real connection with the audience, and to prove that my purpose in each set is beyond having people jumping and shouting, but rather that they listen with their eyes closed and move to a rhythm that is called, “Hips and Shoulders.” I like to take the track to different states, until it bursts in an ascent that can be somewhat strident, or somehow touching melodies that are emotional, then later returning to earth.

Tell us about a new track and how it is an evolution from past work.

My career as a producer began in 2010, after I did several tracks that I consider to be a learning process. This year, I joined my friend Larry Peters to work on music together and we tried some different ideas, which gave us incredible results. Now we already have two remixes by the Italian label Amazing Music, and our first EP together will come out on the Mazoon Lab label in October of this year. Today I am managing to shape what I have in my mind into tracks that are not for the hard dancefloor, but rather music that is created for a personal level and expresses a maturity in the sense that it is perfect to dance to with closed eyes.

Vinyl, CDs or laptop: which and why?

I feel much more comfortable playing with turntables, as I find it to be more precise and it makes me think about the beginning of the art of DJing. Unfortunately, in Chile, vinyl has some disadvantages, because there is not much variety in the record stores here, and the turntables are not always in good condition at the clubs. For this reason, I began to use Traktor Scratch Pro, controlled with vinyls and music in Wav format.

Tell us about your relationship with Japan.

Japan has always drawn my attention, as a place where the mixture of cultural wealth and the technology come together elegantly. I love taking photos and I am truly looking forward to seeing the architecture that is shown in magazines related to Japan. I have had few opportunities to share with Japanese people, but I have always admired their concepts of respect for others, honor and environmental awareness. I think everyone can learn from this.

What are some highs and lows of your career so far?

As for lows, I don’t really feel that I personally have had any. However at the beginning it was difficult to enter the scene because nobody knows you, and in my case I was very very young. Now, I feel that I am living in a constant high. The last two years have been incredible, and already I have been playing in Ecuador, Argentina, at my beloved residency in Club Declive, a mythical afterhours in Santiago where I have gotten to play as long as 10 and a half hours, and recently I became resident of the best club in Chile, La Feria. And now, this year, I won first place in the Patagonica contest and received the opportunity to travel to Tokyo!

What kind of set can we look forward to in Tokyo?

It is going to be a surprise! The truth is that I take all my musical repertoire, that goes from deep to tech house, and I love playing different music at each event and within the new music, I always try to bring back tracks or sounds that listened to in my adolescence. I am counting the days to arrive in Tokyo and to share my music with all of the new people I will meet there.

“Parties 4 Peace presents Patagonica vol 4”@M Bar, Nov 5. See club listings for details. Info: parties4peace.com

Metropolis Glitterball 2011: the monster bash

Ryan Bruss

Vanity Lounge: 13F Roi Bldg, 5-5-1 Roppongi Minato-ku. Tel: 03-5474-0091. Nearest stn: Roppongi. www.vanitylounge.jp. More info & tickets here!

Bar Quest

Fri, Oct 28, 7pm-late & Sat, Oct 29, 10pm-late Free entry. Let DJs Tai Ikezawa and Show spin your rotor blades, then win a pair of helicopter tour tickets with your costume. Chow down on free candy and Halloween cocktails. 3F, 5-3-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku. Tel: 03-5414-2225. Nearest stn: Roppongi. www.barquestroppongi.com

Castillo

Sat, Oct 29, 9pm-5am Free entry. Kick it old-school at Castillo’s ’70s- and ’80s-themed party with DJ Aki and Staff Jiro. Fifty guests in costume get a free shot. Surely that’s excuse enough to dust off the mongoose costume? Monkey’s, 2F Shimojo Bldg, 3-14-8 Roppongi, Minato-ku. Tel: 03-5410-4988 (venue) or 090-3502-8209 (Jiro, party organizer). Nearest stn: Roppongi. www.castillo-tokyo.com

