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November 22, 2024
 

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Richard Smart
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 15, 2008
The teetotaler who conquered clubland
After winning arguably the biggest prize in dance music, any club DJ might be forgiven for going on the sort of Dionysian rampage that would leave Keith Richards begging for mercy. Not High Contrast.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Feb 1, 2008
WWE — the sweatiest ticket in town
The hard-punching, head-crunching stars of World Wrestling Entertainment are in Tokyo mid-February for the WWE Royal Rumble tour. OK, so this spectacle — currently known as "sports entertainment" and televised to millions worldwide — has its naysayers. After all, when midgets get the living daylights...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jan 25, 2008
No deviation for celebrated techno star
In an era of dance music that sees almost every DJ attempt to defy genre, and producers seemingly incapable of making tracks without either screaming guitars or samples of pop hits from yesteryear, Sven Vath is refreshing in his conservatism.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 18, 2008
Gan-Ban Night feat. Justice and DJ Busy P
Depending on what music mag you're reading, they're either the godfathers of new rave or the saviors of dance music. Period. But then it's not just London's snotty music press who've embraced Gaspard Auge and Xavier de Rosnay.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 21, 2007
Top-rank British DJ Cox gets Womb moving
In terms of both reputation and body mass, DJs don't come much bigger than Carl Cox, who will be playing at the Tokyo club Womb on Dec. 21.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 21, 2007
Tasting the good life
Karuizawa is known as a getaway magnet for the rich, and based on a recent trip to the town in Nagano Prefecture, Japan's wealthy take their pleasures very seriously.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 14, 2007
Party planner
New Year is almost upon us again, and for those not satisfied with the TV and sake followed by a shrine, there are plenty of places about Tokyo to listen to good tunes and get monkeyed. While the city may not boast New Year mega-lineups to compete with the likes of London and New York, there are enough...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 7, 2007
Ex-Underworld DJ celebrates ageHa's fifth year
While Underworld has stayed in the limelight since Darren Emerson left the band in 2000, the Britain-based DJ's success has been a little more underground. Emerson spends his time running his record label, Underwater, and hosting events at "superclubs" such as Pacha in Ibiza and The End in London. On...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 23, 2007
Daft Punk
The last time Daft Punk were in Japan, the venue was so packed that security closed the entrance. That was in 2006 at the Summer Sonic music festival, but for the Parisian dance duo's own forthcoming Gallic rave-up, "dafunkfest," anyone with a ticket will at least be guaranteed that they'll see Thomas...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 23, 2007
Dance DJs hit the park
Stuck for something to do on the national holiday this Friday — and enjoy a bit of a boogie? If so, then you may like to head to Yoyogi Park and the Tokyo Dance Music Festival 2007 being staged there at the live space between Yoyogi Park and the NHK building.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 16, 2007
Bumper weekend for Tokyo clubs
This weekend, Tokyo's clubs feature sets from some of the giants of the Japanese dance-music scene, and while it will be impossible to catch all the artists, going to Air, Ageha or Womb will offer a good idea of the nation's electronic-music offerings.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 9, 2007
Acid-house pioneer shakes Tokyo
The death of music impresario Tony Wilson in August this year led to tributes from across the world, and recently the movie "Control," a biopic of late Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis, was released to critical acclaim. What do these two events have in common? Manchester's music scene of the late 1980s....
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 2, 2007
Soul goes Hi-Tek with Derrick May
"Basically I'm trying to save the world from bad . . . soulless music in whatever form that may be," 44-year-old DJ Derrick May says on his Web site. So its pretty safe to say there will be no remixes of Spice Girls songs in his set at the Hi-Tek Soul events to be held Nov. 3 and 11.
CULTURE / Music
Oct 19, 2007
Various Artists "The Kings of Electro"
Ricardo Villalobos "Fabric 36"
Various Artists "Soundboy Punishments"
Three reasons to buy the double CD mix album "The Kings of Electro" — Various Artists (Hostess): It is an excellent introduction to old-school electro, that synth-heavy take on hip-hop indebted to Kraftwerk and funk; it provides a timely reminder that there was computer-generated dance music before...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 21, 2007
A slow drink coming
At Takahata Wine Harvest Festival next month the quality of booze will not be a problem — and neither will your conscience as you nurse a hangover the next day.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Sep 7, 2007
Orbital adventures
Those who watch Phil Hartnoll at Clash26 will see one of British dance music's most influential artists.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jul 13, 2007
Step into her world
For more than a decade, DJ Mary Anne Hobbs has built a reputation at BBC Radio 1 for having musical tastes that are as cutting edge as they are eclectic.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
May 18, 2007
Viral sounds from South London
As well as the usual high-speed tempos and dark basslines you might expect, the "Drum and Bass Sessions" night on May 19 at Unit in Daikanyama, Tokyo will host dubstep practitioner Skream. The young producer will be "battling" DJ Zinc, one of the more enduring figures from the British drum and bass scene....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 18, 2007
Not an every day script
Enter a male student bedsit in Britain in the late 1990s and you'd likely be confronted by a copy of the Alex Garland novel "The Beach," posters of the movie "Trainspotting" on the wall and a bunch of albums from independent dance-music record labels like Skint, Wall of Sound and Ninja Tunes spread around...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 9, 2007
Snow Groove like Yuzawa's
The inaugural Snow Groove, which takes place March 24-25 at Pine Ridge Resorts Kandatsu, Yuzawa and the main strip of Yuzawa town in Niigata Prefecture, is a weekend for those who wish to ski/snowboard all day and party all night.
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

Podcast

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