P051: Cabeza de Vaca – Japanese techno

Again, not so many notes necessary to accompany this week’s Japanese techno special on Cabeza de Vaca and Scanner FM.

First up we should give a bit of attention to Shin Nishimura who is the label boss behind Plus who have released a lot of 12”s and albums by Japanese artists since 2004. Today we highlight their most recent 12” by Takaaki Itoh, but previous artists have included Nishimura himself, Hiroyuki Arakawa, Nobuyuki Tokunaga, Fumihiko Takei and more. Clearly by name and sound there is a big influence from M_nus, but overall there is a lot more toughness than M_nus bringing it closer to the likes of Drum Code and the like. It is no surprise to find Adam Beyer as a big supporter.

More good news is that Iori who lcoses the show also has a new release out this week on Prologue, a 3-track vinyl 12” and 6 digital tracks called “Antimonit”. Definitely one to keep an eye on. His remix of Wata Igarahi’s track “Paranoid” will probably come up in a few weeks in a dub techno show.

Go Hiyama also has something out on Warm Up Records that is more recent than his Token track, but in order to spread the love around we went with the older track. He is perhaps one of the more recognisable names from the Japanese scene having released on some big labels like Warm Up, with remixes from Oscar Mulero, as well as Stroboscopic Artefacts. Hiyama-san has also just done a recent mix for the Pole Group radio series.

He too will have another new release out on HueHelix, another Japanese label coming to the fore with a lot of interesting artists and releases. This week on the show we play something from Ryuji Takeuchi.

Of the new comers, Yuuki Sakai has a promising and intense sound that is dark and sonerous, in keeping with one label where he has released, as well as “tribal inudustrial” as he describes on his Soundcloud page. His latest EP, the first digital release for Warm Up Records, is a brutal affair, maybe better for the club than home, but the epic 10 minute track “Picasso” is certainly persuasive by force. His other work carries the same violent core, but is less aggressive.

Next week we finish off the Japanese electronica series with some IDM!

Number	Artist	Track	Label	Year
1	Hironori Takahashi	Jazert	Informa Records	2013
2	Ryuji Takeuchi	All doors closed	HueHelix	2013
3	Go Hiyama	Farnsworth house	Token	2012
4	Sawf	Menete (Yuji Kondo remix)	Perc Trax	2013
5	Yuuki Sakai	Cigarette	Warm Up Records	2013
6	Wata Igarashi	Arachnoid	Counter Pulse	2013
7	Takaaki Itoh	Plus 1	Plus Records (Plus Tokyo)	2013
8	Shin Nishimura	Another face	Mona	2013
9	Iori	Spaciotemporal	Bitta	2012

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