Tucano’s

Sun, Oct 23-Mon, Oct 31 50% off churrasco & Brazilian buffet dinner. Feast on this delicious spread, including the special Halloween pumpkin menu, for just ¥2,000 during this time (regular price ¥4,000), plus a ¥500 service charge. Check out their sensual samba show on Wed, Oct 26 and Thu, Oct 27. B1 Shibuya Fhontis, 2-23-12 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku. Tel: 03-5784-2661. Nearest stn: Shibuya. www.pjgroup.jp/tucanos

Courtesy of Ageha

Courtesy of Ageha

In the late ’80s, a pioneering generation of trance producers crafted a psychedelic new sound for pill-fueled ravers on the beaches of Goa, India and in the British countryside. A decade later, these unwashed acidheads were followed by a more sophisticated set of artists who ushered trance into the commercial arena. Among these is UK trio Above & Beyond, formed by music students Jono Grant and Paavo Siljamäk with then Warner Music Group A&R man Tony McGuinness in the year 2000.

Metropolis caught up with McGuinness ahead of their headlining night at bayside superclub Ageha to talk a decade of trance and their latest record Group Therapy.

Tell us about your first rave and how it changed your life.

It was at the Ministry of Sound in London in 1995 and it totally changed my life. My brother Liam dragged me along. He’d been out a few times since dance music had been reborn and kept telling me how great it was. At the time I was into rock music, playing guitar in a band and working for a record company. Within a few years I’d become a regular clubber, was doing dance A&R for Warner Music, had signed Hysteric Ego whose “Want Love” was a hit in 19 countries, started making dance music with Liam, met Jono and Paavo and started Above & Beyond, remixed Madonna and Ayumi Hamasaki and made our DJ debut in Tokyo. And now look at us!

What are some highlights and lowlights of Above & Beyond’s career?

There are so many highlights, remixing Madonna (twice), remixing Ayumi Hamasaki, playing in Rio de Janiero, Brazil in front of 1 million people, winning Essential Mix of the Year, the amazing reaction to our three albums and our songs and, of course, the continued success of our labels Anjunabeats and Anjunadeep. I think the only lowlight is our long absence from Japan, something we worked hard to correct this year.

Tell us about your new album Group Therapy.

It’s an album of emotional songs and music—”sad core” you might call it—written about our lives and loves and losses and set to the groove and rhythm of progressive electronic dance music as it sounds to us in 2011. The idea of Group Therapy is trying to put a name to the process we see every time we play, where we witness the effect our songs have on our fans and the effect they have on us, and each other, at the gigs. It is real group therapy.

Who does what in Above & Beyond?

We all do a bit of everything, both in the studio and in our office. Jono and Paavo come up with most of the music these days, but not all, and I spend a lot of time on lyrics and melodies and a bit of singing, but not all of it. And of course Paavo has always been our technical genius and has done most of the work in designing our new show, with the visuals and the on-screen text which has been a big change for us these last twelve months.

Vinyl, CDs or laptop: which and why?

None of them! We play off SD cards now, using the CDJ2000s. We still love to mix live, so using the CD players gives us that hands on experience, but the SD card is small and light and allows you to make last minute changes to what you play without having to burn CDs. We’re not a fan of laptop DJing, we’d rather interact with the audience than a PC.

How has trance evolved since the early Goa days?

It has become a beautiful family of interconnected musical styles encompassing uplifting progressive house music like Jaytech and 16 Bit Lolitas and all the Anjunadeep family, chunky mid tempo big room tracks like Sun & Moon as well as old style trance, psy-trance and more. We really believe genres are becoming harder to keep separate, like it was at the start. That’s bad news for trainspotters, journalists and online shops, but great news for DJs, producers and the vast majority of the audience.

Tell us about your relationship with Japan.

It’s a very special one, with a long and quite needless gap that we are going to put an end to very soon! As a result of remixing Ayumi Hamasaki our world changed forever. During the production, Paavo asked for some translation help from a Japanese girl who is now his wife. We started our DJ career in Tokyo in front of 8,000 hugely appreciative locals and played there many times with Avex who were very good to us. But as our DJ career took off in other parts of the world, we never managed to get back there for lots of complicated, practical reasons. But our Japanese audience has always been really loyal, and we’re glad to be finally returning for what hopefully will be the start of a new phase of closeness.

What kind of set can we expect at Ageha?

We’ve always been quite openminded about music. Our first DJ set in Japan at the height of the Cyber Trance movement included tracks from Max Graham and Brothers in Rhythm. Depending on how long we get to play we’ll include progressive house right up to banging trance, as long as there is emotion and meaning in the music. But what’s certain is that there will be lots of tracks from Group Therapy, Anjunabeats and our favorite producers, some unique bootlegs and lots of singing!

Magnificent feat. Above & Beyond @ Ageha, Oct 22 (listing).

Metropolis caught up with the Filipino-American fashion model-cum-impresario on the eve of her third anniversary event—which also happens to be her birthday party.

Who exactly is DJ Tiffany Rossdale and how did you come to be the Tokyo Hottie?
DJ Tiffany Rossdale or Tokyo Hottie is a fun, witty, energetic model/entertainer/producer who plays funky, danceable tracks in her hot bikini! My closest friends convinced me to use the nickname Tokyo Hottie. It might have something to do with the provocative outfits…

What was the motivation to start Tokyo Fashionista?
When I first hosted Tokyo Fashionista, I never expected it would be a hit. But the first time it was a huge success. Doing a fashion event is not easy because you have to deal with so many things. I get tired sometimes and think of stopping. But people’s warm support keeps us doing it.

Tell us about your first Tokyo Fashionista and how it has evolved.
The first time I did Tokyo Fashionista I only had female gaijin bikini models in my show. It was a hit with the guys. But then I thought: how about the girls? So I put male gaijin models in the show and they loved it. We also started having clothing brands sponsor the show, like Desigual, Billabong, and Von Zipper. Now, I’m starting to release my own line.

What have been the wildest and sexiest Fashionista moments?
Oh, there’s plenty. When we did our first anniversary, I asked two of my sexy models (one male, one female) to do naked sushi. It was a big hit! Another time I was wearing this fab kimono dress for the show finale, guarded by my two hunk models. I took off my kimono and went topless while a professional calligrapher drew on my back.

Give us a peek backstage at Tokyo Fashionista.
That’s a place you don’t want to go! Clothes and makeup everywhere; performers and models all over the place. I guess it’s because me and my crew have all bonded, so we can do all the crazy stuff, like drinking Jäger bombs… walking around naked… making out… But before we hit the stage, I remind everyone to be serious.

How has the quake impacted upon Tokyo Fashionista?
I never thought it would be the end. Most of my crew are gaijin and half the people who come to my events are, too. Some left for a while, but most came back. When we did our Tokyo Fashionista Model Charity Auction last spring, we were able to gather some cash to send to Tohoku. A few of my crew even went to Tohoku to help: people like my regular models Dean Newcombe, Justin Berti and DJ Dominic Allen.

What is right and wrong with the Tokyo club scene?
I still don’t get the strictness of the Japanese when it comes to loud music. As an event producer, it’s hard to find spots to do Tokyo Fashionista. I also think that it’s right to check IDs, but some clubs make too much of it. Spiking drinks around Roppongi bars and clubs has also been an issue for years. How can we get more people going out in the area if this keeps happening?

What kind of vibe can we expect when Tiffany Rossdale is behind the decks?
I play fresh Billboard top tracks or sexy electro. I am not really a pro DJ, but I know what my crowd wants to hear. And I feel happy when I see everyone on the dance floor, and the smiles on their faces. It’s a different kind of excitement and I really enjoy it.

Tokyo Fashionista Third Anniversary Party “The House of Bunnies” at Space Shower Diner TV, Oct 15 (listing).